A journalist made waves yesterday when she posted online a video of two young Haredi men (18 years old) who knocked on the door of her home and asked for tzedaka for hachnasat kalla. She asked them about it being erev Yom Haatzmaut and why they are not serving in the army after they confirmed they are 18 years old, and they left empty handed...

The successful test of the new Laser Defense Interceptor announced by Israel just this past week is really cool.

From what I recall, and pardon me if I do not remember it entirely accurately as it was a long time ago, as I was approaching the age of 18 years, I was required to register for the US armed forces draft. Even though there is no forced or automatic conscription and it is all voluntary, we had to register, in case one day the USA would decide to go back to a compulsory draft.

An Orthodox Hassidic Jewish sailor in the US Navy, aboard Aircraft Carrier Theodore Roosevelt, has been fighting for an exemption from shaving. he wants to keep his beard for religious reasons.

I learned something new today.

According to Calcalist, avreichim get a full exemption form the army when they hit 25. They only need the yeshiva bochur deferment until they hit the age of 25. So, base don what we have always thought, that avreichim don't join the workforce because of their situation with the army preventing them from doing so, is not relevant after 25. So far so good.

The new fact is that only 22% of avreichim over the age of 25 leave kollel and join the workforce. 78% of avreichim stay in yeshiva long term, not because they are stuck there because of the army or in order to avoid the army, but because they choose to be there.

Since the national debate over shivyon bnetel, sharing the burden of equal army service, seems to mostly accept, and therefore allow, yeshiva bochurim to learn for at least a few years before they might be required to serve in the army under any plan that might be accepted into law, it seems that this age 25 cutoff for avreichim is probably the most important barometer.

It seems likely that lowering or raising the cutoff age will do little to help, or hurt, anyone. Unless you think that after 25 they are not leaving kollel because at that point they feel stuck with no other realistic options, they are not leaving because they, for the most part, don't want to. They likely wont leave at a younger age either.

If you think they should be encouraged to leave, then you can come up with other programs to try to change the balance, to increase the 22% leaving to join the workforce, but that is already trying to manipulate someone's chosen lifestyle. The debate has always been about pulling out the issue that prevents them from doing what they want, but these numbers indicate they mostly are doing what they want.

The one thing missing that I would like to know from this is if after 25 only 22% leave the yeshiva world - that is between 25 and what age? Is it as soon as they hit 25? Maybe when they hit 28 or 30 or 35 more leave? 25 is still reasonably young enough to go out, join a program to learn a profession or trade and start working, yet they are largely choosing not to. If they are leaving but only at 30 or 35, that would be very different, as starting to learn a profession at that age is already far more difficult.

We have all heard many times the famous story of the meetings of the Chazon Ish and David Ben Gurion and things that were discussed there. I am referring specifically to the agreement that became the basis for the status quo on exemptions or deferrals of army service for the Haredi yeshiva students. The agreement had Ben Gurion agreeing to an exemption for the 400 yeshiva students at the time. That has become the basis for the exemptions and deferrals for what is no w tens of thousands of yeshiva students and is used every time the discussion of what to do arises anew.

The story is the story and what is done is done. I don't think I have ever seen this before, but it turns out that Ben Gurion later in 1963 sent a letter to Levy Eshkol expressing his regret for that agreement. He does not really regret the exemption of the yeshiva students and says it is at least worth investigating if this should be the policy or not - it is how he takes that to explore this as the cause of the growing Haredi extremism and what should happen to extremists.

I just don't like that the source for the letter seems to only be Hiddush and Haaretz, but, as they say, accept truth from wherever it might be found.. so here's the letter (and the Ben Gurion Heritage Foundation has affirmed the letter as true):

Ben-Gurion writes: "Perhaps there is reason to revisit the question of men in yeshivas, if they actually do need to be exempt from their army obligation." The haredi establishment rejected service in small numbers in 1949, allowing a small number from their community to study full-time in yeshiva. The agreement was established based on the assumption that students of high level yeshivot would be exempt from the military as long as they committed themselves to full-time Torah learning and in no other business, even other educational or voluntary pursuits. These yeshiva students embraced the idea that "His Torah is his art". In 1948, there were 400 such students learning in yeshivot.
In his letter to Eshkol, Ben-Gurion writes "The wild behavior of these extremists has crossed every boundary and I believe that I am in part responsible. I released these men from their obligation to serve the army. Although I made these decision when the numbers were small, but they continue to multiply, and in their unruliness, they are a danger to the honor of the country." 

