The Million Man Prayer Rally

I fully support full-time Torah study. There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that the Jewish people could not survive without it. It needs to be studied by the best and brightest among us so that we, the Jewish people, can know how to live in our time. I am therefore vehemently opposed to any attempt to destroy or weaken the Charedi yeshiva system.

One may wonder how this squares with my oft-mentioned complaint that Charedim need to serve in the military. Well, the two are not mutually exclusive. One can both learn Torah diligently and serve - as well as prepare to serve when the time comes (such as in war).

This is, in fact, what a Hesder Yeshiva does. But I am not opposed to the idea that there should be yeshivas where full-time Torah study exempts one from the military. This too is in line with what the Charedi world seeks.

The big difference between us is the extent to which exemptions like that should be given. In my view, they should only be given to those who have the potential for greatness in Torah study. Those with the potential to guide others in advanced learning. Or who have the ability to rule on complex halachic issues. Or to lead the Jewish people in other ways.

What that number should be is something I am not qualified to determine. All I am saying is that there should be exemptions in some cases. The rest should be subject to army service, like everyone else. To the extent that there may be religious issues that might be impediments, they can and should be worked out between Charedi rabbinic leaders and military leaders who can come to a solution where the needs of both sides are met.

The Charedi leadership completely rejects that idea. They are opposed to any of their people serving in the army. First, they fear that serving in a secular army will dilute their religious observance - if not entirely disabuse them of it. And secondly, they believe that Torah study should be full time for every last one of them for as long as possible. Subjecting Charedim to the draft will destroy that paradigm.

So opposed are they that they are going to great lengths to fight it. And have told their students to ignore draft notices — even if it means being arrested and jailed, as some have been.

Government funding for yeshivas that don’t comply has been cut off.

These leaders are now apoplectic about their situation and have called for a prayer rally. Which is happening today. They are characterizing their dilemma as an extreme attack against the Torah world by the Zionist government.

They consider themselves to be the ones that are suffering. As though what the rest of the country has gone through (and to some extent - still going through) does not exist. There is not a word about what the hostages and their families have gone through (and are still going through), Not a word about the many IDF soldiers that have given their lives in battle for the Jewish people. Not a word about those who have sustained permanent injuries. Or what their families have gone through. Not a word about the disruption to family life that so many in Israel have gone through; the disruption to their livelihoods, Not a word about the sleepless nights by mothers worrying about ever seeing their sons whole again, if at all!

These things were not worthy of a million man prayer rally. Not even a hundred man prayer rally. At best, a couple of verses of Tehilim were quickly recited after every public prayer service and then everyone just went their way.

I understand how they feel about Torah study. And as I said, I even agree with them about its importance. What I vehemently disagree with is their unwillingness to compromise and and their hard core defiance. A defiance that has been accompanied by some very harsh rhetoric against the government and anyone that supports them.

What this shows is that they do not consider the rest of the Jewish world – even those of us that are fully observant – to be part of the Jewish nation. There is only one Jewish nation that matters. The Charedi Jewish nation. They are the ones that will perpetuate Judaism into the future. They practically do not acknowledge our existence!

Right now, they are in the middle of that ‘million-man prayer rally’. Hundreds of thousands of them have been gathering in Jerusalem for an all-day prayer session, closing off all access to and from the city. And if they don’t get their way now, they will take even stronger measures to protest the government. I read somewhere that they are talking about closing down the airport. And if that doesn’t work. What’s next?

I cannot understand why these leaders can’t find a way to compromise. It might be true that their last attempt at compromise failed. They blamed the government for that. But that shouldn’t mean the end of negotiations.

The truth is that the army needs people. And the largest pool of available people to fill that need are the ‘million’ people at the prayer rally.

And yet these leaders are so respected that no one dares challenge them. Other rabbinic leaders of a bit lesser stature just walk in lockstep with them. I suppose many (or even most) of them agree totally with these leaders. But it would not surprise me if there were a significant number of them who might actually disagree privately but fear the consequences of publicly challenging them.

Then there is the call by the American Agudah Moetzes to join their Israeli brethren in prayer characterizing the draft laws in the same evil terms that their Israeli counterparts do. But here too, I have to wonder if there is any private dissent among them? We will never know since they never discuss dissent when they declare their public policy decisions.

I believe these elderly Charedi leaders who have riled up their public are leading them into an impossible situation from which they may never recover. The increased anger and hatred this will surely generate will not go away any time soon.