Death Before Draft

3 people in a room. Person 1 says something; Person 2 says something; Person 3 (Hitler) says: “OK, that’s it, no more Mr. Nice Guy”.

The above is what I remember of what I guess is a ‘joke’ from more than 50 years ago. It seems appropriate somehow, sorry to say. There may be some Jews who will think I am irreverent, antisemitic and worse. I hope not, if so, it won’t be the first time. I’ve been called a Nazi in Kiryat Arba and Geula. Here, I’m hoping for a small reality check. Giving people what they ask for within reason, but equally, holding them accountable for their actions and words.

‘Death Before Draft’ beginning with the very correct but by now hackneyed admonitions that fall on deaf ears, like those of Terach’s idols, before and after smashing, and the stones of the Kotel. The religious community should be Biblically ashamed, sitting as mourners on the ground in the dust, wearing sackcloth, size XXXX or more for Goldknopf, for likening the Privilege and Blessing of service in the Jewish army in defense of the people and the land to forced conversion and martyrdom. ‘Death Before Draft’ is also now Kiddush Ha’shem. Barely a handful of the millions of Jews who went through the Gate that says on it; ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ came back out. Too many Jews and non-Jews also didn’t come back from the Gate that says on it; Welcome to Bakum, New IDF Recruits. To equate the two doors is an incredibly evil sin, ignorance with a Diploma. Insulting, scandalous, cheapening, demeaning and all other appropriate adjectives. It denies the Holocaust and spurns the memory of all those that fell here. It has no regard or connection to Judaism and is completely heretical. ‘Death Before Draft’, it’s an advertising slogan. Once you make God, with or without His permission whether He likes it or not the Poster Boy, the crowds will follow. Hebrew National Kosher Salami sales spiked using “We answer to a Higher Authority”. What hubris to know what the Almighty considers to be For His Glory? It showcases the baseness of the rabbinate and their educational institutions and system, the moral bankruptcy of the religious, religious/political autocracy, and the failure of the top to bottom organized religious system in Israel. I’m sure Begin didn’t expect it to go so far. With our long and ever being added to unfortunate history of personal and national ‘For His Glory’ events; How to reconcile not only the Haridi callousness towards the plight of the whole and its continuous calls for help? But their accusations that the Secular hate them; ‘Oy it’s a m’chayah to cry Nebech about yourself, and want to turn them away from religion. In some it may be genuine paranoia and a text written as a rallying cry for others. And like the internet, a photograph of any woman other than your mother or your sister, even Minister Orit Strook, un-kosher telephones and foremost the IDF, all are tools in the same unholy Epicurean scheme. There is no reconciliation. It’s a monster, smelly Matjes.

The Haredi community says that it does not accept/recognize Israel’s sovereignty, statehood, national existence, etc… For them it must feel like being abroad, almost in Belz or Borough Park. I don’t know much about Belz, but I think when Belz was Belz and you said; Death Before Draft, they said OK and shot you on the spot or hung you in the town square for the PR benefits. I grew up in Borough Park, a half century or more ago, a different place then. My parents were Holocaust survivors, both of whom worked very hard to make a new life. They paid their dues with interest and the tuitions for my older brother and my years in Yeshiva. I stood for the draft in the US, but didn’t have to go to Vietnam.

But, but, but… the Haredim do accept, actually demand and receive into grasping outstretched hands as their God Given right according to them, Israel’s generous economic support and physical protection.

‘Death Before Draft’; integral to the valued subjects of Torah, Gemara, The Set Table and its Cover and others studied in the yeshiva and kolel, Haridim have been educated and conditioned to sacrifice themselves upfront with blind faith and adherence to the Rabbi and the Sect. The Rabbi(s) will not risk having their disciples’ devotion tested, threatened or God Forbid weakened. So keeping them busy all day in the kolel, providing them with the basics, a dull existence, mandatory, repetitive, ritualistic behavior eliminating the burden of independent thought and action has succeeded for the rabbis and elite. For now, the vast majority will never consider trying something new, no testing or challenging of themselves; generation after generation. How unfair to the world at the loss of minds not joining the collective; and pity the children! The Gate of Mercy is sealed with stones and guarded by ghosts; no one has passed for only God knows how long. And there are 100 Gates filled with men, women and children of no identity abandoned by fate; they are not to blame.

How real, how strong is a Haredi’s devotion? Is he as devout as the self-flagellating Shi’ite or Christian ascetic? I am probably bearded, dress conservatively in a dark suit over a white shirt, no tie, under a dark, wide brimmed hat; who am I, Quaker or Bobover? Conscientious Objection as a philosophy to live by, get it? – to live by, hasn’t really caught on with anyone, the Middle East is no exception. It could have been interesting as a genuine pacifist alternative, not just for Haridim, another missed marketing opportunity. Death Before Draft, slowly like Gandhi but without his finale, maybe with; martyrdom is what you make it.

Does a Haredi have a soldier’s devotion to his comrades and his duty when he volunteers to be first down a shaft into an underground tunnel? How far will the Rabbis and their students go to protect the Haredi way of life and in their warped minds honor and glorify God? To consecrate, maybe to emulate Rabbi Akiva’s martyrdom whose flesh was shredded with combs of iron, uttering with his final breath the One which is still heard today, 1,900 years later. What would Rabbi Akiva say about ‘Death Before Draft’? Probably that they’re nothing but a bunch of cowardly, Patriarch Isaac impersonators, “…tie the bonds tighter father…” It wears thin very quickly. Let them use a rusty comb.

