mishpacha army feature

7/28/2019 Mishpacha Army Feature

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4 Tammuz 5773 | June 12, 2013 54 MIS HPA CHA

Yair Lapid wants to yank 5,200bochurim out of the beis medrash.Aside from the fact that a nonnegotiableprinciple of Torah learning is at stake,what will the army do with thousands

of black-hatted conscripts?

service

out

ofby

Rachel GinsbergphotosFlash 90

54 MIS HPA CHA


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58 MIS HPAC HA 4 Tammuz 5773 | June 12, 2013

In the Army NowWhile cha reidimare labeled as the drat dodgers o the

country, in act at least 25% o potential

Jewish male conscripts have stopped

taking part in military service, and only

about hal o them are yeshivah exemp-

tions. And within those exemptions are

included yeshivah students rom the na-

tionalist Mercaz Harav Yeshivah, other

dati-leumi yeshivos that dont mix mili-

tary service, and even some Hesder ye-

shivos that have a tract or metzuyanim

who get a regular yeshivah deerment.

The rest are mainstream Israelis, many o

them secular, who nd increasingly cre-

ative ways to avoid service.

But the IDF doesnt seem to be too per-

turbed about this statistic, and has kept its

manpower in a tight range o 168,000 to

176,000 armed orces personnel or the last

two decades. Furthermore, military strate-

gists and political scientists are reassessing

uture manpower needs, in l ight o exponen-

tial advances in the production o smart

weapons and new computerized systemso command, communications, and intelli-

gence. Someare evencalling orabolishing the

drat (as has been the case in most Western

democracies) and making the shit to a more

proessional orce composed primarily o ca-

reer personnel.

But the new bill doesnt seem to take any

o this into consideration. According to the

new ruling, any 17-year-old who doesnt show

up at a recruitment center will ace criminal

sanctions; ull-time learners between ages 18

and 21 can deer their service; and ater age

21, all bochurim except or 1,800 masmidim

who commit to learn ull-time until age 26

will be inducted into either military or na-

tional service. Based on an estimated 7,000

new yeshivah enrollees every year, the law is

targeting 5,200 chareidi recruits annually or

three years o service by 2016.

In line with sharing the burden, yeshivah

students are asking why they must serve an

additional three years, when the Hesder ye-

shivos combine three years obeis medrash

army will probably decide that most o thes

instead o military service, how will the eco

o thousands o volunteers expected to be pla

stations, and social services at the expense o

workers who will suddenly nd themselves

some o which will surely be articially c

a legitimate substitute or learning Torah,

Close to HomeStill, the larger, loomshivah bochurtoday go into the army and

bochur? Except or some very limited r

even rom those aliated with recruitin

sounding no.

For years the chareidi establishment sta

ing to the army is because olimudTorah.

they want the boys to remain frum, Rabb

o Shachar, toldMishpacha. Were not ta

Torah as much as an ideology o Yiddishkeit

old were talking about Torah how can y

o yeshivah? Its unconscionable, even or th

with 16 months o army service. So to make

sure the burden is shared equally, legislators

busy hammering out the ne points o the

bill will not cut down chareidi service to 16

months, but are considering increasing the

Hesder military requirement.

Notwithstanding the act that manyye-

shivaleitwould go to prison rather than be

hauled out o the beis medrash, where will all

those recruits be placed? Does the a rmy have

the wherewithal to provide chareidi-riendly,

emale-ree environments or them? What

will they do with thousands o physically

low-prole inductees whove spent years be-

hind their books instead o in the gym? What

about shidduchimand weddings? What about

chassidic boys who marry by 20? What about

all the married soldiers, who are paid many

times over what single soldiers receive but

provide much less actual service? And, as the

I they dont keep their promises,they can orget about enlistingchareidim in the uture. Its worsethan you can possibly imagine. RavYoel Schwartz gives support to oneo his Nachal recruits

The questions hurled t us rom the Isrelren re powerul nd cogent:the interveningyears, Deitsch and his sta along with otherorganizations, such

Theque

stionweshouldbeaskingisnotho

wtodraftchareidimorhowtodrawthemintothe


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Out of Service

60 MIS HPA CHA

learners. But or 21-year-olds who arent so

into the ull-time learning anymore? Then

were talking about basic Yiddishkeit. There

is a real ear not unjustied that all the

screamingoshivyonbanetel[sharingthebur-

den] is really stop being chareidi. People are

looking at the army through Israels history

and Ben-Gurions melting pot agenda. Sta-

tistically, going into the army chareidi means

you might not come out that way.

