Jerusalem – My beloved brethren, do not rejoice and celebrate on this day. The High Court of Justice, citing the noble principle of shouldering the burden equally, has in effect decided that haredi [ultra-Orthodox] men must be drafted into the IDF, thus severing them from the world of Torah. The prophet Jeremiah asked “Wherefore is the land perished?” and answered, “Because they have forsaken my Torah.”
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Press headlines have all waxed lyrical on the significance of the ruling. You would think that by next week recruitment centers will see long lines extending from Tel Hashomer [one of the main recruitment centers] to Bnei Barak [a predominantly Haredi city]. Knesset members broke into spontaneous celebrations as if a haredi elite unit had managed to capture Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah overnight.
By the rivers of Babylon, in the Moroccan desert, in Yemenite villages, in the cities of Poland and Lithuania and in the Caucasus Mountains, Jews throughout the ages have died in the name of Torah study. They understood that our nation would be nothing without Torah. In every generation and every place on earth, nations rose to destroy us, and the Torah saved us.
By virtue of Torah study we are still here, when all of the earth’s empires have disappeared. Jewish existence does not stand a chance without the world of Torah. All the alternatives offered to Jews have proven hollow and vain. Torah study is the Jewish people’s insurance policy, The premium gets more expensive as the threat grows to the Jewish way of life.
Those men and women who are willing to live a life of poverty and material want for the sake of the supreme value of Torah study, have been not lauded, but rather showered with contempt by their fellow Israelis. Haredi-bashing has become a national sport, particularly in recent months as sharp-tongued politicians have caught a whiff of early elections. As a retired IDF Armored Corps officer and a disabled veteran of the Yom Kippur War, I find it very hard to accept that a large segment of Israeli society does not serve in the military, whether they be haredim or secular Israelis.
Israel’s wars have always been wars of duty; defending Israeli citizens between those wars qualifies as Pikuach Nefesh in the truest sense of the term (referring to a Jewish concept that allows a violation of certain religious rules to save someone’s life).
Serving in the IDF is a right I cherish; a right that our forefathers were denied throughout their years in the Diaspora. A reality in which every Jew can hold a weapon and defend himself, his family and his state is tantamount to living in Messianic times. But what can we do if not everyone chooses to exercise this right?
Every Israeli in their right mind knows that we can’t exercise physical, political or economic coercion to force haredim to serve in the army. The right to serve in the IDF cannot be imposed on someone who doesn’t wish to serve, especially if they are motivated by religious belief. I find it hard to envision thousands of police officers carrying handcuffs around Jerusalem and Bnei Brak in the hope of catching draft dodgers. Allow me to also cast doubt on the notion that military, treasury and National Insurance officials are even interested in an influx of thousands of haredim into the IDF.
Israel’s haredi community has undergone a real transformation in recent years. The haredi leadership has come to grips with the fact that tens of thousands of families cannot be sustained through charity funds, which are gradually being depleted due to global economic hardship. The hidden hand of the economy is stronger than the Tal Law or any other law that might replace it. What is needed is patience and perseverance. If the government employs force, it will only serve to halt the processes that are already underway in haredi society, the forces leading toward greater workforce participation and service in the IDF or national service.
Dr. Haim Shane, a professor at Shaarei Mishpat College Dr. Shine can be reached at his email here
Dr. Shane, may you be blessed.
The Meretz lawyer, Mr. Kedar, also expressed similar sentiments today. He feels that there needs to be mutual understanding, meeting at the halfway, and not force.
If Israel really wanted to integrate that Frum population, into the Army they can. Obviously I am not referring to the Meah Shariam crowed. However sadly the Israeli Government, has lied one to many times, to the Charadi and Religious Settler Population, and if they are going to try forcing integration it just won’t work. It seems that nobody is interested in talking about the lack of Tel Aviv and leftist Kibbutz persons enlisting in the Army I guess bad mouthing the frum population is just easier.
Very well written
For those who argue that by learning they are protecting Israel, let them learn on the front lines. Yehoshua’s armies all consisted of learning men that fought during the day and learned at night and this is why the Malach accosted him for not learning at night. It is very easy to send other children to war and be anti israel. If they really believe in learning and its protection, let them learn next to an Israeli soldier. Maybe them they would respect what they have for decades taken for granted.
I believe if you live in Israel, you do to protect it! While the author argues that not everyone is fit to serve, everyone is fit to clean toilets, cook food, etc. There are many positions available that charadim CAN do and not be forced to hold a gun.
it’s rare that one finds such an example of absolute drivel written anywhere today. What a classic example of nonsense hyperbole. What a pathetically pointless article.
It is time for all haredim to come to the US as religious refugees. Here in the US, Quakers were exempt from all drafts due to religious freedom. The Zionists do not believe in religious freedom.
