The attitudes of kipa-wearing Jews vary. Some will follow Rav Shapira’s ruling. Others will not. But all will pray for the welfare of the government and refer to it as the harbinger of the messianic redemption.
“Honestly,” a close friend of mine in Israel said to me, “I think soldiers must obey orders no matter what!”
“My dear friend, I told him: “If we are religious Zionists, shouldn’t we be listening to our rabbis?”
It would appear that religious Zionists must come to grips with this basic idea. We cannot just to turn to our Torah leaders with questions regarding the laws of kashrut and Shabbat. This, I believe, is the beginning of a breakdown of the entire mesorah. At the same time, how can discipline be maintained in an army when a rabbi can give orders for soldiers not to listen to their officers? It undoubtedly spells disaster. My friend continued with one caveat of his own. “What should I do if I am instructed to train the PA security services, knowing full well that they will turn their guns on Jews someday?”
I await a clear understanding from the Torah leaders of the religious Zionist world. Are we still living in the atchalta d’geula, the beginning of our redemption? Is Dr. Matar correct? At what point, should the religious Zionist community refuse to join in the defense of the country? Or is everything we see happening part of the process of our redemption?
Yes, I will continue to pray for the welfare of the state and to thank God for all he has given us. My reason? A simple one: we need not look that far back in our history to realize that our problems are infinitesimally less than we could have imagined sixty years ago. For that alone, we must thank the Almighty.
In the final analysis, though, I remain confused and frustrated.