JEWISH WORLD

By RUTHIE BLUM R eading a biography about a friend is a mixed experi- ence. On the one hand, the protagonist is familiar. On the other, he’s a complete stranger, whose story unfolds like that of a fictional character being introduced in a novel. This is the sense of duality that I had while curled up with Lone Voice: The Wars of Isi Leibler , a tome to be released in March by renowned Australian-Jewish histo- rian Suzanne D. Rutland. Before meeting Leibler in person 20 years ago, I knew about the human-rights activist from Aus- tralia and his long-standing fight on behalf of Soviet Jewry, his tireless battle against global anti-Semitism and his connection to the World Jewish Congress — an organization from which he subsequently resigned as vice president and whose financial corruption he would launch a campaign to expose. I was also aware that he pos- sessed one of the world’s largest private libraries of Jewish books, certainly the most extensive in Israel. Visions of a dimly lit room covered floor-to-ceiling in volumes of Bibles bound in leather and gold alongside works of the sages and interpretations of the Talmud came to mind. Judging by his aptly named “Candidly Speaking” columns in The Jerusalem Post — all brutally honest and hard-hitting — I imag- ined the man himself to be a daunt- ing, scholarly figure around whom I would do well to watch my intellec- tual step. A s subsequently became appar- ent, however, Leibler would be the first to smile, if not emit his infectious laugh, at the above descriptions. In- deed, neither his library nor his demeanor in any way resembles the pic- ture or conclusions that I had drawn prior to visit- ing his Jerusalem home and being given a tour of the famous athenaeum. Though it does con- tain the ancient manu- scripts that I’d conjured, they — and the many thousands of other works by Jewish authors as diverse as Natan Sharansky and Philip Roth — are housed in anything but a dim, antique setting. Instead, they’re lined up in rows of modern, moveable stacks. As striking as this was at first sight, it was noth- ing compared to the dis- covery that not only had Leibler read all of the 40,000 books in his home, but could locate any one of them, within seconds, on demand. To this day — two decades and many additional titles later — he knows exactly where to find a cer- tain hardcover or paperback, no matter how obscure, among the col- lection. Of all Leibler’s points of laser focus, this is the one that still makes my jaw drop. But his biblio-savantism is not what makes him stand out in the public arena. No, it’s the courage to speak his piece — orally and in print, even when doing so ruffles illustrious feathers — for which he is best known. A religious Zionist, he’s never shied away from criticizing rabbis in that community whom he con- siders having moved too far in the direction of ultra-Orthodoxy and radicalism. Nor has he hesitated to express his displeasure with Israeli politi- cians, including after praising them, when he feels that they have betrayed their mandate or put petty politics ahead of the interests of the state. B oth issues are especially rele- vant today, in the lead-up to the March 23 Knesset elections, with Israel’s societal divisions height- ened as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. These schisms can be seen most vividly in attitudes among and towards the country’s haredi communities, as well as in the split between members of the public supporting the continued leadership of Prime Minister Ben- jamin Netanyahu and those, on the Left and the Right, in the “anybody but Bibi” camp. The 86-year-old Leibler, who moved to Israel from Australia in 1999, has always had strong opin- ions on each of these topics. As Rutland writes: “Beyond any overarching battle in which he is engaged at any particular moment, Isi [Leibler] has never stopped thinking or writing about theologi- cal and political developments in the Orthodox world into which he was born. The trends worry him particularly. “The first” he continues, i”s that inward-looking rabbis (mostly non- Zionist, sometimes anti-Zionist) in the haredi camp, for whom insular- ity and ultra-Orthodox stringency are integral to their lifestyle, have achieved political control of Israel’s official Rabbinate, the institution that oversees conversion to Judaism, kosher certification, ritual baths, marriage, divorce, and burial. Isi views the display of haredi Liebler’s never shied away from criticizing rabbis he considers too radical or Israeli politicians. Israel’s Lone Soldier New biography of Isi Leibler’s lifelong fight for Jewish advocacy continued on page 30 Rather than only ancient manuscripts in a dim room, his library, stacked in moveable rows, has modern works too. BOOK REVIEW Lone Voice: The Wars of Isi Leibler By Suzanne D. Rutland (Gefen Publishing House, 2021) 680p., $39.95 JEWISH WORLD • MARCH 19-25, 2021 13 All Orders Must be Placed by Thursday March 18, 2021 4:00PM