Ben-Gurion continues: "I recommend that every boy in yeshiva age 18 and over that is caught in these communities breaking the law, throwing stones, disturbing the peace or committing other acts of violence and bullying, draft them immediately into the military and have them serve just as all other young people do--30 months--not in a religious position, but as a regular soldier. There might be reason to investigate the question of all yeshiva students, if they truly need exemptions from military service. But law breakers certainly do not deserve this questionable privilege."

This LTTE appeared in the HaPelles newspaper

Translation:
We wanted to inform the bnei torah community regarding the issue of renting apartments that we almost failed in without realizing. As a rental landlord we were pressured to find a renter for our apartment, specifically because it had sat empty for a period of time. One day a mother comes with the sister of a bride to see the apartment, and we were under the impression that this was a "beis yaakov" family. They said they wanted it and wanted to come to agreement as to the price of the rent, but were waiting for the final ok of the bride, when she would come later to see it.
The next day the bride comes and was favorably impressed with the apartment, but in ad hoc conversation it was mentioned that the chosson wanting to rent the apartment is in the army.
We were literally a step away from coming to an agreement and only by a miracle were we saved at the last moment from bringing into our house a person dressed in army uniform who would be walking around our haredi neighborhood in the uniform and adding some cooling down during the acclimatization period of the army draft law.
Landlords, pay attention and do not give in to the pressure of time and money! and by that we will fulfill the mitzva of [serving God" with all your being"

Yeshiva bochurim try to avoid the draft... no, not the Israeli draft, but the Ukrainian draft.

I did not even know there were yeshivot in the Ukraine, but it seems that yeshiva bochurim in some yeshivot in Kiev have been receiving draft notices o the Ukranian army, in light of the situation with Russia and the island of Crimea..

While so far they only had to show up to the draft board and show their presence, if it becomes a full-fledged war, they can be called up for service.

While some say they might try to get into Russia, others say if they get called up they will leave and move to Israel..
source: NRG and Bechadrei

I guess if the choice is the Ukrainian army or the Israeli army, the Israeli army should be better...

It is also a lesson, no matter where you are, there are societal responsibilities. No matter how good you think you have it and how the government leaves you alone - one day they might just call on you to do something you don't want to do...

In "retaliation" for the recent Supreme Court decision ordering the stoppage of government funding for yeshivot with students who have not served in the army, MK Eli Yishai submitted a bill proposing a law that would stop subsidies to institutions of higher education if the student body consists of more than 20% who have shirked their service.

Yishai explained that this law tests the Supreme Court on the issue of equality. There is no reason the law should apply to yeshivot and their students and not apply to students of universities who have evaded army service.
source: Bechadrei

Makes sense to me.

I wonder if any university or institution of higher education is at risk, if the law will pass, of losing funding. 20% of the student body sounds like a lot.

Anyways, the funding should be, I think, on a per student basis. The yeshivot and universities should receive funding for any student that is legal - has served in the army or appeared before the draft board and gone through the entire legal process, and should not receive money (based on the law) for any student that did not. Percentages shouldn't matter.

We've heard a lot over the past year or two about cutting budgets from yeshivas or students that avoid army service, below certain percentages of the student body - both in coming legislation and the demand for it.

The discussion and legality will now move form solely being in the arena of the Haredi students and move to also deal with the university student community.

MK Yoni Shetboun (Habayit Hayehudi) has proposed a law by which the government will cut any academic  subsidies from students who evaded army service.  

Currently, any student who is studying in a university that is government funded enjoys subsidies for his tuition. The student pays about 10000NIS for the academic year, and the State pays the rest, about double what the student paid. If Shetboun's proposal will pass, army evaders will not get that subsidy, making university study very expensive.

The law passed its vote in the legislative committee by an overwhelming majority, and will be prepared for voting in the Knesset.
(source: Ynet)

This is one of the deficiencies of having a draft - it prevents anyone and everyone from moving on in life, until they fulfill that obligation. But if there is going to be a draft, and if there is going to be reprisals against some who evade service, it is fair that the reprisals are in place for anyone who evades service.

Minister of Finance Yair Lapid has turned back history by threatening to do everything in his power to have the 2 current Chief Rabbis fired - Rabbis Dovid Lau and Yitzchak Yosef. Why? Because they both expressed their opinion that females should not be drafted into the IDF.