True and it dose not have to be black and white. We can study Torah and serve in the army shall they respect halacha and not dafka knock frum
why is other blood better then charaidi blood. frum and charadim can study tora and do there share in the draft. charaidim can have daily shiururim and particiapate in the army instead of talking dvorim betailim can do something constructive. drafting charaidim in the army is a good thing….a fellow charadi..
Writing a bunch of cliche’s,that does not sell in the modern world,is just adding to the problem.
Everybody is obligated to share in the responsibility of protecting the homeland.
Haredim are entitled to ask that the IDF should accommodate them,in a way that co.nforms to Halacha.
Israel is a country inhabited by almost seven million jews, surrounded by two hundred million murderous arab enemies,who have sworn to come and liberate the country from the jews,and throw each and every one of them into the sea after having their throats slit.,it is only by the grace of G-D and the heroic IDF that their evil plans for another Auschwitz has not materialized yet ,the only thing preventing another Auschwitz are the young jewish boys ‘religious and not religious’ puting their lives on the line every day to protect their homeland and families,
Anyone who has the audacity and the CHUTZPAH to declare that i will not help to defend my country because i want to sit and learn,is nothing but a murderous coward,believe me HASHEM does not want your TORAH,your TORAH is soaked with someone else’s blood who had to do extra ARMY duty or extra MILLUIM, because we have tens of thousands of chareidim not doing their duty in defending themselves, nowhere in the TORAH or TENACH do we find that men were exempt
from military duty in order to sit and learn.
CHAIM.S
Time to give the Haredim their own portion of Eretz Yisroel. Divide the land crosswise into those who are willing to serve and those who aren’t. Let the Haredim deal with the Arabs as they see fit.
My son served in the IDF Nahal Haredi and they had regular shiurim, so what is the problem?
I’ll tell you right now what the problem is: we have people NOT serving in the IDF and also NOT learning Torah. The leydig-gehers in Beit Shemesh and Mea Shearim who spit at little girls and shove women to the back of the bus aren’t learning Torah!
please read bamidbar 32:6
we all have to fight to protect yidden
Thought provoking article for those of us predisposed to think.
I find it interesting that many frum boys served in the US armed services during WW II yet we don’t hear horror stories about them losing their yiddishkeit.
Can it be that there is something wrong with the chinuch of young men who have learned without the distractions of sports and secular studies c”v since before bar mitzvah yet are in serious danger of going off the derech at the age of 20 or 21the by serving in the IDF?
i am waiting for the day all yeshivos will close & everyone is outside the IDF waiting to be accepted, trust me, they will all be told: go back to yeshiva!
if Torah study they think protect them and the idf, show that you truly believe that and go out in the field with the soldiers and study and learn in the field while they do the fighting. See the horrors of war and then they might not have the chupzha to say say that what they do is equivalent to what the IDF does. Or say their sacrifice is the same as a IDF member. lets see if they can get 20 boys to do that.
The army boys have free time they do stuff the truly frum soldiers can take that time and study Torah instead of hanging out.
and at what time did it become that every single frum kid is kollel material? Are all teh guys who are exepmt reallu learning torah day and night I do not think so. And the ones that do is a small percentage
I think that the issue goes much deeper. Not only do many Yeshiva Bochrim not serve in the IDF – they don’t acknowledge the sacrifice that the IDF makes. I would really like to see every yeshiva in Israel and abroad say the Tefilla for the Tzahal. At the very least, we should show our gratitude to them and daven for them.
It is up to our leaders to show the way. In order to have success, we need to have respect for the contributions of the others. We need all the facets of Klal Yisroel.
It is hard to imagine why some Yeshivas can arrange a program so their students can learn and serve, while others cannot. As has been stated here there are many avenues of service. The problem is that in principle, many yeshivas do not want to serve in any form.
It would be beneficial to all facets of society if young people serve their country in some capacity.
Reb Moshe served in the Russian army and I don’t see how it hurt the level of his Torah learning.
The fate of our Torah community is in the hands of the Torah learners dafka from the age of 19-25? Really? We can’t have a strong force of yeshiva bochrim before army learning yomam vlayla, as well as older, married men, and BEST, retired zeidas? ALL Torah learning will not come to a halt just because one age demographic must pause for three years (and if they would join hesder it would only be for 18 months!)
This presumes that everyone sittiing in Yeshiva or Kollel is a metzuyan or learning day and night. We all know that’s not true and the politicians are not stupid either. It also ignores the fact that Hesder Yeshivos often have higher levels of attendance and hasmodo on the whole than many of the Chareidi Yeshivos.
Let’s call a spade a spade. It’s not about any insurance policy or the integrity of Torah; it’s about people in the Chareidi world not wanting to be told what to do by outsiders.