Recruitment of haredim and yeshiva students for the army (Tzahal) – why not?

Thank you for the opportunity to answer this important question (and it is interesting that the issue has also arisen abroad, probably influenced by the discussion in the Israeli media).

Well, the answer to these questions is simple and very clear, and it has been expressed many times in the past (and there are even those who have written entire dissertations on it, such as the book “Torató Umanutó”), but apparently the general public has difficulty accepting the answer for three reasons:

1. For emotional reasons (the difficulty and sadness of the fact that the questioners’ children are risking their lives in the Israel Defense Forces do not allow for an emotional opening to accept any response that the children of others should not be in the same situation). For emotional reasons (the difficulty and sadness of the fact that the questioners’ children are risking their lives in the Israel Defense Forces do not allow for an emotional openness to accept any response that the children of others should not be in the same situation).
2. The response to the questions is rooted in values based on the Jewish faith brought in the Talmud, and if, God forbid, they do not believe in the Talmud, then there is no answer here. The answer to the questions is rooted in values based on the Jewish faith brought in the Talmud, and if, God forbid, they do not believe in the Talmud, then there is no answer here.
3. The media incites the general public day and night on this issue (which also serves the political goals of the left), so when addressing the topic, there is already an extremely negative preconceived opinion with serious associations. The media incites the general public day and night on this subject (which also serves the political objectives of the left), so that when addressing the topic, there is already an extremely negative prior opinion with serious associations.

And, therefore, due to the first and third reasons mentioned, before we reach the answer, I ask that you try, as much as possible, to neutralize your emotions and be “open” to begin to understand a different perspective (and I assume that for you abroad it is easier to achieve this neutralization, as this does not directly concern your children, and you have also been less exposed to media incitement), and also internalize that it is not correct in any way that “my child needs to be in danger” while the Haredi child can sit in peace, as this does not depend on “Haredi blood,” but rather that your child is also invited to go to the yeshiva and study the Torah. Moreover, it is clear that all the great leaders of Israel would agree to make a “swap”: all the soldiers would go to the yeshiva to study the Torah diligently, and then all the yeshiva students would serve in the army. And all the resistance to such an arrangement is precisely the situation of the general public that would not accept this exchange. Therefore, there is no room here for emotional complaints of this kind, but rather the matter (to which we will respond) is that it is important to have a large number of students in the yeshivot, even at the expense of military service.

And, however, we still have the second reason mentioned, so before we reach the answer, I will make a brief introduction related to the faith problem I mentioned.

Brief introduction: assumption before any discussion about the existence of the State of Israel.

We need to understand, why are we willing to fight for this land? Why don’t we raise the white flag and all go to Switzerland? It is not impossible that, if we present a request to the UN, informing them that we are ready to immediately end the Arab-Israeli conflict that costs so much blood (and resources) on both sides, returning all of the Land of Israel to the Arabs, on the condition that they grant citizenship to Israeli citizens in a developed country, our request will be accepted with joy and appreciation. So why don’t we do this? What do we have to insist on being specifically in the Land of Israel? (And if it is because of the fear of facing antisemitism abroad, there is no argument according to secular logic, because so far the situation is that facing the Arabs is much more difficult than facing antisemitism from foreigners; and not only that, but the revelation of antisemitism in the world in recent years is directly linked to the problem of the conflict with the Palestinians).

Furthermore, although historically the Jews lived here before the Arabs, in recent centuries the Arabs have inhabited this land, so where does the right to come and take the land that has been under their control for so many years really come from? And for this last question, the Prime Minister, Mr. David Ben Gurion.

In a famous historical event, in the year 1936, when Ben Gurion was questioned by the Peel Commission if he had a “kushan” (a land ownership title in Turkish, as was common in Palestine in recent centuries) that gave him the right to occupy the place of the native Arabs who had inhabited the land for generations? Ben Gurion took the Torah in his hands and replied, “This is our title deed.”

And, in fact, whether we like it or not, Judaism is the only reason to insist on remaining in the Land of Israel according to today’s data, because without the value of faith in the Torah for this land, what is so bad in Europe? What is worth sacrificing life for to stay here?

And furthermore, after all, the UN declared that “Zionism” is racism, why should citizenship in the Land of Israel be only for Jews? And the response from the State of Israel is that this is not racism, as it does not depend on “race” but on “religion,” which anyone can convert to (that is, accept the Jewish religion) and then obtain Israeli citizenship. And so, we find that the entire reason for inhabiting the Land of Israel, the entire reason for the existence of the Jewish people in this land, and much more, the entire reason for fighting against the Arabs and shedding blood for the ideology of establishing a state for the Jews, is ultimately based on one thing: the Jewish religion, the Torah. And if, G-d forbid, they do not believe in Judaism, and do not believe in the Torah, the whole issue of a state for the Jews at the cost of endless wars and bloodshed is neither reasonable nor justifiable.

