The Haredi and the IDF

Instead of pulling together, we Jews are at each other throats again, this time arguing over whether to draft the Haredim into the IDF.

Weary of the so-called seven-front war fought overwhelmingly by the same small pool of people, a call has been made to draft the shirkers, aka the Haredim. Sadly, those calling the loudest are the religious Zionists who have suffered disproportionately — of an estimated 365 fallen soldiers, roughly 60 percent came from this community. The religious Zionists are bleeding, and the Haredim are not. It’s time they argue for the burden of service to be shared.

The Haredim are an easy target. Except for a tiny minority of mostly the alienated sons of Haredi parents, most mainstream Haredim avoid the military like the plague. In Haredi neighborhoods, life goes on almost as if there had been no war. Why not draft them? Is their blood redder than anyone else’s?

Ironically many, if not most, Haredim would love to defend our shared Holy Land. The Haredi community excels in voluntarism. Ichud Hatzalah, Yad Sara, and Ezer Miziyon are just a few Haredi initiatives that benefit everyone, including secular Jews, Druze, and Arab Israelis. So why not the IDF?

Firstly there is the spiritual claim that Haredim are already fighting as Torah learning is the ultimate protection. This argument formed the rationale for a failed attempt to exempt all Torah students from the IDF. Still it is a mainstream Jewish belief that Torah study brings down a spiritual force field exceeding even the IDF’s firepower–we did survive for two millennia without an army! When King David went to battle, he employed a team of Torah scholars who hit hard on the Holy books. Today’s Torah scholars are simply continuing this tradition.

But what about Haredim, who aren’t great Torah scholars? Shouldn’t they draft, too?

In a perfect world, the answer might be yes, but we don’t live in a perfect world. For all of its claims of trying to work with the Haredim, the IDF is infested with WOKE  secular liberalism. Israel’s army is almost fully coed, and soldiers most of them are hormonally charged teenagers, famously fraternize. This goes beyond casually flirting, which is also unacceptable to G-d fearing Jews. A 2021 State Comptroller’s report revealed a third of female IDF soldiers had been sexually abused in the army. That means that the atmosphere in the IDF is poison.

By opting out, the Haredim are standing up for a core Jewish belief– Kedusha means purity in the sexual sphere.

Theologically, the religious Zionist community views army service as a holy mission, and so they don’t look too hard at these difficulties. And the religious Zionists suffer greatly. Many religious Zionists to throw off observance in the IDF. Our present Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, is just one of many former religious Zionists who were secularized in the army.

It’s not just the social life–it’s the military life as well. The army runs on purely secular terms. For any G-d fearing Jew concerning life and death must be informed by Torah knowledge and made by Torah scholars. That’s another reason why the Haredim opt out.

Opting out isn’t easy. Not serving has a high social and economic cost. The Haredim are persona non grata here and in all the Jewish world, roundly criticized for failing to lift up our collective arms to carry the stretcher of state. This is also ironic because it is the Haredim who assume the actual burden, not of the metaphorical stretcher of state but the burden of the yoke of Heaven upon which our claim to this land rests.

Haredim view this land as it is the place where one can best actualize one’s potential as a religious Jew. None of us seek to hand victory to our enemies but we give our precious sons over to an army which fails to care for their bodies and souls

Until the IDF can level up it’s game Haredim will stay away regardless of the cost.  END