One thing is clear to almost everyone in Israel: The world has changed since Simchas Torah. There is no going back to the way things were.
The subhuman monsters who murdered, raped, and beheaded our brothers and sisters have shaken the world. In Israel, for the most part, there is a tremendous unity of purpose and a sense of brotherhood to fight together for our national future. Unlike what was going on before October 7, when left and right, religious and secular, were at each other’s throats, there are now countless examples of Jews of all types coming together, appreciating each other, finding common ground as Jews, and hoping together for Hashem’s help. Many see in this great hope that it is part of the necessary conditions that will hopefully lead to our final redemption, speedily in our days.
However, I believe that the current scenario is very fragile. I am old enough to have lived through the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War and intifadas and other crises and have seen similar unifying moments (although this seems to be the most powerful yet). In all those cases the unity waned soon after the crisis abated, and unfortunately, the sinas chinom that we Jews excel at returned quite quickly.
It is already happening. The leaders of the “Kaplan Movement,” who regularly led rallies of tens of thousands paralyzing the country and did so much damage in the name of “democracy,” found themselves on October 8 without a platform on which to bloviate and feel important. Unfortunately, they found a way to be “relevant” again. They are leading a growing movement that is cynically using the pain of the families of hostages to whip up anti-Netanyahu and anti-government protests, blaming him and the government for the security failures on October 7 and demanding that Netanyahu resign immediately. (They, of course, refuse to admit their part in causing the national weakness that our enemies saw, and blame it all on others.) They have returned to the streets in Kaplan and at the homes of cabinet ministers, and soon will attempt mass rallies countrywide.
While this is, thankfully, still only a minority view, the seething hatred of many is still just under the surface, waiting to be stoked by extremists on both sides. There is enormous resentment against the leadership of the army and the government that left Israel so vulnerable on October 7. Most sane people understand that a day of reckoning must come after the war, but the anger and desire for heads to roll bubbles up more and more frequently. When this finally happens, it is hard to envision that much unity will survive.
My concern, however, is mostly with the charedi public. As I wrote repeatedly before October 7, it is plain that much, if not most, of the anger and protests that were going on were not caused by “Judicial Reform” but by the anger and fear that the secular public has of the growing power and numbers of the religious, and particularly the charedi, community. They feared that the predominantly secular liberal State of Israel is in danger of becoming far more religious and conservative, and were strengthened in those fears by slander and lies in the media and from the intelligentsia.
What is crucial for us to consider is why so many otherwise reasonable fellow Jews harbor such resentment against the charedi community. It is vital for us to understand that from the perspective of the secular public, there is a huge monolithic charedi community that (a) refuses to serve in the army or engage in National Service, (b) seeks huge sums from the government coffers to fund their institutions and support thousands of families as the price for their participation in the government, (c) often seeks to impose halachic restrictions on those who are not interested in observance, and (d) contains those who frequently engage in despicable behavior such as demonstrations for their causes in which they call police and soldiers Nazis.
While much of this is exaggerated by the overwhelmingly anti-religious media, there is too much of it that is true. What concerns me is that once the war is over, there will be no going back to the way things were, and I believe that – unless things change, and change quickly and significantly – there will be a major blow-up between the secular and religious public. Allow me to explain.
On the one hand, in many ways the war has sparked a growing appreciation of the charedim. It is widely recognized that the largely charedi heroes of Zaka and Ichud Hatzalah and other chesed organizations have been providing vital volunteer service under incredibly difficult conditions. Moreover, the unbelievable level of giving and chesed has been incredible. Along with many secular organizations, they have provided food, lodging and every possible need to displaced families. There has been massive and overflowing support for any possible help to the soldiers, including the purchase of needed equipment. There has been a great spiritual revival among the soldiers in which they requested, and charedim have provided, tens of thousands of tzitzis, tefillin and other religious articles, and this has been a major Kiddush Hashem. There is no question that for many the negative stereotypes and prejudices have been broken.
And yet many issues are bubbling to the surface, causing a greater and greater rift. These include:
- This war is incurring a gargantuan financial cost. Not only to replenish military equipment but to rebuild the many villages destroyed, to finance grants for the half million reservists and businesses (e.g. tour guides like me) out of work for months, and the thousands of families who have been displaced from their homes and businesses. As many billions must be expended on these vital costs, there will be little sympathy for financing yeshivas and kollels at the levels that the religious community has grown accustomed to requesting. This goes not only for the government but also for philanthropists who will be directing their donations elsewhere.
- The blanket exemption for all charedi young men from the army and national service. As things now stand, the army will begin large-scale drafting of yeshiva students on April 1 unless the Supreme Court or government intervenes. Any tolerance for continuing the exemption on the part of the Israeli public is quickly evaporating, as the crying need for more soldiers grows daily. The old arguments for exemption are now completely unpersuasive to the unconvinced.
Those include: “They are needed to learn Torah full-time to protect the soldiers.” Although one might argue that this is valid for those who are actually seriously learning full time and not engaged in other activities (which is not a consensus halachic view), many do not meet that criterion. It is wonderful that thousands of young men did so much chesed and gave so much help to those in need, but one might rightfully ask, “Why are they not in the army? Taking nothing away from the efforts, good will and kindness of the young charedi volunteers, it cannot begin to compare to the sacrifice and difficulties faced by those on the battlefields and in danger zones. Why should they not be asked to put themselves in harm’s way when non-charedi young men do not have that choice? Why is it that virtually every non-charedi family has sons and close relatives and dear friends in the army while the charedi public is largely insulated from the horrors they endure?”
