Can the Chareidi Story Be Rewritten... Or Is It Too Late? A Conversation With Rabbi Menachem Bombach (299)

July 27, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

"A Story Is Always Very, Very Tough"

Rabbi Menachem Bombach, a Hasidic educator who grew up in the anti-Zionist Mea Shearim community, is blunt about the state of Haredi leadership: "Leadership means to take a community from point A and to move them to point B. And I think our leadership is mainly focusing about how to stagnate, how to leave them in A." Speaking to host Scott Kahn on the Orthodox Conundrum podcast, Bombach argues that the Haredi world is trapped by a narrative that has outlived its usefulness—and that the only way forward is to offer an alternative, not to attack from outside.

The Narrative Problem

Bombach insists that meaningful change must begin with empathy. The Haredi community's resistance to army service, secular studies, and integration is not rooted in malice but in a story that has been told for generations: that the only way to survive after the Holocaust and rebuild Torah scholarship is through total isolation. "A story is always very, very, very tough," he says. "You cannot change a story in one night."

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What you'll learn

1 Timestamped Outline: Can the Chareidi Story Be Rewritten… Or Is It Too Late? A Conversation With Rabbi Menachem Bombach
2 (00:00) **Episode Introduction & Context** - Scott Kahn sets up the conversation by reading Rabbi Dov Landau's incendiary remarks about knitted kippah wearers and the Degel HaTorah party's defense of those words, framing why this conversation matters.
3 (08:03) **Starting with Empathy: Understanding the Haredi Narrative** - Rabbi Bombach argues that meaningful change must begin with empathy, not blame, because the Haredi community operates from a deeply ingrained survival story.
4 (11:54) **The Leadership Problem: Stagnation vs. Movement** - Scott presses on leadership failure, and Rabbi Bombach agrees that current leadership prioritizes keeping the community in place over moving it forward.
5 (14:36) **Evidence of Change: The Growth of Alternative Paths** - Rabbi Bombach points to measurable progress, arguing that the movement for change is larger than critics realize.
6 (17:34) **The Voting Paradox: No Real Choice** - Scott questions why moderate Haredim still vote for extreme parties, and Rabbi Bombach explains the lack of alternatives.
7 (20:50) **Rabbi Bombach's Personal Story: Discovering Ignorance** - He explains how his own experience of educational deprivation drove his mission to change the system from within.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Scott Kahn

Show Notes

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Rabbi Dov Landau, who, along with Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, is considered one of the two main rabbinic voices that guide the Degel HaTorah party, was seen on a video about a week ago saying the following:

"There are wicked people, including those who wear knitted kippot. I am talking about those with knitted kippot who force people to go [to the army]. I would ask them, according to their position - though they have no position, rather according to their foolishness - if the state sends people, soldiers, for the sake of the country's honor, and they kill people, is that also permissible? That is literal murder. Therefore, they are inciting murder - that is what they are doing. They are making wars not for the sake of saving people, just for the honor of the state."

His remarks were so incendiary that even Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned these words - and immediately, Degel HaTorah released a statement defending the words of the rabbi. As quoted by the Jerusalem Post, the party said, "The words of the great Torah scholars are the holy of holies of the people of Israel, and we live by them. Those who do not live the world of the Torah and do not understand the depth of their words, it is better not to rush to interpret them, and certainly not to attack them. Beware of their burning embers."

For people outside of the Chareidi world, and certainly for some within it as well, episodes like this - offensive and hurtful statements that are false, followed by a requisite political demand that the words of certain leading rabbis not be questioned - are reasons that some have given up on the possibility of real change coming from within the Chareidi world. Whether it's regarding army service or integration into the workplace, many people are despairing.

Rabbi Menachem Bombach is different. He grew up in the Chassidic community of Meah Shearim and still identifies with that community, even as he is working from inside to effect real change in the Chareidi world.

In our conversation, Rabbi Bombach explains why meaningful change within the Chareidi world must begin with empathy rather than condemnation, even as he insists that the current trajectory is unsustainable for both Israeli society and the Chareidi community itself. We discuss the challenge of changing deeply ingrained narratives, the responsibility of rabbinic and political leadership, the opportunities and obstacles facing Chareidim who seek greater integration into Israeli society, and why he believes education is the key to preserving the best of the Chareidi world while pre