Rabbi Cohen, whothese days is busysetting

up a technical yeshivah high school slated to

open at the beginning o Elul, was working

or the Joint in developing employment op-

portunities when he was called by the IDF to

create a training program or street kids and

dropouts who could learn a trade in the army

and then enter the workorce.

Originally we targeted it to kids rom

chareidi amilies who werent in any kind

o ramework, but this wasnt an easy group

to work with. In the end, we restructured

it specically or married men over 22 who

young men who want to enter the workorce

and be a source o brainpower or a military

whose needs in technology development are

ever increasing.

Isthe armyconsideringsuch programs, and

will they stick to their promises?

Shachar succeeded because the men are

married and go home at night. And even i the

basesarentemale-ree, therooms wherethey

workare, andthe atmosphere is business-like.

For years askanim have been discussing such

programs with the military, but in the past

theyve never stuck to their agreements in a

real way. Today I believe its diferent. There

is a lot more willingness to integrate charei-

dim. Its a practical question o demographics

and brainpower needs.

But the army cant solve all our problems.

Some o these solutions have to come romu s.

How willing is the yeshivah world to validateboys who want to go to work yet stay connect-

ed? In Shachar, men go home at night. Will

rabbanimmake a place or bochurim who

work or the army to go back to at night? Not

back to Ponevezh, but to some other stable,

Torahdig environment?

Rabbi Cohen knows the dilemma up close.

His own 18-year-old son is not a learning

boy but there is no program in the army to-

day where he could be condent that his son

would stay religious. Even the much-touted

Nachal Hareidi, sa

or a sheltered, in

though today the

paradigm o integ

the army.

Unacceptablrenowned Torah

200 seorim, lec

Yerushalayim, a

o Nachal Hared

its inception in 1

delusions about

tured or 15 year

recruits kippot s

ger, emale-ree,

and the other h

amilies who dro

a place where boy

Nachal is like in weak and get s

in stronger and go

pital. Some peopl

better. When the

people die also.

But this is the

shivah boy who w

al level, theres no

army. Nachal isn

Nachal boys may

homes but we pick

the ary ingon afer me

Moshe*is a young man in his 20s

who let yeshivah to try his hand at

earning a living in various felds.

Tere i ning ing a

careidi ern rm ging

in an eld e wan. I

ave riend w wrk in all kind

eld law, accuning, and

er rein, a well a j

a are muc le academic. Im

currenl aking a cure in ali-

ance reair, and Im a e

m cla, deie aving ad viru-

all n ecular educain. And a

i meing a den and

in e wa man m riend,eier. I ure mar, ever career

a i en.

te arm den e muc

a rlem, eier. te gvernmen

in inereed in ging aer carei-

dim like me, w are wrking. teir

gal i ju drag e bnei Torah u

e eiv and kllelim. te

dn care au e u w

aren ere anwa.

I ink me careidim ave a ard

ime nding emlmen ecaue

emler dn alwa wan ire

em. te dn wan all eir bal-

aganim; e men ave g u

Minca ever da, and e ave all

kind religiu need. Emler

dn wan er wi a. bu

ill, i ure willing wrk and

cac u n wa u mied, ere

are runiie everwere.

VOICE

CROWDin the

wanted to leave kollel and go out to work.

These men were married, stable, serious, and

eager to apply themselves. In 2007, Shachar

Kachol cosponsored by the JDCa ndthe AirForce got of the ground with 40 recruits.

