In his annual address to the Mir Yeshiva, Rav Dov Landau, the current charedi “Gadol HaDor,” just declared as follows:
“It is the duty of all those who do not study to show gratitude day and night to those who do learn Torah. It is only thanks to their learning that they are able to live here. Even if there are those who do not understand this, or do not wish to understand it, this is the truth the entire community owes its life to the kollel scholars and the yeshiva students who devote themselves to Torah study at all times and in every situation. It is only in the merit of their Torah study that the nation dwelling in Zion continues to exist in the Land of Israel, miraculously, in the face of the great enemies surrounding us.”
That’s a very strong claim. Yet it begs some very basic questions:
What on earth are the grounds for this claim? Where does it say any such thing in Tanach, in Chazal?! Yes, there are statements about the importance of Torah study (though often stretched far beyond their original intent). But none of them specify that this only refers to Torah studied by people who are learning Torah full-time!
If the Jews of Israel are only able to survive thanks to the 100,000 people in yeshiva, then how did they survive through the first few decades of the state’s existence, through the wars of 1948 and 1967, when there were only a few hundred people in yeshiva?
Let’s say there are 200,000 people currently in the IDF and 100,000 in yeshiva. If 100,000 people left the IDF and went to yeshiva, would this make the country twice as safe?
If 50,000 of the 100,000 people in yeshiva enlisted, thereby doing the incredible chessed of relieving the terrible suffering of the reservists and their families - the crashed careers, the appalling amount of broken marriages, the horrific amount of people struggling with PTSD and suicide - would this really make the country half as safe?
No doubt a creative Talmudic genius would contrive answers to these questions. But anyone with a shred of intellectual honesty would recognize that this is exactly what such answers are - contrived. The truth, as described in classical Torah sources and historic reality and as even acknowledged by charedi leaders in both Israel and the US when they don’t have their blinders on, is that it is soldiers that are needed to keep the Jewish People safe. Full-time yeshivah students never had anything to do with it and generally didn’t even exist! And many of our soldiers today are suffering terribly - the charedi refusal to help relieve the burden (even with the tens of thousands of charedim who are not actually learning) is simply callous and evil.
Not to be outdone, the American “Gedolim” are likewise on the bandwagon of nonsense, lies and selfishness. Here’s the announcement for a rally today in Lakewood:
So, those of us desperate for more soldiers to relieve the unbearable strain - i.e. most of Israel - are branded by these “Gedolim” as “resha’im” who are trying to “erase yeshivos.” Because by forcing [some of] the yeshiva students to serve in “their” army [that protects everyone in Israel], this thoroughly “destroys the religion of our Torah.”
Here’s a photo which shows the phenomenon of charedi recruits that they describe as an evil effort to destroy Torah:
It’s all nonsense, lies and selfishness, causing unimaginable harm to so many endless thousands of people. These “Gedolim” are unworthy of the title.
“But it’s the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah! It’s nearly Yom Kippur! How can you say such things?” Because these things are true and they need to be said. Hashem wants truth, not dangerous lies and nonsense and perversions of Torah that cause terrible harm to the Jewish People. And we need to stand up for that, on behalf of all those who make the most tremendous sacrifices to make life in Israel possible.