The Disconnect

One Sacred Day, Two Peoples

Yom HaZikaron is a very emotional day for most of the Jews in Israel, who are thinking about the unbelievable sacrifice that so many thousands of people have made in order for us to live here. It was therefore extremely depressing that yesterday, the following video emerged of what transpired when one charedi young man decided to buck the trend and rabbinic leadership and go with his father and enlist in the IDF to fulfill the mitzvah of protecting the Jewish People:

Horrifying, and only two people were arrested. I posted this video on LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network that I have not previously used to any degree and that I didn’t know much about. I discovered that the algorithm works differently from FaceBook, and it came to the attention of lots of yeshivis/ quasi-charedi business guys, in Lakewood and Israel, who were absolutely furious - with me.

Why? Because LinkedIn brings things to the attention of all kinds of people, and I was “showing our dirty laundry in public” and “creating a chillul Hashem.” Personally, I didn’t think that many non-Jews would see it change their opinions of Israel as a result, and I felt it was more important to bring an actual chillul Hashem to the attention of many Jews who are clearly not in touch with the realities of the situation (and are not seeing my posts here or on Facebook).

I guess you could argue it both ways, given the nature of LinkedIn. But it was interesting that the many people who thought it was important to raise awareness were all non-charedi, while the majority (albeit not all) of those who thought it was inappropriate to share on LinkedIn were guys whose kids are not in the army, and who were making claims about how there’s no mitzvah to serve, or how if everyone was Torah-observant we wouldn’t need an army. To the latter, I pointed out that the Torah itself talks about an army, at which point my interlocutor smoothly transitioned to the exact opposite position, arguing that you can only have an army in which everyone is Torah-observant.

Meanwhile, "Notnim Gav" is the name of various organizations that help support soldiers. But posters appeared in Ramat Beit Shemesh today for a different organization by that name, which helps charedim get out of army service. The posters feature a letter by Rav Aharon Feldman of Ner Israel in Baltimore, stating that it is spiritually dangerous for religious Jews to join the IDF and that this "overrides all other obligations."

Charedim want there to be an army with hundreds of thousands of people who make sacrifices for them, including all the combat soldiers from hesder yeshivot, but they don't want to be a part of it or support it any way. It's utterly selfish, tremendously harmful, and perhaps the greatest chillul Hashem in history.

And instead of doing anything about it, the government encourages it and finances it. It’s a disgrace and a danger to us all.

Meanwhile, if you didn’t do so already today, please take a few minutes and think about the heroic sacrifice that so many have made and that so many continue to make, and how much appreciation we owe to them.