Today Shachars various programs, with their

men-only environments (ocially), mehadrin

ood (usually), times or learning during the

day (mandatory), and sleeping at home (sae),

have over 2,000 participants and a long wait-

ing list or more spaces to open up.

But Rabbi Cohen says he ears that the

new legislation, which he calls Chelm, will

be Shachars demise. When the new legis-

lation is enacted, anyone already 22 will get

an automatic discharge. These men will no

longer be required to serve, so I dont believe

the army will continue to und the program,

successul as it is. Anyway, with this orced,

ridiculous legislation, the politicians are

turning back the clock two decades. Instead

o talking out solutions in a real way, theyre

creating catastrophe, and turning a win-win

opportunity into a lose-lose.

Still, programs like Shachar could be a

solution to the thousands o expected over-

21 recruits it c ould ofer job training or

But this is the truth: For shelteredwho wnts to sty on his spiritul levplace or him today in the army. Nasolution either

Nachal head R

toreducethe

numberofc

Thequestionweshouldbeaskingisnothowtodraftchareidi


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The question we should be asking is not how to draft chareidim or how to draw them into the

to reduce mber of chareidim in Israeli society

4 Tammuz 5773 | June 12, 201362 MIS HPA CHA

street. So what to do about these manyfrum

boys who arent learning and just wasting

their time? I believe the army could prepare

some sort o realistic, insulated ramework

or these boys, something more appropriate

together with others like them, but no one is

talking about real solutions.

Still, to the armys credit, they did stick to

their agreements with us. Today, they need us

our soldiers are tops and what we stipu-

lated, theyagreed to: nowomen, timeto daven

properly, mehadrin ood, rabbanimwho have

ongoing contact with every base. Thats why

I believe we can sit down and come to some

real solutions: our needs andtheir needs, leav-

ing the politicians, ideology, and sharing the

burden outside the door.

According to Rav Schwartz, the Nachal

battalion which now numbers close to a

thousand is in the crosshairs o politicians

and activists on both sides. Those calling or

a blanket chareidi drat wave it as a solution

or allyeshivah bochurim, while the yeshivos

point to it as a slippery slope into the abyss o

army decadence and use it as proo that the

IDF doesnt stick to its commitments regard-

ing religious soldiers.One Nachal group was ordered to partici-

patein alecture onsaety precautionstogether

with IDF servicewomen, and aterwards they

wereorderedtocleantheladies room, despite

regulations that they be strictly segregated.

Still, ollowing soldiers complaints and the

publication o the incident, regulations were

strictly enorced or the uture.

And earlier this year, Rav Schwartz himsel

issued a warning to the IDF that i they dont

keep their promises to chareidi soldiers, they

canorget about enlisting chareidimin the u-

ture, saying the situation is worse than you

can possibly imagine. He noted that We had

agroupinthe navy, atorpedounitthatworked

with the submarines, but under pressure o

the womens equality lobby, they brought in

girls. We closed the unit immediately.O course, the thousands o religious Hes-

der soldiers also ace conicts over religious

principles and segregation issues, especially

ater separate insular units were abolished

several years ago, the groups broken up and

mainstreamed into regular divisions, leav-

ing soldiers to end or themselves. Rabbi

Yisrael Meir Zingerevich, retired ormer

assistant to the IDF chie rabbi in h alachic

matters, concurs, remembering with dread

how manpower division head Elazar Stern

separated the Hesder units and dispersed

them among the nonreligious soldiers.

There were rosheiyeshivaho Hesder ye-

shivos that supported this move, hoping their

boys would have a positive inuence on the

other soldiers. There were others who ought

it with all their might, earing or the spiritu-

al wellbeing o their boys in an environment

surrounded by oul language and lax morali-

ty, Rabbi Zingerevich toldMishpacha. One

thing I never ooled mysel about: I neverthought I could guard the spiritual wellbeing

o any soldier. And i they carry through with

a mass drat wherefrumboys will be thrown

onto army bases with chilonim, theyll never

survive it spiritually. Take a chassidisheboy

Out of Service

Rav Schwartz claims these challenges oc-

curred because many o the Hesder rabbis

were never orceul enough in their position,never made meaningul threats, and acqui-

escedto thesometimescompromisedposition

o the IDF rabbis.

