The elephant in the room

852. That is the number of days my two married sons, my son-in-law, and my daughter — all combat soldiers — have served in reserve duty since October 7th 2023…and still counting

My younger son — a father of five boys — finished his second stint of miluim (reserve duty) 10 days ago. Not a full five days later, hours after Nasrallah was assassinated, he was deployed again. We joked that he had barely had time to wash his army uniform. And yet another goodbye to his stoic wife and children. They couldn’t believe their husband and father was leaving yet again — especially since they were so looking forward to being with him for the chagim (Jewish holidays).

My older son was deployed down south for nine months — he attempted to teach his students via Zoom from his army tent. My son-in-law has been in miluim since that awful day in 2023 and will be deployed in the north immediately after Rosh Hashanah.

Unfortunately, this is not an unusual scenario. There are tens, hundreds, and thousands of sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, and husbands and wives who are having the same experience. And then there is the elephant in the room. The tens, hundreds and thousands of able-bodied Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men who are exempt from serving. All you need to do is drive through cities such as Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh and Beitar and you will witness many Haredi men who are not learning in yeshiva. They are often leisurely wandering the streets without any fear of being drafted, while it is our sons and daughters, husbands and fathers who are fighting for our country.

Some have inconceivable disrespect for army duty. This week, my grandson attended the army conscription center as the first stage of his processing. While he was waiting outside, he was approached by a Haredi individual who offered him a fast-track exemption from joining up.

Why on earth are we putting up with this absurd reality? We are told that change must be slow, but we have run out of patience. There has clearly been no real progress, with the Supreme Court directive having made minimal impact on the Haredi draft.

How can one sector of the population (with very few exceptions) lead free and fear-free lives, while expecting the majority of the population to carry the heavy burden of conscription, where disruption, injury, and death are all real prospects?

Where are the politicians with a conscience? Where are the rabbinic leaders with backbone?

SILENCE.

We are endlessly tiptoeing around the elephant in the room — very soon it will be we who are galvanized to stampede and make real change happen.