Acute Angles: Army Service and the Charedi-Secular Rift

Rabbi, what can be done to heal the deepening rift between ultra-Orthodox and secular as a result of the new draft law?   Ezriel G.

Shalom, Ezriel.

For the uninitiated: two months ago, the Israeli Supreme Court unanimously ruled that (a) charedi yeshiva students can no longer claim automatic exemption from serving in the IDF and that (b) the yeshivot would no longer receive state funding.

We shall leave aside the vexed question of the need for Israeli judicial overhaul and the autocratic process of judges being appointed by fellow judges.  I do not believe these matters to be germane to your question as the secular-charedi rift is essentially a societal malaise which exists in Israel regardless of any court ruling.

I would recommend that you download a fascinating podcast  www.halachaheadlines.com on the subject of what causes charedi and other extremism which provides much valuable food for thought on the matter.

Basically put: there needs to be a drastic lowering of the temperature,  a willingness  of each side to understand where the other is coming from and a need for pshara (compromise).

It does not help when chiloni (secular) activists call yeshiva students “parasites, feeding off the State”. (I believe that the government withdrawal of yeshiva subsidies is actually a good thing as these secular extremists will no longer be able to argue that charedim take from the State without giving back.)  It is utterly beyond the pale when a prominent chiloni militant declares “Charedim who refuse to serve don’t deserve to live!”

But it is also indefensible when a charedi radical declares “I would rather die than serve in the IDF!” and when charedi spokesmen provocatively declare “it’s the yeshivas, not the IDF, that is keeping Israel safe” or “the Israeli Arab population aren’t forced to serve in the military, why must we?”

Underpinning that last rhetorical question is an uncomfortable truth which isn’t always admitted to but is at the heart of much right-wing charedi opposition to serving in the IDF, namely, its deep-rooted, historical anti-Zionism and determination that its sons not transition into a Zionist – albeit religiously-observant Zionist – identity, something that would be virtually inevitable were they to serve in the IDF.

It is nevertheless undeniable that the charedi community has legitimate concerns. Up until very recently, the IDF have done little to accommodate the religious needs of charedim. There is also the legitimate fear that young charedi men will become secularised as a result of their army experience.  This is partly due to an insular attitude which fails to furnish its youth with the ability not only to withstand secularist influence but also the tools to propagate to their secular peers that a Torah lifestyle is vastly more satisfying than any secular lifestyle can ever be!

It is not sufficiently widely known or acknowledged that many charedi young men do, in fact, serve in the IDF. There is a charedi battalion, Netsach Yehuda (formerly known as Nahal Haredi), part of the Kfir brigade.  Notably, one bold charedi activist, Rabbi Dovid Leibel, head of Achvat Torah (a network of kollelim where young men learn Torah half a day and work half a day) is in the process of setting up an entire charedi brigade, Mishmar haTorah, which will solve the issue of unwanted secular influence.

Sadly he is facing opposition from more right-wing rabbinic leaders in the charedi world, partially because of the understandable fear it will drastically decrease and dilute Torah learning and partially for the reason which I outlined in paragraph 8 above.

The fact remains that many even in the charedi community feel that last Simchat Torah was a game-changer, that eliminating Hamas (and Iran-sponsored Hesbolla) has the status of a milchemet mitsva (an obligatory war for survival) and that all segments of Israeli society should be mindful of the thundering words of Moses to the tribes of Reuven and Gad: Shall your brothers go out to war while you remain here? ((Num 31:6).

Many young charedim are volunteering of their own accord. It would be a massive step forward if Rabbi Leibel’s pioneering initiative were to succeed!

My own view is that real masmidim (Torah students of exceptional diligence, ability and potential) ought not to be pulled away from their Gemaras even at this time –  provided they are as single-minded about their Torah learning as our soldiers are about defending our country! This I would apply not only to the charedi community – there was no separate charedi stream of bnei Yisrael at Mount Sinai – but any young Torah luminary from the dati le’umi or baal teshuva community as well.

The Jewish world needs a new generation of Torah luminaries!

As for those many who are not in that category, certainly those charedi youth who are idling their time away, they should be performing some sort of national service.  Their country needs them!

May the fissures and fractures in Israeli society and in klal Yisrael as a whole be speedily healed and may all divisive labels be eliminated! Then the conditions will assuredly be ripe for Mashiach to appear. And no draft will be needed any longer!