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, rosh yeshivah o

Har Brachah in the Shomron and one o the

most outspoken rabbis in the nationalist

camp, agrees. He wrote at the time that de-

spite the new ruling, and despite the act that

there are military rabbis who say the armys

orders precede everything, a soldier ordered

to listen to a emale singer during a ceremony

must dey orders and leave.

The chie rabbinate has never hit such a

low, and the chie military rabbi is person-

ally responsible, he wrote. It will be tough,

it will entail sitting in jail, being dismissed

rom courses and humiliated, but eventually

they will manage to restore Jewish dignity.Rabbi Melameds yeshivah was removed

romthe Hesderarrangementin 2009because

he reused to condemn soldiers who deed

orders that went against their religious prin-

ciples. Following the chie o stafs decision,

out o his esrog box and put him on an army

base theres no way hell end up the way he

started. Beore they broke the Hesder units

apart, the boys had strength in numbers and

could keep each other strong, but how strong

canyou be without riends, without a minyan,

with exposure and temptation all around?

Andpromiscuity, the armys most insidious

scourge, has become exacerbated as eminist

groups crying out against exclusion o

women have pushed emale soldiers into

all areas, including lonely outposts that had

once been all-male terrain. The issue came to

a head last year when a group o Hesder sol-

diers were expelled rom an ocers course

ater they walked out o a cultural evening

on religious grounds as women began to sing.Ater that, IDF Chie o Staf Benny Ganz ac-

tually ruled that no soldier may absent him-

sel rom military ceremonies which include

women singing, even i it conicts with his

religious observance.

it looked like Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, chie

rabbi o the Shomron and rosh yeshivah o the

Elon Moreh Hesder yeshivah, seemed to be

ollowing in the ootsteps o the Har Brachah

afair when he threatened to resign rom his

yeshivah over the women singing ruling. At

the time, he said in a radio interview that IDF

rabbis are bringing us close to a situation in

which well have to tell soldiers, Leave such

events eveni a ring squadis set up outside to

kill you. He added, I hope the army rabbin-

atewill bringinsomewisegurewhowill stop

this terrible state o afairs. But i there areno such rabbis, we wont have any choice and

Ill have to recommend to anyone who asks

me about the IDF that he shouldnt enlist.

Rabbi Melamed has been a champion o

segregating the army, calling on the cancel-

lation o compulsory conscription o wom-

en, advocating just one year o compulsory

service to break the melting pot agenda,

and demanding new legislation that would

prevent a commander rom issuing an order

obligating a soldier to violate halachah. In

order to explain just how necessary it is or

the IDF to accommodate religious soldiers,

it should be noted that about 20 % o the reli-

gious community abandons Jewish tradition

during, or as a result o, military service, he

opined. Even those who remain religious

are oten signicantly weakened in the a rmy,and that is one reason so many are crossing

over to the chareidi side... Regarding mod-

esty issues in the army, he said that what is

considered tolerable among secular society is

absolutely unacceptable according to Jewish

I would never take someonewho was still in kollel.Air Force Rabbi Ram MosheRaavad introduces IAF ofcersto the Ponevezh beis medrash;(bottom) Rabbi Yisrael MeirZingerevich admitted thatI never ooled mysel thatI could guard the spiritualwellbeing o any soldier

about 20% o the religious community bndonsJewish trdition during, or s result o, militryservice, he opined. Even those who remainreligious are oten signifcantly weakened inthe army

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed


6/64 Tammuz 5773 | June 12, 2013

Out of Service

64 MIS HPA CHA

culure shok

Ater completing the evaluations and psychological assessments mandated by the Kemach program with their

fnancial assistance Mendy Zilbershlagis now studying social work at the Hareidi College o Jerusalem.