In 1949 the law was passed obligating women to be drafted into the Israeli army. Israel was the first country to have a mandatory draft for women. The issue led to an acrimonious fight through the next few years between the government and the religious groups especially the haredim but also the dati leumi, which led to the formation of sherut leumi and also to the right of religious women to acquire an exemption from service on the basis of religion.

Upon the recent statement by the current chief rabbis, which came as a result of a halachic discussion due to an increasing trend of religious women joining the army for full service, Lapid threatened to fire them. Lapid said that it is a chutzpa and a scandal and he will work to get them  fired... they are State  employees making a nice salary from the State, sitting in comfortable offices, with cars at their service, and saying they do not agree with women serving in the mud and cold... "Dovid Lau and Yitzchak Yosef are not fit to serve any longer as Chief Rabbis."

As a matter of fact, Rabbi Lau has served in the army and continues to serve in the army reserves (at least he did until he was appointed Chief Rabbi). I am not aware of Rabbi Yosef having served in the army. Yair Lapid served in the army in the Armored Corps, but after an asthma attack he was moved to serve as a writer for the army newspaper. Even morally I am not sure he has the right to talk about their offices and comfort vis-a-vis the service of the women. Some people serve in less comfort and some serve in relatively more comfort.

Being a state employee does not obligate a person to toe any specific line. Yair lapid is a State employee just like they are. Lapid too makes a nice salary and has a car at his service. He too sits in a nice office. So do all the ministers and MKs and many others. The Chief Rabbis should not be obligated to change their minds just to fit the government position, or Lapids.

The Chief Rabbis have the obligation to state the halacha as they determine it, and almost all rabbis, if not all of them, are in, and have been in, agreement with the position stated by the current chief rabbis. What they said was nothing new and has been the historical position of the rabbinate. But according to Lapid not only do they not have the right to say anything against what he thinks, after all the government has accepted the rabbinates position and has allowed women the out if they want it, they must be fired for doing so.

Ironically, a former student of Minister of Education Rabbi Shai Peron, from Lapid's Yesh Atid party, found and publicized a statement made by Rabbi Peron from his days as an educator in which he said that no rabbi has ever permitted army service for women.

This type of behavior is unacceptable from someone in such a senior position of government.

Deputy Minister of Defense Danny Danon gets today's FSotD:



Translation:

This morning I visited the first Haredi Army Prep School.
The prep school "Harerei Zion", located in the Gadi camp in the Jordan Valley and will open its doors on August 7th,  will be a rbidge of true sharing the burden in the way of brotherly love and bringing hearts closer. Graduates of the prep school will serve 3 years of front line service in the brigade of "Netzach Yehuda". During the visit, I met with the heads of the prep school and some students, I said I am happy to be here and wish you luck in your studies and your service. As Deputy Defense Minister I plan to continue to work to establishing more such prep schools and encourage the drafting to the IDF among the Haredi community.

This is a sad day for the hareidi-religious Jewish world. This day will be recorded as a dark day for the Jews living in the land of Israel. The government’s abuse of the hareidi-religious minority borders on persecution and cruelty. They have no mandate from the United Nations to run the country this way.

  -- MK Meir Porush (UTJ)

I did not know the United Nations was involved in how the Israeli government deals with its internal affairs, and why they should care about how Israel applies its draft laws on its citizens... According to INN, Porush was basing his statement on the old status quo agreement with David Ben Gurion which was to be used to show that the new state would not impinge on the haredi way of life (I never knew this before - you learn something new every day!). Even if that was really some sort of concern of the United Nations back then, I don't see why anyone would think the United Nations would have any care about such a thing 65 years later.

An interesting law has been proposed that might solve the rift in society over the issue of drafting the Haredim. I do not see it having much of a chance at passing, in part because it has come from the opposition but also because some of the main obstacles are not resolved by it.

MK Meirav Michaeli (Labor) has proposed a law that would give a blanket exemption to Haredim (they are not specified in the law proposal, but would seemingly be the main beneficiaries of it) from army service for reasons of conscience.