Therefore, any discussion on the topic of morality in general and the Israeli army in particular must be conducted after accepting as a basis the concept that the Torah and Judaism are the truth. And, in general, the Torah and Judaism are the Talmud, the oral Torah, because otherwise, it is not the Jewish religion, but the Karaite religion (what matters is that those authorized to determine what Judaism is, in relation to the State of Israel, are the chief rabbis – and all the chief rabbis unanimously agreed that Judaism includes the absolute belief in everything written in the Talmud).

And after this introduction, will we really be able to examine what is written in the Talmud and the Midrashim?

It was said in the Gemara, Tractate Makot, Page 10a: “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, what is written (Psalms 122:2): ‘Our feet were standing at your gates, O Jerusalem?’” Who made our feet stop in the war? The gates of Jerusalem, which were occupied with the study of the Torah.” Therefore. In other words, the success of those who went to war is thanks to those who remained in Jerusalem to dedicate themselves to the study of the Torah.

And in the Midrash Tanchuma, Parashat Matot, section 4, it is mentioned about the verse “a thousand men per tribe, a thousand men per tribe” (Numbers 31:4), that from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (which had between twenty-four thousand to sixty thousand men of military age) they sent only a thousand men from each tribe to fight, and another thousand men from each tribe were placed to pray throughout the entire war, and the rest of the tribe studied Torah, and thus they were victorious.

And the sages said (in Midrash Bereshit Rabá, Parashá Toldot, Parashá 65, letter 20, and in Yalkut Shimoni Toldot, Remez 115, and others) about the verse “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau,” that “when the voice of Jacob (the people of Israel) is present in the synagogues and the Torah schools, the hands of Esau (that is, the gentiles) cannot fight against the people of Israel, as detailed in the Midrash.”

And in the Holy Zohar (Beshalach, page 58b – in the translation to the sacred language according to the explanation “Matok midvash”), Rabbi Chiya explained about the verse “Your hand, Lord, is majestic in power” – this refers to the Torah, and through it: “Your hand, Lord, shatters the enemy” (that is, by studying the Torah, the enemy is shattered), for there is nothing in the world that breaks the power of the enemy, except when Israel occupies itself with the study of the Torah, for while Israel occupies itself with the Torah, the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, is strengthened and the power of the gentiles weakens. Therefore, the Torah is called strength, as it is written: “The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace” (when the Lord gives the Torah to His people, He will bless His people with peace – so that our enemies fall before us), and when the Israelites do not engage with the Torah, the left (that is, the forces of evil) gains strength, and this causes the power of the gentiles to strengthen, they dominate over Israel and decree decrees that cannot be borne, and only because of this Israel was exiled and dispersed among the nations, etc. Therefore.

And it is also appropriate to mention the Gemara in Nedarim 32a: Rabbi Abahu said in the name of Rabbi Eleazar: Why was our father Abraham punished and his children enslaved in Egypt for two hundred and ten years? Because he made use of the wise for military purposes [in the war against the four kings]. And the early commentators explained there that Abraham, our father, took those men to whom he taught the Torah and used them for war, and this was considered a great sin for which his children were enslaved in Egypt for two hundred and ten years.

The words of Maran Meor Yisrael, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt”l on the prohibition of recruiting the children of yeshivot into the army.

In the letter published by Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l on the 28th of Adar I, 5732, he elaborated on the fact that it is forbidden to recruit young people from the yeshivot into the army, and he cited the words of the Rambam, Hilchot Shemitah veYovel, chapter 13, paragraphs 12-13, that anyone who wishes to study Torah all the time, like the tribe of Levi, is exempt from serving in the army (even if they are a large public, like an entire tribe), and he brought the gemara in Makot, page 10a, which states that to succeed in war, the advice is that the number of Torah students should be at least equal to the number of combatants.

And also see in Ma’adanei HaMelech, vol. 3 (Study of the Torah), p. 43, which elaborates further on this subject, that it is only because of the Torah scholars that the people of Israel win wars. Therefore, he wrote that those who want to recruit the children of the yeshivot are included in what is said in Sanhedrin 99b, that whoever says “what benefits the rabbis” is a heretic and has no part in the world to come. See there.

And in the introduction of the book “Beit Hillel: Book of Memories in Memory of the Passing of Maran Rabbi Ovadia Zatzal,” they wrote about Maran Zatzal: “And from his sickbed, he continued until the complete exhaustion of his strength to act and influence everyone he could to cancel the terrible decree of conscription of the sons of the yeshivot, who were his eyes and the continuing generation of the Golden Age, as his last conversation from the hospital bed in the last weeks of his life with the Minister of Defense became public, who was initially shocked and did not believe that Maran Zatzal was on the phone line and asked to speak with him, saying to him: ‘You are in the hospital and suffering terribly.’” Then Maran Zatzal replied to him, while crying: ‘Of all my pains, I can endure, but the recruitment of the sons of the yeshivot causes me terrible torment and I have no strength to control them.’ And then he asked him to do everything he could to cancel the curse of the decree, while his voice choked with tears, and he began to pour words of blessing upon him and again implored him not to give up on this matter. And as is well known, after this conversation, his medical condition worsened even further, and as is widely known, his terrible declaration during the mourning period for his son, the great Rabbi Yaakov zt”l. End of quote. And what he mentioned about the statement made during the mourning period is what is written in the book “Maadanei HaMelech,” part “Chinuch Yeladim,” page 13, where our master, may his memory be a blessing, told the Prime Minister that the recruitment decree troubled him more than the death of his son, see there. And also see in the book “Orhot Maran” part 2, chapter 20, end of paragraph 1, and in the book “Minhagei HaRishon LeTziyon” part 2, page 48.

