Snapped

Something changed in Israel this week.

Something big happened in Israel this week. The dati-leumi community finally snapped.

It had been building up for months. At the very beginning of the war, when reservists were called up, there were all kinds of cute and funny videos when they returned back home. Nobody makes those videos anymore. Because after they were called back again, and again, and again, the situation became intolerable.

And meanwhile, the charedi community refused to participate.

It became increasingly clear to everyone that there is a serious IDF manpower shortage. And that in the absence of alternatives, this manpower shortage would be exclusively and endlessly solved by calling up the reservists again and again and again. And there still wouldn’t be enough soldiers.

And nevertheless, the charedi community refused to participate.

Then the Lebanon ground campaign started. There were even more call-ups.

And the charedi community still refused to participate.

Then, in the space of one week, two things happened simultaneously.

The first was an absolutely terrible loss of soldiers. Over several incidents, seventeen soldiers were killed. These ranged from young men who had barely started their adult lives to husbands and fathers in their forties. Many women were widowed, many dozens of children were left orphaned. Many of the soldiers who died were from the dati-community, one was a much beloved rabbi. And many more soldiers were seriously injured.

And the charedi community still refused to participate.

Meanwhile, the second thing that happened in the past week was that the Knesset winter session began. The charedi MKs brought up their demand for a legislated draft exemption. And they also demanded financial subsidies for the daycare of charedi children whose fathers are in yeshiva and not contributing to the economy - money that no other sector of society receives. The result would be that even if charedim were required to enlist, there is no enforcement mechanism, and there would be no financial incentive for them to do so.

And the charedim are not even embarrassed about any of this. It’s become obvious that they don’t even care. United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Roth claimed in an interview that “there is no IDF manpower shortage. The IDF is not interested in enlisting Charedim. The dati-leumi community has become the Left’s useful idiots.” Everyone in the dati community knows that this is a lie, and a deeply offensive one at that. While there are certainly politicians who are capitalizing on the situation for political ends, the IDF manpower shortage is very real and the country absolutely needs to enlist charedim. The idea of perpetuating their mass exemption with financial support is appalling.

The dati community snapped. They just can’t take it anymore.

There has been an explosion of hurt and frustration and rage. As one person wrote on Facebook, “I am finding haredi non-conscription unbearable. And I am finding staying silent about the topic with my haredi friends and family increasingly difficult.” In the comments to the post, numerous people made it clear that they are likewise consumed with frustration and are fuming. A new religious group, “Partners in Service,” has been created. A specifically dati protest rally took place outside Bnei Brak. Rav Tamir Granot expressed the dati-leumi position with tremendous power in his video, which spread like wildfire. (A lot of people are asking for a version with English subtitles - if someone could make that, it would be a great service.)

Another video that spread widely was that of Rachel Goldberg, widow of Rabbi Avi Goldberg hy”d and mother of eight newly-orphaned children. With her eyes tightly shut and her voice powerful but shaking, she speaks about how there are just not enough soldiers, about how everyone needs to help. “It’s like on Friday, when all the children help tidy up and clean the house for Shabbat, everyone cleans. It’s not that one person sits at the table and prays that the house will be clean. Everyone has to clean. Everyone has to get up, and move, and help, and assist physically, with their body. And if someone doesn’t, it’s not educational to give him something in return. It’s not educational, it’s not Jewish, it’s not moral.” You can play the video below.

Until now, the dati and Likud politicians have been essentially oblivious to the pain of their constituents, due to their having sold their souls to Bibi’s need to keep the charedi parties in his coalition. Now they are starting to wake up, and are calling for charedim to enlist. Yet, as Daniel Goldman points out in the Jerusalem Post today, this is a ruse. They are supporting the daycare subsidies and helping the charedim get a way to continue being financially supported and have no real incentive to enlist. When will these politicians realize that they are going to lose voters if they continue to enable the charedim to take advantage of everyone else?

I don’t know how this will play out. But the things that I’ve been saying for years are finally also being understood by everyone else, and are being said out loud. There is no achdus, no “family,” no “one people,” without care and concern and shared responsibility. You might not be able to directly force a change in the behavior of a family member who doesn’t care about your suffering, who doesn’t even care that he’s increasing it, and who tries to take advantage of you. But you certainly don’t reward and enable it.