"Better to be a Torah Student in America than Israel!"
The editor of Mishpacha speaks out
Aryeh Ehrlich is a very prominent charedi journalist. He is the editor of the Israeli edition of Mishpacha magazine, which is towards the more “moderate” side of the charedi spectrum and was banned by more extreme charedi rabbis (such as R. Aharon Feldman’s local son-in-law, R. Elimelech Kornfeld.) Nevertheless, “moderate” is a relative term. Here is what Aryeh Ehrlich recently posted on X regarding the restrictions imposed on charedim who are in yeshiva (until age 26) by Likud’s proposed law, in English translation:
One who learns Torah in the USA or UK, can:
leave the country;
get a driver’s license;
get a college degree;
work;
travel freely internationally;
get a job in government institutions;
benefit from government-subsidized housing;
and receive equal government benefits.
One who learns Torah in the Jewish State (if the law passes) -
is prohibited from leaving Israel until age 23;
may not get a driver’s licence;
may not pursue a degree;
may not work;
and is prevented from receiving government benefits.
And if the enlistment targets are not fully met:
there is no subsidized childcare, and so his wife cannot work;
there are no merit points for income tax reductions;
he must pay social security as if he has a job even if he doesn’t have one (because it is prohibited for him to work);
he receives no discount on public transport;
he has virtually no way to purchase an apartment.
Conclusion:
If you want to learn Torah - it’s better to be a citizen of any country in the West, just not the Jewish state.
For shame.
A disgrace.
A scandal.
Now I’m not going get into his distortions of what the proposed law actually proposes to enforce, which is not at all as he describes it. Suffice it to say that Yated Ne’eman published a remarkable cartoon to reassure its readers who are concerned about the threat of a law that has “teeth”:
As the Yated cartoonist correctly illustrates, the proposed law has about as much bite as a cute little toy poodle, which is the only reason why (some) of the charedi leadership are supporting it. Charedi men have no reason to fear and can continue their daily routine of looking after their kids while their wives work in low-paying jobs to help the family scrape by, together with receiving all kinds of generous government benefits paid for by everyone else.
But there are two bigger problems with Ehrlich’s post.
One is the sheer stupidity of it. Correct, charedim can learn Torah in the US and UK without any concerns about civic duties towards national defense. That’s because charedim in the US and UK represent 0.1% of large nations surrounded by oceans with no existential threats and no requirements for huge armies. Israel, on the other hand, is under enormous existential threats, causing immense strain on the nation, and charedim are a fast-growing third of the Jewish population.
The fact that the editor of a major Jewish magazine does not realize these gigantic crucial differences is bizarre and disturbing. But it’s reflective of the charedi rabbinic and political leadership, which never once addresses the issue of how the huge and growing size of the charedi community affects the economic and military security of the country. All evidence indicates that they never even think about it.
The second problem of Ehrlich’s post, which is unfortunately also very reflective of the charedi community in general, is the attitude of entitlement to freeloading. Why on earth should a million charedim be entitled to receive subsidized childcare, government benefits, discounts on public transportation, and housing subsidies which non-charedim do not receive?! And who on earth is expected to subsidize all this? The non-charedim who also spend years in the army and then have to hold down a job while they serve two-and-a-half months of reserve duty annually until they are fifty?!
There is indeed a shame and disgrace here. It’s the charedi belief that their way of life is ethical and sustainable.