And I will mention that even Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, who was accepted as a guide of religious Zionism, unequivocally instructed in the response dated 2 Cheshvan 5746, and said: “Anyone who can continue and study the Torah is certainly preferable, for this study protects the people of Israel even more than military service.” Thus it is written.

And Rabbi Reuven Kerenstein, may God have him in His glory, illustrated all of this excellently in the book “Yechi Reuven,” and said:

Special messengers sent by government ministers, members of the Poalei Zion movement, entered the house of the Rebbe of Tchebin zt”l expressing their sadness, they laid the political crisis on the table, the situation is critical! The army is suffering from a desperate shortage of personnel, in our opinion – they said – the time has come to recruit the students from the yeshivot. From a responsible and public standpoint, there is no other option; it is necessary to recruit all the young men who are in the tents of the Torah. When the Tchebin Rebbe heard their words, he responded with a parable, saying: I will tell you a story that happened to us abroad. In the villages, there were still hardly any cars, just here and there; the main means of transportation for traveling from city to city was the horse and carriage. On a cloudy day, a coachman was traveling with his horse. Suddenly, the horse stopped, ceased to move. The coachman understood that the horse was tired, it was difficult for him to pull, so he didn’t move. He tried to whip it, but to no avail. The horse refused to move on. What will he do? With no other choice, he began unloading the cart’s cargo. To relieve the horse, he placed the load by the side of the road, hoping that the load wouldn’t be stolen until he returned with a new and healthy horse. But even after unloading the cargo, the horse moved forward with difficulty and slowness. The horse is probably sick, that’s why it has difficulty even pulling the cart. The coachman reflected with pain, got down from the cart, thought and thought, what will I do? Until a brilliant idea occurred to him and he got excited. Ah, ah, ah, what a marvel! I have a good piece of advice that will certainly save the situation. The main weight of the cart I am traveling in is the iron wheels, which are very heavy. I will take the wheels apart and hide them by the side of the road. What a “wonderful” idea! The Rebbe of Tchebin turned to them and said, “Know that what you are thinking of doing is difficult in the army, right?” The situation is not simple, but would it be wise to take off the wheels? How will the cart move without wheels? How will the cart move if it has no wheels? Our legs were stopped at your gates, Jerusalem. The wise say: who made our legs stop in the war? The gates of Jerusalem that were dedicated to the Torah, how are our feet in war? Thanks to the study of the Torah, if you remove those wheels, how will you drag the cart along the path? Therefore, and so be it.

And to conclude,

It is noted that everything mentioned above is a reason to prevent the recruitment of yeshiva students, even in the remote possibility of forming a company where the Torah and commandments are strictly observed. However, it is very unlikely that such a reality will materialize, and in practice, the recruits are exposed to many things that yeshiva students observe, and they also lose sensitivity to the observance of Shabbat and many other matters, and so on. And besides all this, it has already been determined by the great military experts that the conscription of yeshiva students will only burden the army’s budget, and instead, it is preferable to direct resources towards the development of military technology, so that, in fact, even from a material perspective, the conscription of yeshiva students is only a detriment to the security of the State of Israel, and even more so from a spiritual perspective, because, as mentioned, the way to protect the Jewish people is to have as many Torah students as possible, for thus the Holy One, Blessed Be He, protects the people of Israel and sends blessings and success into the hands of the soldiers of Israel.

And furthermore, the enemies are in such numbers that, in fact, according to nature, there is no hope of being able to fight against them, and there is no significance in having a few more or a few fewer soldiers, because in any case, divine protection is needed. And as King David said in the Psalms (Psalm 124): “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us (the sons of Ishmael called wild men – thus interpreted by the Arizal), then, indeed, we would have been swallowed alive.” And the people of Israel are like a sheep among seventy wolves that needs miracles to be saved, and miracles are not achieved by having more and more armed soldiers, but by having more and more Torah soldiers who sit in synagogues and study houses and dedicate themselves to the Torah, and because of this, we see protection over the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces and over the Israeli rear guard above nature.

In summary, the young men from the yeshivot play a very important central role in the burden, as not everyone in the army is in combat, since there is a need for people who are secure in computers or logistics, and the young men from the yeshivot are the unit that protects all the people of Israel through their dedication to the study of the holy Torah.

May it be God’s will that, through the study of the holy Torah, we may soon see the fulfillment of the promise of the prophet Isaiah (chapter 2): “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore,” through the coming of our righteous Messiah in our days, amen.

P.S. The article by Rabbi Ohaion (one of the rabbis who respond here in the “Halachic Answers” project) about the call-up of yeshiva students has been published again. See there also the gentleness of his words on this matter.