AHARON E. WEXLER: The haredi community, although they live in Israel, are apart from Israel and not a part of it. The haredim, too, will be destined to the same fate as Diaspora Judaism and become not just irrelevant in the eyes of most Israelis but scorned. Because Diaspora Jews did not experience this war, and because haredi Jews purposefully absented themselves from it, they will not be part of the transformation that is taking place.
"Shema Yisrael," the call to Jewish peoplehood, precedes the "Lord is our God, the Lord is one." When the haredi population are able to do this, when they are ready to say, "Your people are my people" and shoulder the burdens of the nationhood, then, and only then, can they truly say, "Your God is my God." And only then will they not just dwell in the Land of Israel but take an active role in the "story of Israel."