Askanim Attention! This is the tzetele you pass to the Rabbi(s); Masada for Inspiration! A ‘Death Before Draft’ Rally at Thee most appropriate site. The small pyrotechnics at Meron are cute, fireworks work, Mt. Sinai on the 6^th of Sivan without the sound effects, the smoke and fire lightshow just wouldn’t have been the same. The Hilula, more than anything else is like a very Eastern/Asian Zoroaster Festival honoring Akiva’s disciple, the Guru Rashbi, at the place and on the anniversary of his death. It’s not widely known, but he was also the yeshiva’s barber. He initiated the practice of a boy’s first haircut on or near his 3^rd birthday when they start heder and he was the first to use a pillow as a kiddie booster and not just a rock. The kids squirmed much less.

Go to Masada, climb the 450 meters or take the cable car to the top to see what remains of the fortress and palace but much more importantly and completely relevant to you today. Look, see and feel where the ethos, pathos, mythos and shmaltzose of Jewish martyrdom were written if not canonized by Josephus. So, 965 rebels were reported to have committed suicide rather than be taken captive as Roman slaves, so far only 28 skeletons have been found. So, the legendary 3-year rebel stand-off of the Roman siege is now accepted to be more like 3 weeks. So, the rebels may have been bandits harassing the lucrative Afarsemmon trade from near-by Ein Gedi and annoyed the Romans. What’s important is that the message you want to get across, does, even if it’s been heard before or you just made it up. Just before being executed by the British, the Colonial American Nathan Hale said that he regretted that he had only but one life to give for his country. Trumpeldor said: Can someone give me a hand? Reported as: No biggie, it’s good to die for our country”.

From atop Masada, do a 360 panorama. Look east across the Jordan to where Moses is said to be buried and know that when he looks west at you, he’s probably relieved that you don’t know where he is interred and that he’s already dead and doesn’t have to deal with you, advocate or intervene for you again. Pan left to the north to look into Gilead and the Bashan where Menashe gave his word and did right by his brothers. Look up to the eyes of the land, for now, no more bloody tears staining the slopes. Look to the west where a great, amazing people live, into the Promised Land flowing with beauty and bounty and now also with great pain, still fighting for the right to live in peace.

The Haredi leadership is probably correct, Induction to the IDF will down-size the community; “How Are You Going to Keep ‘Em Down in the kolel Once They’ve Seen TAU?” There will still be plenty for more than one minyan, but it’s not good. Less heads in yeshiva and more in helmets means less noise when you shake the yeshiva’s pishka, not good. What’s to be?

The Haredi financial avarice and rapaciousness to date should merit forfeiture in any stake or share in a better future but it’s ‘pocket change’ compared to ‘Death Before Draft’. The exhibition of indifference and even disdain towards Secular Israel requesting aid at a time of genuine need is beyond a betrayal of our faith and the nation, perhaps treasonable, as evil and cowardly as the maligning of the land by the spies?

Now look to the south, what do you see, desert, wilderness, a lot of rocks and dirt. It can be seen as pretty at times, but 24/7 it’s a lot of nothing.

‘Death Before Draft’, Go for it. Take a running jump and throw yourselves off the top, individually or en masse like Lemmings, 450 meters is high enough and low enough for it to be over very quickly. Shoot, stab and poison each other, until not one of you is left. Out of respect, Rabbis and Heads of Yeshivas go first of course. For functionality and symbolism ramps can be used again to give the wheelchair bound Sages the initial momentum for their leap of faith. Sitting at the edge of the mountain, feet dangling above the abyss, decide once and for all, all that’s needed is abyssle sechel and testosterone, which if you lack, you can get at the pharmacy. Stand up and come to the west not as a migrant, stranded with no option, but as the precursor for all those that will be brought home.

Or give yourselves a nudge, no more just sitting like in the kolel. Too much time, energy and money has been wasted on your bull-cholent. I think most of Secular Israel does not hate the Haridim. It’s extremely disheartening though to see that the Terrified for the 613 commandments, the self-appointed and purported Standard bearers of the faith are just like everyone else, maybe worse just like everyone else. Full of themselves thanks to their delusions as the true defenders of Israel and the Righteous Hosts of the Lord. The whining about being misunderstood and unappreciated has to stop!

Just kidding, live with us, fadal. Be part of the life here, a partner, a citizen enjoying his Rights and respecting his Obligations. Live and let live and don’t jump. If you can’t, still don’t jump, leave, you’re contaminating the Land. You can’t just sit and shnor anymore. Sojourn someplace else, the non-existent State of Israel will respect its own Passport for one last Departure. Before you become truly Stateless, your citizenships’ revoked and TG you get your wish for persona non grata status, “you see, we told you that Secular Israel hates the Haridim”; simply go.

And then again, who am I to talk? Israel’s evil, criminal Secular politicians foster the Haridi aberrations; Israel’s exhausted and wounded citizens unable so far to end the victimization therefore enable it.

My son, the 25 year old miluimnik went back to Gaza today, again.

Death Before Draft is Hellul Ha’shem, a Desecration of Him

Kol Nidre (Disclaimer)