Needed: More Yeshiva Students!
Why is nobody calling for it?
We’re all familiar with the charedi claim that it’s essential to have yeshiva students learning Torah in order to protect Israel. And it’s not a specific number or proportion of the nation - it’s as many as possible. As Rabbi Dov Lando, head of the Lithuanian charedi world just declared, "Only because of the Torah learning have the Arabs not united to destroy its inhabitants, G-d forbid…. those who wish to diminish Torah are endangering all of Israel." And several months ago the Rishon MiTziyon Rav Yitzchak Yosef threatened that if the draft is enforced, the charedim will leave Israel, which will be in great danger without their Torah.
Now, in the past, I’ve demonstrated that there is no source in classical Judaism for saying that Torah study replaces the obligation to help protect the nation. I’ve also provided various arguments demonstrating that charedim themselves are not willing to stake anything on this belief, and they do not see Torah study as replacing hishtadlus in protecting them from sickness or pandemic or a hostile government or anything else.
But I’ve just realized something additional.
If charedim really believe that all of the endlessly growing number of charedi yeshivah students provide a crucial benefit to Israel’s security, why aren’t they trying to increase that number and make us even safer?
There’s many, many thousands of charedi yeshiva students in the US (and the UK). Where is the call for them to move to Israel in order to provide their spiritual protective merit in Israel? Imagine how many lives could have been saved! After all, not only is the Torah of Eretz Yisrael more powerful, but those who believe that charedi Torah provides protection also see it as being most powerful in the areas where that Torah study takes place (which is why Bnei Brak is safe). And, as foreign citizens, they wouldn’t even risk being drafted!
In the 15 months of the war, I have not heard of a single person calling for this.
And the reason why is obvious. The whole idea of an endless amount of Torah being required to protect Israel, in place of having more soldiers and being able to relieve the strain on the existing soldiers, is a farce. Some people believe that they believe it, but nobody is really serious about this belief; nobody cares to explore its application and parameters and actually put it into practice.
And this in turn is because the idea that the Torah of yeshiva students provides essential protection is not remotely the real reason why charedim don’t serve. It’s just something for PR and to assuage their conscience for failing to rise to the occasion and participate in the war.
The real reason why they don’t serve is the same reason why they don’t help the country in other ways. They feel no sense of national obligation. And they want it to be this way, because their whole identity is based on not being part of the nation.
A list of posts on the topic of IDF service is at Torah and Army: The Big Index
Not to make too light of serious things, but if the yeshivas are tasked with protecting Israel, I think it's reasonable to ask about their failure to prevent the attacks of Oct 7. Have they released the reports on what went wrong? Was it too much Rashi, not enough Tosfot? Will Roshei Yeshiva be held to account for failure to run the defense system properly? What changes are they implementing, and how would these changes have prevented the attacks?
Here is something else to consider: By denying to participate in the war against our mortal enemies, the Haredim are denying the validity of the Mitzvah of Milchemet Mitzvah. Thus, they only accept 612 Mitzvot. Thus, they are all "Kofer Be'ikar." See Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah 3:8.