Te cure i aug rer and inrucr rm bar-Ilan Univeri, wi earae clae r

men and wmen. Deie e adjumen made ui e need e careidi uden, including

alernaive cure maerial, I dn elieve I wuld ave ucceeded wiu e ur Kemac.

our cure egan wi 40 uden, and nw ju en remain.

I e iml anded u mne wiu advice and reinal guidance, e mne wuld e wrle. In ac, man amilie

are again academic ud and exer immene reure n uden reurn kllel, and urermre, e nancial cmmimen

invlved in uring a large amil wile uding, even ar-ime, i grea a rain r man uden.

beginning ud in a univeri eing r e r ime i nerve-wracking r m new careidi uden, u r me, a e r

uc uden in m amil, ere ave een man er culure ck a well: ilen lecure eaer, in cnra e vlule kol

Torah e beis medrash; validaing reign inin in academic aer; and, in m aricular line ud in cial wrk, encun-

ering reinal eical dilemma a are in enial cnfic wi alaca and need rainic guidance.

VOICE

CROWDin the

law, and any soldier who so desires should be

allowed to serve in a gua ranteed separate

gender ramework.

Women Against the WallBut giv-en the current politically correct climate

and the sweeping hadarat nashim (exclu-

sion o women) campaign that has made

its way rom mehadrin buses to the Wom-

en o the Wall, even activists like Betzalel

Cohen are pessimistic that such encom-

passing changes will occur.

I believe the army has the capability to

make itsel chareidi-riendly, but I dont be-

lieve theyll get past the women issue, said

Rabbi Cohen. Its very complicated because

its all about ideology. It has nothing to do

with budgets or money, but about perceived

gender discrimination and womens rights.

Already, womens rights activists are ex-

pressing their ears o how the army will look

with thousands o chareidim on men-only

bases. MK Limor Livnat, a member o the

Peri Committee, stressed that chareidi en-

listment quotas might hurt the current ab-

ric o the IDF.

It is important to keep up the ongoing

integration o women in the army and pre-

serve the impressive achievements they have

registered over the years. There is bipartisan

ear rom emale MKs that chareidi enlist-

ment will harm the status o women in the

IDF, she told the committee.

The strength o the womens lobby is so

pervasive that Rabbi Ram Moshe Ra avad,

chie rabbi o the Air Force and rabbinic

leader o the Shachar ramework he helped

create, resigned rom Shachar last year ater

a drat o new rules indicated that women

instructors could be integrated into the

program. Rabbi Raavads resignation came

one day ater Chie o Staf Ganzs order on

kol ishah.

In a wide-ranging interview withMish-

pachasRabbi Moshe Grylak, Rabbi Raavad

reected on the challenges he aced setting

up the program, the opposition both rom

within and rom those who wanted to see the

yungeleitdoingdirtierwork, andwhyhelet.

I was responsible or drating the rules or

Shachar, and rom day one I had an ironclad

policy: I would never take in someone who

was still learning in kollel, Rabbi Raavad

explains. This was made or men who were

already out, who were working as sofrim or

helping caterers. I wanted to give them the

chance or real training, to make more o

themselves. They were anyway going to do

the shortened shlav beitarmy service, mak-

ing cofee or the ocers. So why shouldnt

they come out with something practical, a

real proession, instead?

At the beginning I made the rounds to the

gedoleiYisraelit wa s a sensitive project and

I wanted to make sure I had their haskamos.

They all said it was a great course, but no

one would give an ocial stamp. I begged,

pleaded, Why cant you ocially approve

the course? And they said something that

today I see how true it is. Now they need

you and theyre willing to accommodate all

your stringent conditions o segregation and

other hiddurim. As soon as it grows, theyll

thumb their noses at your rules.