According to Michaeli's proposal, anybody coming up to the draft who meets the following three criteria would be automatically exempt from service:

1. submitted by a given time period a declaration to a judge or beis din stating that he/she has 1) religious reasons preventing such service 2) he/she keeps kosher at home and outside of the home 3) does not travel/drive on Shabbos
2. learned in a religious institution (various types are listed) during the 8 years prior to the request for exemption
3. the applicant passes an exam testing their knowledge in Torah (the content and type of the tests will be decided in the details of the law)

After all that, after the incendiary election campaign, after the invective thrown back and forth and the incessant fighting and bad blood generated in the process, the Finance Ministry is now saying they do not even have the money necessary to draft the haredim. Implementing such a process is very expensive, creating new units, incentivizing the target draftees, etc. With all the budget cuts, they just cannot come up with the money necessary for these programs.
(source: NRG)

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, applying his wit and cynicism to the situation, says that despite current statements, he expects the Finance Ministry will be able to find and come up with the money necessary, as they turned this into a big issue. he said that this is an attempt to force them to cut money from elsewhere so that they will be able to use available funds for the draft of haredim.

It turns out, if this is the way it is going to go down, that there was not even a need to ban the haredim from the coalition. The purpose of that was to be able to push forth the agenda of drafting the haredim, and of implementing a core curriculum in the haredi educational system, without having to deal with the opposition and haggling of haredi coalition partners. if that is not going to happen, there was no reason to ban the haredim from the coalition.

MK Moshe Feiglin's weekly update this past week included a letter he had sent to the various party who are likely to be a part of the coming coalition, and those who are focusing right now on the issue of "shivyon b'netel" - the sharing of the burden of army service.

Feiglin has been a proponent of the canceling of the draft and turning the IDF into a professional army. In his latest update, Feiglin explains further his plan - briefly that is to keep the Mandatory Draft Law, but allow the army to only draft those people that it needs, while most recruits will serve a training period of about two months and will then be discharged. This will allow them a basic level of training that will allow them to be drafted and be useful in a time of emergency.. There will be recruits for different amounts of time, based on the task and role they volunteer for, reserve duty soldiers will be paid higher rates and given national priority classification for various aspects of benefits in society such as academics, housing and employment.

According to Feiglin's plan, everybody will receive some training, but only those who want to will actually serve in the army.

Whether his plan is feasible or not, and whether it will work or not the way he thinks it will, I do not know. I do wonder how he thinks this will solve the national heated discussion, which he is trying to put to rest with his proposal at this time.

Does MK Feiglin really think that, should his proposal be accepted and passed, the Haredi leadership will agree to "clear out the yeshivot" (terminology used by the haredi leadership, not by Feiglin or by any of the other party leaders looking for a solution to "shivyon b'netel") even for just a period of two months?

It is true that serving for two months in basic training, according to Feiglin's plan, will then free them up for the rest of their lives. They will be able to go back to yeshiva and learn, if they want to, or to work if they want to, or to university or to travel abroad or to wherever and whatever they want. However, the haredi opposition to the army draft was never about how much time the service was meant to be. They weren't opposed to the 3 years of army service, but to the army service. They don't want their boys leaving yeshiva and serving in a non-religious environment, for however much time it is meant to be. They don't want their boys serving under the command of secular officers, in the presence of females, being fed food that might not be the "right" hechsher, and of being exposed to the world outside the yeshiva. To the haredi leadership, two months is no better than 3 years. I do not see why or how Feiglin believes this solution is one that the haredi leadership will agree to.

I don't know if the professional army solution is good or not for the country and the army. I am not offering an opinion on that, I am definitely not criticizing it, and I do find the concept intriguing. I just don't see how it solves the issue that is the focus of the current debate and conflict between communities - the drafting of the Haredi community. It hasn't happened with the service period being 3 years and I don't see why it should happen if the service period is 2 months. And if it isn't going to happen anyway, if it is not going to solve the fragmentation of society as Feiglin describes, then what's the point?

Finally a great solution to the army problem for haredim. This will not change the issue of "sharing the burden", nor will it be accepted en masse or with open arms by the haredi leadership, but it is another solution that will at least allow those who want, or need, to go to the army to do so without "compromising" their lifestyle.

According to Kikar (they use the army periodical Bamachane as the source, but I could not find it on their website, which does not seem to updated very frequently), the IDF rabbinical unit is working to set up a new hesder yeshiva geared specifically for haredim. The yeshiva would operate ona  different schedule than the standard hesder yeshivot, but more or less along the same idea. They hope to have 30 students for the coming year, Elul 5773, the first year of its operation, and then to grow from there.

