Ever since the State of Israel began to codify its laws over sixty years ago, there has been an exemption for yeshiva students. At the time Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion proposed it, there weren't too many men learning full-time, and he didn't want the IDF to have to cater to the needs of the
chareidi, aka ultra-religious. It seemed easier all around to just let them skip army service.
The truth is that there is nothing in Judaism that states that a Torah observant Jew shouldn't serve in the army, especially a Jewish army that protects Jews and the Jewish Land and Jewish State, the State of Israel. It's actually a very important
mitzvah, Torah commandment to serve and even risk your life.
Not long ago, there was a big controversy in
Torah Tidbits about that issue. Phil Chernofsky who has edited/written Torah Tidbits from its inception wrote about the importance of army service. Then Rabbi Leff of Matityahu countered that he was incorrect. And the following week Rabbi Chaim Wasserman,
my NCSY rabbi, wrote about how Jewish Law demands army service. The three articles can be seen
here. Following are excerpts.
Phil Chernofsky:
On the other matter of the IDF... I believe, with all my heart, that there should
not be exemptions for Torah study. From the Torah we learn that for a
MILCHEMET R'SHUT, an optional, non-essential war, there are several
exemptions allowed. These include a person who has built a home and has
not yet lived in it, a person who planted a vineyard but has not yet had a yield
from it, person who has betrothed a woman but has not yet married her... and
one who is afraid (different opinions on this, but most interesting is one who
is afraid because he does not keep mitzvot properly, to put it mildly)... For a
MILCHEMET MITZVA, an obligatory war - and this includes a defensive war in
which the survival of the people is at stake - a Chatan joins the fighting even
from his Chupa, etc. And the Torah student leaves the Beit Midrash. There is
no doubt that we are in a situation of Milchemet Mitzva with enemies within
Eretz Yisrael, neighboring Israel, and in other countries within missile range.
...Bottom line, it is the right thing to do for an eligible fellow, to serve in the army in some framework. And it will also be a Kiddush HaShem (or at least, alleviate
a possible Chilul HaShem).
Rabbi Leff:
It was mentioned there that all
deferments for yeshiva students
should be canceled and compulsory
sheirut leumi be imposed on all girls
as in a milchemes mitzvah all go out
to battle.
It is very presumptuous to negate a
principle that countless Gedolei
Yisroel (not only from the Charedi
world but also others such as Rav
Tzvi Yehudah Kook and Rav
Avroham Shapira) upheld that
Yeshiva students be deferred from
army service and girls be exempt
from sheirut leumi, by quoting a
Chazal that they obviously also
knew.
Rabbi Wasserman:
The issue of the tens of thousands of
young men who are immersed in Torah
study and as a result seek a permanent
deferment from army service is arguably
one of the primary issues which has
divided the Torah-true community these
last six decades. The gedolim who have
opined that Torah comes first can be
listed and named; they are not countless.
And then there are, for sure, the
dati-leumi gedolim who have concluded
quite differently.
Both camps have quoted sources of our
chazal and have pointed to different
relevant piskei halacha in RaMBaM's
Mishneh Torah. Within the limits of
these shared lines I would refer your
interested readers to yet another passage
in RaMBaM's Hilchot Yesodei haTorah
5:10-11 where he clearly establishes that
talmidei chachamim will be held
responsible for damaging chilul Hashem
that can result from their behavior...
...Then we have to recall the immortal
words of the NeTZiV in his commentary
to Moshe Rabeinu's question to the
members of the tribes of Reuven and
Gad when they looked to avoid going to
war as the nation stood on the banks of
the Jordan River: "Your brothers will go
to war but you will remain here?!" he
asked. This, explains the NeTZIV, would
have constituted an "avlah", an unjust
wrongful act that would be perpetrated
against all of Israel (Ha'amek Davar,
Bamidbar 32:6).
In most recent decades, the religious demands/expectations of the
dati le'umi, national religious community have increased in terms of levels of observance. In Dati Le'umi circles there are many young men and women in the IDF. Some serve as part of yeshivot hesder in special religious units, others after finishing
mechinot special
preparatory programs and others go straight into the army after high school. There is much less of a difference between those soldiers and the religious practices of the chareidim. Also, more and more IDF officers are Torah observant, seeing their army service as the greatest mitzvah they could ever do.
The
Tal Law, which in recent years determined the conditions of the exemptions is no longer in force and now there are all sorts of political and public arguments about how universal the Israeli army draft should be.
The media and many politicians are pushing for maximum chareidi army service, like
Defense Minister Ehud Barak's demand of 90% enlistment. Just like most other of Barak's statements, it may make great headlines, but it's neither realistic nor intelligent. Barak like most/all Leftists conveniently leaves out facts.
One important thing to take into account is that there are many able-bodied Israelis who get deferments for other reasons, or even fake their reasons, because they don't want to serve at all. I was glad to hear
Housing Minister MK Ariel Atias bringing up the subject when interviewed on Israeli television. Many Israelis get "sports deferments," rather than time off for special training. In most cases their talents are
not Olympic world class sports talents nor more valuable to the Jewish State than many of the yeshiva students are to the Torah world. If yeshiva study exemptions are to be reduced, the same should go for the sportsmen, university academics and others.
It's important to remember that yeshiva students are not the only young Israelis who can defer army service. The entire system must be changed and tightened.
