"Anything but the IDF"

An astonishing charedi strategy being proposed

If it weren’t for the fact that Rav Tzvi Friedman, leader of the extremist Peleg Yerushalmi faction, declared that it would be better that his grandchildren would eat pork or be killed by Hamas rather than join the IDF, this would be unbelievable. From the Kikar Shabbos website (translation is via Google translate):

“In light of the government’s harsh decree to draft yeshiva students into the defense forces, a number of distinguished Rabbonim and askanim (community activists) have met to devise strategies to save the world of Torah. There is still hope that the accursed law will be revoked, but plans are being drawn up for scenarios in which the law is brought into effect. While some of these strategies may appear extreme, it is a matter of the very survival of Torah, and no price is too great to pay for this.

“At root, the plan is to achieve mass exemptions on an individual basis, rather than a categorical exemption for yeshiva students. There are a number of ways in which such individual exemptions can be obtained. It would be necessary to avoid using the same approach for each yeshiva student, and instead to allocate different approaches to different people.

“One way is to obtain exemption based upon mental illness. The IDF has developed techniques to detect those who fake such conditions. However, with sufficient training, it is possible to learn how to fully emulate various psychological conditions. Due to risk of surveillance by army authorities, these conditions would have to be simulated on a permanent basis and truly internalized. But the gravity of the situation will more than justify these efforts.

“For those who are unable to learn to simulate such conditions, another category of exemption is physical disability. There are many physical imperfections which disqualify a person from army service, but which do not interfere with the holy life of a yeshiva student. It is possible, via surgery, to create these physical imperfections. For example, one can lead a full life as a yeshiva student without a full number of toes, but one is rejected from army service. The same is true for the removal of other body parts, such as the finger which is used to fire a gun.

“Obviously, these sorts of actions normally involve grave halachic problems. However, Eis la’asos l’Hashem, heferu Torasecha - “It is a time to act for God, overturn the Torah.” Even the Torah must sometimes be overturned, for the sake of Torah itself. No prohibition is as great as destroying the yeshivos.

“There is an additional approach to be employed, which may seem strange to some but which may be the most legally effective. As of three years ago, the Supreme Court recognizes, for identification purposes, a change of gender without requiring any surgery or hormone treatments. As long as several professionals in the medical field confirm that a person fully identifies as being of the female gender, this is accepted into law. A number of physicians and other such professionals have been identified who will attest to the gender transformation of yeshiva students, with a minimum of change on the students’ behalf. As religious “girls,” they will be entitled to an army exemption.

“Another possibility which is being explored for viability, is to ‘officially’ convert one’s religion. Rambam rules that Islam is not Avoda Zara. As Muslims, army service becomes optional and is not enforced. Halachic experts are exploring the extent of change required to force government authorities to acknowledge a change in religion, and whether it will be possible for yeshiva students to incorporate such changes into their lifestyle.

“It must be stressed again that all these actions would ordinarily be absolutely forbidden according to halacha. But the most important goal for someone with Yiras Shamayim is to avoid the churban of army service, even until the point of actual mesirus nefesh, which is also being explored as a last resort. Spiritual death is worse than physical death. Compared to that, all these actions are not forbidden and are in fact the greatest mitzvah.”

I guess if you can even die rather than enlist, you can certainly become mentally ill, amputate your limbs, transition to a different gender, and “convert” to Islam. Otherwise it would be unbelievable.

(UPDATE: Check the date that this was posted. And see the follow-up post.)