Another argument is: “There is only a relatively small number learning; we need to rebuild the Torah world.” This was a very valid argument in the post-Holocaust 1950s when there were only a few hundred full-time yeshiva students in the whole country. Today, baruch Hashem, the religious community has exploded, and there are now hundreds of thousands who seek to be classified as full-time learners. The Torah world has been restored to levels not seen since the Churban Bais HaMikdash, and perhaps before. Moreover, the financial cost of so many who do not work, or work at menial side jobs, is enormous and growing, and unfair to the Israeli taxpayers. There are no fathers-in-law to support this level of need, and the secular Israelis will not stand for it any longer.
A third: “It is difficult or impossible to remain a religious G-d-fearing Jew in the army.” Anyone who has been watching the countless examples of religious soldiers who have created enormous kiddush Hashem and are stellar examples of yiras shamayim knows this is false. It is true that 60 years ago the army was seen by the secular leadership as an educational institution that would persuade young men to leave the old religious galus mentality behind and become proud secular Israelis. However, times have changed. That is no longer the case. If, instead of resisting it, the charedi leadership had cooperated in creating an appropriate hesder-like framework that would maintain proper standards of kashrus and tznius and serious Torah study and tefillah, it could be easily accomplished.
A fourth: “The army does not really need the charedim – they have more than enough people.” Even before the Investigative Committee begins its work, it is obvious that a prime reason for the October 7 failure was an over-reliance on technology. The billion-dollar smart fence that supposedly obviated the need for as many boots on the ground to protect and defend worked about as well as the Maginot line. Moreover, the very real threat that Hezbollah in the North and Fatah in Yehuda and Shomron, assisted by other Muslim countries, will join in the fighting is keeping half a million soldiers on the front lines. There is a deep need for a larger pool of fighters.
Over 500 soldiers have given their lives. Nearly 12,000 have been wounded, of which nearly 3,000 required hospitalization. Very few of these were from the charedi community.
Some young charedi men are not willing to be accused, as Moshe said: “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?” (Bamidbar 32:6), and a few hundred enlisted. There is a groundswell of support within the charedi public for a new approach, but it is not being addressed by the leadership, who largely refuse to consider any change and foster an atmosphere that severely deters any of the young people from serving.
This was widely seen last week when, unfortunately, MK Porush was chosen to deliver the news that due to the desperate need for more soldiers, 1,300 National Religious young men would be pulled from their yeshiva and drafted earlier than planned, and thus would not complete their pre-army Torah training in the medrashot. Furthermore, basic army service would be extended for several months, reserve soldiers would now serve far more frequently and for longer periods than before. The irony of a charedi MK who seeks to shield his constituents from the very service he was demanding of others was not lost on the Israeli and particularly the National Religious communities.
Recently, as well, Dr. Tehila Elizur, a well-respected dati le’umi teacher and lecturer, circulated a letter addressed to charedi mothers of young men who are now exempt from army service. She exclaimed, in part, “This reality is no longer tolerable. It is impossible to live here without an army, and we are all responsible for one another: It is not possible that others risk their children for me, when I and my children will not risk for them. … It’s time for your sons to enlist in the IDF… We no longer stake our hopes on the leaders of charedi society, the heads of yeshiva and kollels, politicians and businessmen. …I wish to direct this painful voice to ultra-Orthodox women because I feel they are the ones who can lead the change, even if it is slow and gradual, within charedi society. ”
And finally: “Young charedi men can not be allowed to enter National Service (Sherut Le’umi), as this is a step on the slippery slope towards the army.” Many young charedim are already engaged in forms of Sherut Leumi, whether it is by volunteering for Hatzalah, Zaka, Chaveirim, Yad Sarah, or many other wonderful organizations. If only this were able to be recognized officially as Sherut Le’umi, many of the complaints about those who shirk their national service would be mitigated.
- The discouragement of young men from receiving a secular education. I am not writing about those who are really learning full time, although an argument can be made there as well. But many, many young men are prevented from supporting their families properly by a lack of willingness to allow them to have a proper education and engage in a lucrative profession. As I argued above, the world has changed in the last sixty years. With the percentage of charedi children being over 25 percent, and growing, the present economic condition is unsustainable from within, and the large public will rebel at supporting it.
I could go on, but this essay is already long. In a coming essay, which may have to wait for the end of the war, I will address another very important part of this issue. But for now, I wish to underscore the point that, in all likelihood, the charedi community will face fierce resistance if they try to make the same demands that they made in the past before joining a government coalition. It is high time to recognize that times have changed and that the once precarious state of the yeshivas and of limud haTorah has greatly improved. While a generation ago it might have been necessary to fiercely oppose the draft of any charedi young man, as all hands were needed on the yeshiva decks, the charedim are now a huge, powerful, and growing community who need to do their share of the national service.
Although much goodwill has been generated, the secular public is likely to have a very short memory when it comes to forming a government after the war, and these resentments are sure to boil over. I can only hope that those who have power and influence in the charedi world will consider these issues and find positive ways to address these needs before, G-d forbid, we descend into a miserable power struggle that will likely not end well.
