Cherishing Torah and Judaism Is Not Uniquely Charedi

OK. So I am an Oysvurf . Which is the Yiddish word for ‘outcast’. That’s the appellation used for someone brazen enough to question what Charedi Gedolim are doing. So if you are a Charedi Gadol, you may very well consider what I am about to say worthy of placing me in that category. I will surely be considered an outcast. Or worse. But I cannot help how I feel. And right now, I feel outraged by what just I read at YWN:

“Gedolei Torah emphasized that the burden upon those working in Eretz Yisroel has become overwhelming, and the askanim who have been carrying this responsibility are collapsing under its weight.”

I would of course agree with that statement - if it referred to supporting the IDF. Soldiers whose mesiras nefesh is literal. They have been putting their lives on the line for their people for amost two years, often serving long tours of duty in war zones for lack of sufficient replacements among the reserves. There are indeed askanim - activists - who work tirelessly to help them and their families. That kind of responsibility, that kind of burden, is surely a worthy cause and can be very exhausting.

But that is NOT what these askanim are doing. The efforts that have so exhausted them are on behalf of Charedim arrested for dodging the draft. That some have been ‘languishing’ in jail for maybe a couple of months is what animates them. THIS is what wakes them up in the middle of the night. THIS is what the Gedolim consider the most important issue of the day. An issue they insist must be fought with everything they have, since the idea of drafting even a single Charedi is considered a threat to the very Torah itself.

Here is how YWN describes it:

“In light of the ever-intensifying gezeirah of giyus in Eretz Yisroel, Gedolei Torah in America have announced the formation of a special new Vaad Hatzalah to stand at the side of bochurim and yungeleit facing unprecedented pressure and danger.
The letter, signed by leading roshei yeshiva and rabbonim, describes the draft as a direct attack on Bnei Torah — an existential threat not only to lomdei Torah in Eretz Yisroel but to the very kiyum of Torah throughout Klal Yisroel.”

I don’t think I can even begin to express my outrage at this attitude. But I will try.

Unprecedented pressure and danger?! They consider a Charedi jailed for refusing to serve in the IDF an unprecedented danger”? Do they not realize that there are young Jews, equally devout and equally committed to Torah study, who face just a bit more danger than being in an Israeli jail?

It is no secret that Hesder Yeshiva students who study Torah diligently when they aren’t fighting in war are represented in the IDF in far greater percentage to their numbers than are secular soldiers to theirs. Soldiers who risk their lives on the front lines daily. Many for months at a time. Some of whom have paid the ultimate price, leaving behind grieving families. Some soldiers with PTSD so severe that they have committed suicide! Others who have been permanently injured or lost their livelihoods due to those overly long tours of duty.

 Are the American Gedolim that are involved in this project oblivious to all that?! Do they consider the ‘crisis’ of drafting some young Israeli Charedim to be more serious than that? …to be dealt with exclusively as the most imminent danger to Judaism?

The only possible explanation is that they do NOT consider any IDF soldiers to be Bnei Torah. How else could they make the following comment?

“All who cherish Torah and Yiddishkeit are called upon to join in this effort,” the Gedolim urged, “to strengthen the hands of those battling for the future of Torah, and to be zocheh to the bracha of Baruch asher yakim es divrei haTorah hazos.”

Well, I DO cherish Torah and Yiddishkeit. Torah study is the essence of our survival. It should be studied diligently by all Jews to the best of their ability. I certainly admire Charedi zeal in this regard. And I would never suggest that they abandon their devotion to learning.

But the notion that Judaism will survive ONLY if the Charedi world is totally exempt from army service - and that anything less will destroy it - is something I cannot agree with. Especially when other Bnei Torah are shedding blood in war right now.

And yet this is what they repeatedly say. I have never heard any of these Gedolim suggest that one can be both a Talmid Chacham and an IDF soldier. Their view seems to be that serving in the IDF is not only disqualifying, but that if Charedim are subject to the same IDF requirements as Hesder yeshiva students, Judaism itself will be destroyed. And the lengths they are going to in order to validate that view is disturbing in the extreme!

I could understand - and even accept that their views differ from mine. Elu V’Elu. But to go as far as they are now, goes too far. It is hurtful to those that serve and their families. Especially if they have lost loved ones.

Why is it that they don’t recognize this?