Personally, unless they limit it to 30 students maximum, I would expect that they will get far more than 30 students.

According to the report, the new hesder yeshiva will combine learning Torah with vocational or career  training and then the students will be moved into the haredi army units of Nachal Haredi and Shah"ar. The yeshiva will not just be for married haredi students, but also for younger single students. In addition, the learning will be led by rabbonim not connected to the army, and tuition will be free.

As I said, unless they limit it to 30 for the first year, there is no reason a program like this should not attract a much larger group of students.

I would not expect a program like this to be met with open arms by the Haredi leadership. They will reject it as being an attempt to pull guys out of the regular yeshiva system. Eventually it will probably receive quiet acceptance.

Instead of fighting for forcing the draft upon the haredim, something that will never work and will likely reverse the progress made over the past few years that has been proven to be increasing the annual influx of haredim into the army, more programs like this need to be created. There are enough haredim who want, or need, to go to the army, that with enough programs in place, much of the problem would be solved naturally. It would not be a full solution to the "shivyon b'netel" issue, but it will solve a lot of the problem.

The following exchange that took place between Aryeh Deri and Rav Amsalem's people is enlightening and entertaining.

As Srugim reports, Aryeh Deri went on the radio criticizing Rav Chaim Amsalem for his plan about drafting the yeshiva students. Deri said that all the MKs of Shas served full service in the army, and some are handicapped form it, except for himself and Arial Attias who both served shortened services as jobniks. the only SHAS MK who did not serve at all was Rav Amsalem, who had been a Shas MK until recently.

The head of Am Shalem's campaign called in to respond and said that the reason Rav Amsalem did not serve in the army is because he was actually learning in yeshiva, he was considered an iluy, a prodigy of sorts, to which, he says, Rav Ovadia Yosef can testify, and in Rav Amsalem's plan he says yeshiva students should all do army service except for those considered to be iluyim. On the other hand, he continued, Deri sat in jail after the courts declared him a criminal, and now is trying to badmouth Rav Amsalem. Rav Amsalem learned torah and did not sit in jail.

I love it, though it does leave a bad taste...

A Guest Post by Rabbi Scott Kahn

What is going to come of the Plesner Committee's recommendations and the political process of drafting the haredi community remains to be seen, but it looks like hard times all around are being expected.

The haredi community leadership has long ago declared the idea of drafting the haredi yeshiva boys at age 18, or even at age 23, to be a sha'as shmad. That is considered as bad as it gets. Think of the times of the Romans not allowing Torah study and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai needing to hide out in a cave. Think about the Greeks outlawing Torah study and the people studying in caves and the kids playing dreidel to deflect the supervisors. The declaration of this being shaas shmad turns this into an equivalent of some of the darkest times in Jewish history.

It is not for me to argue on whether this will be a shaas shmad or not - perhaps diminishing the amount of torah learning by even a tiny bit can be considered shaas shmad. However, the difference here is that nobody is shutting down yeshivot, nobody is outlawing torah study. All they are doing (not to minimize the effect or the seriousness of the issue) is saying young men from age x (yet to be determined) will have to do army or civil service. torah learning will still be allowed. yeshivot will continue to function with boys both post and pre army/civil service, along with boys who will inevitably be disqualified and exempted for health or other reasons. Not to minimize the seriousness of diminishing the amount of Torah study, but it is not exactly the same situation as the historical shaas shmad.

Regarding shaas shmad, Rav Yitzchak Sheiner, rosh yeshiva of Kaminetz, spoke to his students, as reported on Ladaat, about the potentially serious situation and shaas shmad the yeshivot are facing. Rav Sheiner called on the boys to get very serious, to not waste any time, study during seder and at night go to bed right after learning and not hang around at all. And of course to daven, at least in the regular prayers if not adding new ones, that the decree should be annulled.

And on that note, things might be more serious for the Jewish community, especially the frum community, than just shaas shmad in Israel. The New York Times is running an op-ed discussing the call of a general in the US Army to renew the draft. If the country must go to war, the idea is behind General Stanley A. McChrystal's proposal, then everybody must feel how serious such a decision is. Only if there is a complete draft, where everybody feels it, will people be able to decide properly whether the USA should be going to war or not.

I don't know how serious the movement is to renew the draft in the USA - maybe it is just a lone voice. Or maybe shaas shmad is coming to the USA as well....

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