The former Sephardic chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef recently issued a
religious prohibition (PULLED OUT OF HIS YASHVAN יַשְׁבָן) PM - against serving in the Israel Defense Forces
(IDF), even if the alternative is complete idleness on the part of those
registered yeshiva students who have no real interest in full-time
Torah study. His announcement seeks to protect young Sephardic Haredim
from secularization, as some claim would occur when exposed to the
diversity of the IDF. It may be, however, that in practice, Rabbi Yosef
is too late.
CLICK: יַשְׁבָן
https://context.reverso.net/translation/hebrew-english/%D7%99%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%9F
At a grassroots level, a sea change is already underway among
young Haredim in terms of motivation and desire to perform meaningful
military service. Even if Rabbi Yosef’s concerns relate to the drafting
of Sephardic yeshiva students in place of their Lithuanian and Hasidic
counterparts, a sober and cautious examination of developments, along
with growing testimonies from the field, indicate that the traumatic
events of the last year deeply shook parts of the Haredi public, and
especially the Sephardi public.
Many young men from the more modern and integrationist elements
of Haredi society have experienced considerable pangs of conscience and
doubts about their lack of participation in shouldering the country’s
defense burden, and about the price in blood and fear paid by the
Israeli public who do serve in the military.
Some of these young Haredim — most of them married fathers, long
past the age of exemption from military service (26) — have volunteered
to serve in the IDF and pay their part in the collective effort. These
are mostly men on the margins of the isolationist Haredi community, in
which the majority of the rabbinical and political leadership
consistently and stubbornly opposes any move to draft yeshiva students.
Almost 1,150 have volunteered for “Stage 2” service, which
involves a rapid two-week military training course, followed by reserve
duty as medics or ambulance drivers, in IDF Home Front units responsible
for identifying bodies and more. In addition, hundreds of younger
Haredi men, aged 18–24, have signed up for combat and combat-support
roles, including in specially tailored Haredi service tracks.
There is no doubt that, in the current painful and entirely
unequal circumstances, this number of enlistees is a drop in the ocean
compared to the more-than-60,000 Haredi men who still avoid any kind of
military service by remaining under the aegis of their yeshivas. The
public and political anger at this frustrating situation is entirely
justified. Despite that, we should all pay attention to those sections
of Haredi society that are largely hidden from public view. That is
where there have been major shifts recently, and in which there are now
cautious and hesitant relations with mainstream Israeli society,
including some turning to serve in the military. Indeed, these are the
sections of the Haredi world from which Rabbi Yosef wants to protect his
flock, lest they stray and (heaven forbid) enlist in the IDF, enter
higher education, or gain an occupation outside the world of Torah.
Despite Rabbi Yosef’s pronouncement, there are various Haredi
organizations, entrepreneurs, and leading public figures who are well
aware of the historic nature of the current hour. They are advancing
unique new initiatives and investing every effort along every possible
avenue of activity, in order to identify and assist Haredi men who wish
to undertake high-quality and meaningful military service. These include
a Haredi youth movement, special pre-military academies for Haredi
young men, Haredi yeshivot hesder (combining military service with high-level Torah study), and programs to prepare mentally for combat service.
Some of these initiatives are meeting with growing interest and
success among young Haredim, while others have experienced challenges
related to lack of motivation, cultural and social fears, lack of
community legitimacy, and organizational and budgetary difficulties.
Over the last year, various civil society organizations have also joined
this effort, preparing work plans and guidelines to help the IDF
improve its mechanisms for enlisting and integrating Haredim.
Needless to say, these activities have aroused fierce opposition
from the Haredi leadership and the majority of the Haredi public. Those
working to advance military service are seen as undermining the
traditional Haredi ethos, and are often subjected to being denounced and
condemned by the broader community.
The strongest oppositional forces against these changes are to be
found, of course, among the Haredi religious and political leadership,
with Rabbi Yosef as just one example. These leaders are making every
effort to fend off a political and public compromise that will result in
Haredi 18-year-olds — who now constitute 18 percent of the military
draft year cohort — fulfilling their moral and ethical social duty.
Unfortunately, these Haredi leaders are being backed by the government
of Israel, which is prepared to have the general public pay the price of
endless reserve duty, while simultaneously erecting bureaucratic and
budgetary hurdles against Haredi initiatives promoting military service.
Thus, the government is providing de facto support for the line taken
by the Haredi leadership, which runs counter to the public interest,
and, some would say, counter to Torah values too.
It is time for the Haredi leadership to come to its senses and
recognize the moral and national importance of meaningful military
service by its followers, and to reach a compromise that will benefit
the entire population of Israel and provide opportunities for those
young Haredim who are not natural Torah scholars and who thus find
themselves without a promising spiritual or material future.
Only a combination of balanced, fair, top-down primary
legislation with bottom-up grassroots initiatives can resolve one of the
most painful issues that is harming Israeli solidarity at a time when
it is so desperately needed. After all the pain and loss endured, we can
only hope that this time, the representatives of the Haredi public will
rise above the familiar petty politics and take brave and honorable
decisions. The Haredi street is already prepared for the next step.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/dont-let-haredi-leadership-block-the-way-of-haredim-who-want-to-enlist/
