Torah Scholar Deferments

Last week while I was davening shacharit in my Dati-Leumi shul, a young man approached me and asked me to contribute to a Wedding fund. He was bearded, dressed in a black suit, black hat. I interrupted my prayers and asked the young man in what unit does the groom serve? The answer I received was a sneer.

I was quite taken aback. Here was a person asking me to help provide a wedding celebration for a young couple and when inquired about how the groom gives back to society, I got a dirty look? Am I not allowed to ask this question?

I must be honest, that as a religious Jew who makes time to study Torah every day, I felt resentment towards this young man. I have children and grandchildren that are serving in Tzahal. They are giving up their time in regular service and then years in the reserves (over 700 days!) these past two and half years. They do find time to learn, even the daf haYomi every day. And does this person expect me to interrupt my prayers to also stuff coins in his pocket? I mean transfer money to his paybox account?

I truly believe that learning Torah is critical to the survival of the Jewish people, I firmly believe that we as a nation should support young Talmudic scholars so that they can dedicate their lives to studying Torah. Their merits and ours of us who support them will defend the Jewish people. There is an Academic Atuda Program in the army for college students, where their service is postponed until after they complete their studies, with a stipend. They then use the knowledge gained to serve in the army.

The elite of the Torah scholars should dedicate all their time and effort to studying, but not everyone reaches that level. The next tier can service in the army as rabbis, Mashgichim, Chevra Kadisha and like. This would be like the hesder program. Imagine the positive impact they would have on the rest of their peers? Do they feel that these Torah scholars are not as solid in their convictions and would therefore tend to be more influenced that influencers?

This young man that interrupted me was able to take time off from his learning to travel to a different city and make the rounds at various synagogues asking for donations. One can claim that raising money for a newlywed couple is a mitzva. I will counter that fighting our enemies is also a big mitzva and affects many more people. Serving in the army to help other soldiers and defend the Jewish people is also a big mitzva.

Tradition teaches us that the tribe of Zevulun supported the Torah scholars in the tribe of Yissachar so they could dedicate their time to their studies. That model can work today. But it should apply to those who study full-time. Not those who make fund-raising rounds at synagogues, or those who are seen strolling around at 9 or 10 in the morning or during lunch or during the afternoon.

Moreover, how can the Torah students take time off from their learning schedule to protest in the streets? Is inconveniencing and antagonizing the rest of the population important enough for them to close their books and abandon the study halls?

It is totally unacceptable that they fight our police (instead of our enemies) while yelling that they would rather die than serve in the army. This tells me where their sentiments lie.

Soldiers are on call 24/7. Torah scholars who study 24/7 should be supported, those who do not, are scamming the rest of the country and are not sanctifying Hashem’s name. They are desecrating it.