"The army has stated that it is facing a manpower shortage and currently needs some 12,000 new soldiers, 7,000 of whom would be combat troops. Approximately 80,000 Haredi men between the ages of 18 and 24 are currently eligible for service and have not enlisted, generating significant resentment among secular and national-religious Israelis who have been doing repeated rounds of reserve service amid the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and elsewhere." TIMES OF ISRAEL

 
The headline in the Times of Israel, and the ensuing article below with the link to the TOI,  sent me to the seforim and racked my memory of the days of mussar in the yeshiva, much of it from the Friday afternoon shmuessin from my beloved Rebbe, Moreinu Harav Avrohom Pam ZTL, of which I kept impeccable notes.

*"As IDF plans crackdown on draft dodgers, Haredim roar defiance and prepare for evasion

After army issues over 50,000 new conscription orders, UTJ spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando promises to ‘make the world tremble’ if evaders arrested"*

The Gemara in Yevamos 79a offers a remarkable definition of Jewish identity:

"שלשה סימנים יש באומה זו: הרחמנים, והביישנים, וגומלי חסדים."

“There are three distinguishing signs of this nation: they are merciful, they are modest, and they perform acts of kindness.”

And then comes a startling comment from Rav:

"כל מי שאין בו רחמים — אין בו זרעו של אברהם אבינו."

“Anyone who lacks mercy — it is certain that he is not of the seed of Avraham Avinu.”

This is not an isolated line; it is an axiom repeated across Shas, Midrashim, and codified in the words of the Rishonim. The implication is radical: if a Jew ceases to reflect the defining traits of the Jewish people — rachmanus, busha, and chesed — it is not merely a behavioral failure, but a question of identity.

This trio of traits is not an ethical ideal; it is a halachic marker. Rashi (Yevamos 79a) comments:

“כיון דאכזרי הוא — בידוע שאינו מזרעו של אברהם.”

Cruelty is not a personality quirk; it is an indictment of spiritual yichus. Rashi understands the Gemara literally: the lack of mercy is a sign of alienness from Avraham's legacy.

Similarly, the Midrash Tanchuma (Noach 5) says:

"שלשה סימנים יש לישראל... וכל מי שאין בו — יש לחשוש לייחוסו."

“If one lacks these traits, one must suspect his lineage.”

The Rambam, in Hilchos Issurei Biah 19:17, while discussing issues of forbidden marriages and family purity, references the concept that improper character may reflect a deeper corruption of yichus. This is not about legal status per se, but about spiritual continuity. The Jewish people are not merely a halachic construct — we are a spiritual family, defined by our middos.

The Maharal (in Netiv HaBusha and Netiv HaRachamim) explains that busha and rachamim are not accidental traits — they are expressions of the Tzelem Elokim. Shame is the awareness of standing in front of G-d. Mercy is the application of G-dliness to the world. To be a Jew is to live these truths reflexively.

If someone consistently lacks these traits, the Maharal argues, they are living in spiritual exile — cut off from their root in Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov.

Thus, when a Torah Jew shows no shame in sin, no mercy toward the suffering, and no drive to help others — the question is no longer “what did he do?”The question becomes: who is he?

In our generation, the Jewish heart is under attack.

In some communities, shame is dismissed as weakness — replaced by arrogance. Mercy is replaced by ideological coldness — “we must protect ourselves,” becomes an excuse for silence in the face of injustice. And kindness is replaced by bureaucracy, tribalism, and power.

There are Torah Jews today — leaders — who dismiss the suffering of others as irrelevant, without the slightest busha, who show no compassion for fellow Jews outside their circle.

If these three markers disappear, the Gemara says we must raise the alarm. Not to declare people “not Jewish,” chas v’shalom — but to declare that something is deeply off. This is not about halachah — it’s about neshama.

The Navi Yeshayahu (1:3) laments:

"ידע שור קונהו... ישראל לא ידע, עמי לא התבונן."

The ox knows its master. But My nation — no longer recognizes who they are.

A Jew who no longer shows rachamim, no longer knows shame, and no longer practices kindness, is not only sinning — he is forgetting who he is. And worse — forgetting whose child he is.

We are the children of Avraham — father of mercy. We are the students of Moshe — the humblest man.
We are the people of Torah — a Torah whose ways are darchei noam.

If we cannot see mercy, shame, and kindness in ourselves — what Torah are we studying? May we merit to feel again. To blush again. To care again. And may Hashem, Who is merciful, modest, and kind — look upon His people and say: Yes. These are My children. PM

 *

TIMES OF ISRAEL: 

As IDF plans crackdown on draft dodgers, Haredim roar defiance and prepare for evasion

After army issues over 50,000 new conscription orders, UTJ spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando promises to ‘make the world tremble’ if evaders arrested*