{"id":19574,"date":"2024-11-06T11:10:21","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T09:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/?p=19574"},"modified":"2024-12-07T21:10:17","modified_gmt":"2024-12-07T19:10:17","slug":"how-are-ultra-orthodox-jews-protesting-idf-service-if-theyre-too-busy-studying-torah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/how-are-ultra-orthodox-jews-protesting-idf-service-if-theyre-too-busy-studying-torah\/","title":{"rendered":"How are Ultra-Orthodox Jews Protesting IDF Service if They’re Too Busy Studying Torah?"},"content":{"rendered":"While demanding that the government function better, shouldn\u2019t the government also reallocate some money funding ultra-Orthodox draft-dodgers to better protect our soldiers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Thursday, I jogged by Jerusalem\u2019s recruiting station \u2013 and saw a few dozen ultra-Orthodox protesters. I was furious. If they\u2019re supposed to be defending us by studying Torah full-time, how could they find time to protest? Did they arrange a secret multi-front ceasefire? Most outrageous was their arrogance and callousness. It\u2019s hard enough saying goodbye to your children on army enlistment day. During a bloody war, how dare these brats add a scintilla of stress to any parent \u2013 or recruit.<\/p>\n

Even worse, dozens of soldiers and police were there, and at other recruiting stations \u2013 distracted from defending us against evil enemies to stop these unholy hooligans from harassing self-sacrificing patriots.<\/p>\n

The scene highlighted the inequity tormenting Israel<\/a>. Too many have lost lives, limbs, peace of mind \u2013 or time itself. One of my sons has served 307 days; my new son-in-law has served 255 days. Hundreds of thousands more have served countless days and nights, stressing their spouses and children.<\/p>\n

Moreover, we keep hearing from the front that our soldiers are poorly equipped. We have raised money from generous North American friends and Israeli neighbors to buy our kids \u2013 and their buddies \u2013 kevlar armor plates to fill the empty vests they received, comfortable combat boots, quality helmets, etc. We also tapped extraordinary multi-million dollar efforts subsidizing soldiers \u2013 and know of individuals who maxed out their credit cards \u2013 usually provisioning not just their kids, but everyone in the unit.<\/p>\n

While demanding that the government function better, shouldn\u2019t the government also reallocate some money funding ultra-Orthodox draft-dodgers to better protect our soldiers? And why shouldn\u2019t ultra-Orthodox leaders help raise these funds \u2013 to thank those ready to sacrifice their lives to also defend them?<\/p>\n

UNIVERSAL SERVICE involves more than filling the army\u2019s personnel shortfall. That\u2019s the most pressing reason why we must phase in more and more ultra-Orthodox recruits.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a deeper reason, too. The army has been Israel\u2019s greatest integrator, unifier, and leveler. Coming from different sectors, with diverse political, religious, and cultural orientations, soldiers live together and befriend one another. It\u2019s one of the secrets to Israel\u2019s cohesion \u2013 and battlefield success. If haredi identity can\u2019t survive close contact with others, maybe ultra-Orthodoxy itself is flawed.<\/p>\n

By contrast, consider America\u2019s fragmentation. When we historians analyze this insane election \u2013 and painful period \u2013 we will highlight the Big Sort that created Democratic and Republican enclaves. We will blame social media, Trumpians, woke Democrats and others for the Loud Shouts that replaced reasoned debate with all-or-nothing, my-way-or-the-highway, tribal shrieks. But we will also target the Great Escape: how Americans withdrew from interacting with one another \u2013 and especially those who differ politically \u2013 on Main Street, at church, online and in the military.<\/p>\n

US draft ended in 1973<\/b><\/p>\n

America\u2019s draft ended in 1973. Back then, veterans made up 80% of the Congress; by 2023 it was barely 20%. More broadly, in 1980, some 18% of American adults were veterans; by 2022, it was just a third of that \u2013 6%.<\/p>\n

Reservists spend lots of time together. They can place each comrade on the religious and political spectrum. But it\u2019s irrelevant when they divvy-up everyday tasks or combat missions. And they all show up to their army friends\u2019 weddings, bar mitzvahs \u2013 and, alas, funerals.<\/p>\n

So beware, \u201cthe religious\u201d risk alienating us all. Gotcha. Of course, we\u2019re not talking about \u201cthe religious.\u201d Especially this past week, we in Jerusalem again mourned so many wonderful religious Zionist soldiers who had so much to live for \u2013 yet fell in battle. I don\u2019t want to calculate the percentages of who has died from which sector. All I know is that much of the nation has sacrificed to save the nation and Western civilization \u2013 with religious Zionists leading the way honorably, and yes, disproportionately.<\/p>\n

IT\u2019S JUST \u201cthe haredim<\/a>\u201d who will suffer a huge political backlash. Gotcha again. I attack the haredi draft dodgers, not \u201cthe haredim.\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know it last Thursday, but these protesting slacker scholars mobilized because, as Ynet later reported, \u201cabout 150 young ultra-Orthodox men completed a training course in preparation for enlistment through a project that recruits haredim for regular military service. This initiative was launched last November by haredi activists, including Major (Res.) Moshe Turgeman, CEO of the Future of Israel Association, and is supported by the IDF and the Jerusalem Municipality.\u201d The haredi world is highly sectorial \u2013 we should find and encourage more of its patriotic sects, willing to serve.<\/p>\n

Here, then, are 150 rays of hope \u2013 demonstrating more courage, more patriotism, and more Zionist spirit, than many Likud members thrice their age. But, perhaps, the ground is starting to shift. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is demanding 7,000 new haredi draft orders.<\/p>\n

One Likud rookie, MK Dan Illouz, has bravely spoken up in favor \u2013 and deserves massive support. \u201cExempting such a large group of people from their obligation to serve in the IDF at such a critical time is anti-Zionist,\u201d he boldly tweeted on X. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> tried bullying him, the 38-year-old Illouz resisted, affirming the \u201cdeep Zionism\u201d that brought him from Montreal to Israel \u2013 and motivates him.<\/p>\n

A Likud leader, Yuli Edelstein, also finally rebelled, opposing \u201cany law that attempts to circumvent our ceaseless efforts to expand the conscription base in the State of Israel.\u201d And Gideon Sa\u2019ar\u2019s New Hope Party will also oppose the \u201cDaycare Bill,\u201d subsidizing draft-dodgers\u2019 children, and thus \u201cencouraging evasion from service in the IDF.\u201d<\/p>\n

These Likud rebels deserve our gratitude. They have also undoubtedly earned thanks from many soldiers and Religious Zionists \u2013 and haredi warriors, too.<\/p>\n

Originally published in JPost<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While demanding that the government function better, shouldn\u2019t the government also reallocate some money funding ultra-Orthodox draft-dodgers to better protect our soldiers?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":19259,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topics-haredim","library-op-ed","library-publications"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19574"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19896,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19574\/revisions\/19896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jppi.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}