Once Shachar was of and running, Rabbi

Raavad would get his share o back-slapping

or nally getting those chareidim into

the army, even though his motivation was

purely practical. During last years Plesner

committee hearings about creating a new

drat law, I ran into Yochanan Plesner and

he practically huggedme. It hinkit sjust great

what youre doing! he told me, surely envi-

sioning the end to chareidi lie as we know it.

And I answered him, There was once a Jew

who saved Stalin rom drowning. Aterward

Stalin asked the Jew what he wanted as a re-

ward, and he told him: My reward? Dont tell

anyone I saved you.

Rabbi Raavad says Shachar has been a big

hit with the top brass. They admire the dil-

igence and quick grasp o young men who

have spent years honing their intellect over

the pages o Talmud. I once toured a Shachar

coursewith Eliezer Shkedi [ormer command-

er o the IAF] and he whispered to me, I see

at least ve ghter pilots here.

But taking generals on tours o Shachar

courses was nothing compared to the reac-

tion hed get when he would schlep them to

Bnei Brak.

For years I would organize groups o o-

cers to Ponevezh, and have them sit in on

a Gemara shiur. It would blow their minds.

Because as intellectual as they think they

are, they have no idea what yeshivah lie is

all about, and whybochurimwould rather

stay there than go to t he army and go to work.They think all we do is pray all day.

Whats the Choice?Whats a moth-er to do when she sees yeshivah is not

or her child, and wants to keep him in a

ramework so he doesnt become a street

kid? Devorah rom Beitar chose Nachal

Haredi, which she says was the decision

we came to ater consulting educators

and rabbanim. Beore that he was selling

alael, and now hes learning to service

trucks and tractors. He wanted a misgeret,

a structure where hed have to get up ear-

ly, daven, go to shiurim. And despite some

typical Nachal horror stories, hes happy.

He has 18 boys in his group and theyre

in a segregated barracks, but he wouldnt

call the other boys chareidi. They allhave iPhones [a requirement or commu-

nication], and lets ace it an army base

isnt a beismedrash. The rst Shabbos he

came home, he said, Ima, it would be a

catastrophe oryeshivah bochurimto go to

Nachal. It would ruin them.

Devorah said that at the swearing-in cere-

mony ater basic training, she was standing

next to a woman who looked like she was

about to collapse rom grie. I put my hand

on her shoulder. Is this such an embarrass-

ment or you? I asked her gently. This is who

he is, and you can be proud o him. Lets not

lose sight o our blessings. Aterwards, I spoke

with one o the rabbis. I asked him, With all

the craziness about the orced drat obo-

churim, Im standing here eeling very proud

o my son. Is this going against the rabbanim?

He answered, The worst possible scenario

is or yeshivah boys to be dragged out o the

beis medrash, but or your son, this is the best

thing or him and yes, you should be proud.

These days, Devorah prays or the welare

o her son and his army buddies. She also

hooked on to a special deal with her riend

Chaya. Chaya has several boys o drat age,

andwhen they got their deerments inorder to

learn in yeshivah, each one took on the name

o an army recruit as his partner in service,

to whom he dedicates his Torah learning

one soldier is in the beismedrash and one is

on the ront.Meanwhile, Rav Schwartz continues to

boost the morale o his Nachal recruits, while

at the same time shouting to whoever will lis-

ten that i the orced drat goes through, that

will be the end o the Nachal he so painstak-

ingly helped create.

Today Rav Schwartz nds himsel attacked

by all sides. In the last weeks hes publically

threatened to boycott Nachal Haredi i there

will be orced conscription under intimida-

tion o arrest, yet he was nearly lynched by

zealots whove created a smear campaign

against any chareidi man caught in public

wearing an army uniorm, because o his a-

liation with Nachal.

But that hasnt deterred him rom his main

messagein thesevolatile times: Lets sit down

and talk. No politics. No sanctions. No orcedconscription, which will ruin everyyeshivah

bochur. Were the demographic o the uture,

the responsibility o the next generation is on

us, and the army knows it. Lets hammer out

a solution together.

mishpacha army feature

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