Very Cultured IDF Army, Only in Israel

As I blogged on A Jewish Grandmother, the other day I spent a few hours in the Israel Museum. It was full of IDF Israel Defense Force soldiers. No, there wasn't a security emergency. Going to the Israel Museum and many other cultural and historic sites is part of "basic training."

Our soldiers come from all walks of Israeli society, plus many come from abroad and voluntarily serve in the army as lone soldiers. It's very common to see groups of soldiers touring around the country. I consider that one of the very special "only in Israel" aspects of living here.

IDF soldiers aren't just a "fighting force," they are an important part of Israeli society, whether Jewish or not. That's right. Many IDF soldiers aren't Jewish. Some aren't because they are descended from Jewish fathers, and neither their mothers nor they have converted, although they are very Israeli. And less well-known is the fact that Israeli Druze, Bedouin and even regular Israeli Arab Muslims serve in the army.

Life in Israel isn't what the international, very Leftist, media likes to portray. The truth is very different. The only apartheid here is in the areas controlled by Arabs and the PA-Palestinian Authority.

The Scars That Never Heal

Many frontline soldiers suffer a lifetime of post traumatic stress, which cause major life disruptions. These scars aren't always visible to the naked eye or even at everyday social events.

Last night at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh, there was a "meeting" with Natan Margalit, who had been a young, teenage soldier during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. After a few days of conventional warfare, some successes and some difficult losses, including of close friends, he found himself in the cruel hands of Egyptian soldiers. Yes, he was captured.

Even though, the Egyptian soldiers who had grabbed Margalit injured him, managing to stab him through his "bulletproof vest," while in Egyptian hands he was never seen by a doctor. When finally released over two months later, was still in the same bloody undershirt. It's a real miracle he didn't die from an infection.

Margalit, now in his mid-60s, appears hale and hearty, but as he tells his story, it becomes clear that this is an illusion. His jokes and banter mask the damage to his psyche. It's clear that there's a limit as to what he will publicly admit to, which is both a survival tactic and a sign of Post Traumatic Stress.

The Egyptians played mind-games with him as a form of mental torture. They'd threaten execution, so that he expected to be killed any time. Unlike the Israeli prisoners of war held by the Syrians, Margalit and the other Israelis were kept in total isolation while jailed. Even when finally in the plane home to Israel, Margalit remembers everyone sitting alone, leaning against a window wondering if this was just another cruel trick being played on them.

In the audience, besides his very elderly mother, there were many old friends of his, former neighbors and some who had served with him in the IDF.

The event was part of a series of talks being held all over to give a voice to Israeli veterans, of which there are many. 

As an injured terror survivor, wife and mother of IDF soldiers, I know very well how easy it is to suddenly become a "statistic." Nothing is guaranteed in life, no matter how hard we try to be "good."

Gd willing we will pass whatever tests Gd puts before us with added strength and a sense of humor.

Shabbat Shalom UMevorach

May You have a Peaceful and Blessed Sabbath

The Chareidi Riots Go Against Torah Law

The recent rioting and violence by a faction of chareidim against the IDF and State of Israel has crossed all of the "red lines." These same people are very dependent on all sorts of social welfare aid. Why should we law-abiding taxpayers who and/or whose family members serve in the IDF subsidize their family and health expenses?

On one hand they claim that the State of Israel has no Jewish, or holy, status, but on the other hand they would never riot and demonstrate like this if they were living in a non-Jewish country. They would obey the laws with respect.

Sorry, Charlie, or Chaim, but you can't have it both ways.

If the State of Israel really is a "goyishe" country, then treat the government and laws they way you'd treat them if you were in Canada, France or Australia. Obey the laws. Respect the government, and serve the country if that's required.

And if the State of Israel is not really a non-Jewish State, then it's a Jewish one, and it's a stage closer to our Redemption, the Moshiach. I'm not saying it's perfect. We, the Jewish People, aren't yet ready, perfect enough to be redeemed. But many of us are trying hard to get there.

This latest wave tsunami of violence was caused by the simple fact that a couple of youth/men from that "Jerusalem" group of chareidim refused to go to the draft board and report that they are full-time yeshiva students. That would have given them an easy exemption, no drama. Since they didn't do it, they were picked up as draft dodgers. And then the rioting began.

It has been going on for almost a week, paralyzing almost half of Jerusalem, changing bus routes, causing indescribably inconvenience to innocent citizens, tourists etc.  People have missed flights, been forced to walk miles to their own wedding, missed or been terribly late to appointments etc, etc.

These rioters are obviously not truly religious people. They are not Torah observant Jews. They show neither courtesy nor love for their fellow man. They are harming the poor, the old and the sick more than anyone else. Their behavior is a complete Chillul Hashem, desecration of Gd's Name.

Sins against one's fellow man are very difficult to repent. Gd cannot forgive them. They need to ask those they've hurt and inconvenienced personally, and then includes the police who were only trying to restore order. And they certainly must ask forgiveness from all the IDF soldiers whom they malign by refusing to value and respect their contributions and sacrifice for the sake of us all.

Soldiers and Terror Victims Memorial Day in Shiloh

Obviously There's Hypocrisy in the Chareidi Claims About Value of Torah Study

The past few days Jerusalem and other Israeli cities are suffering from violence, rioting, traffic disturbances and worse as many young, fit chareidi men "protesting" serving in the IDF, Israel's army. The excuse they give for not serving in the army, even in the special chareidi units, is that it would cause them to leave their prime holy occupation of studying Torah.

If studying Torah is so crucially important to their lives, why aren't they in the Beit Medrash, Study Hall?

The effects of their rioting have been absolutely awful for many people in Israel. They are causing a major chillul Hashem, hatred of all things Jewish and connected to Torah. They are going against all aspects of the crucial derech eretz.

Even if there is truth to the claim that the "demonstrators" are from the followers of a small extreme rabbi, there's no excuse. Considering the numbers and enthusiasm of the rioters, it's hard to fathom the claim that this is a small marginal group.   And if so, where are the real leaders of chareidim, and why aren't they stopping it?

Many esteemed Torah leaders, even chareidi, have shown great respect for our soldiers who risk their lives and postpone their education to protect us us here in Israel. And in the Torah it clearly states that all of the People of Israel must fight together against our enemies. This anti-IDF ideology is actually anti-Torah and anti-Jewish.

Torah Reading for Matot-Massei

5They said, "If it pleases you, let this land be given to your servants as a heritage; do not take us across the Jordan."		הוַיֹּֽאמְר֗וּ אִם־מָצָ֤אנוּ חֵן֙ בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ יֻתַּ֞ן אֶת־הָאָ֧רֶץ הַזֹּ֛את לַֽעֲבָדֶ֖יךָ לַֽאֲחֻזָּ֑ה אַל־תַּֽעֲבִרֵ֖נוּ אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּֽן:
6[Thereupon,] Moses said to the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuben, "Shall your brethren go to war while you stay here?		ווַיֹּ֣אמֶר משֶׁ֔ה לִבְנֵי־גָ֖ד וְלִבְנֵ֣י רְאוּבֵ֑ן הַֽאַחֵיכֶ֗ם יָבֹ֨אוּ֙ לַמִּלְחָמָ֔ה וְאַתֶּ֖ם תֵּ֥שְׁבוּ פֹֽה:

29Moses said to them, "If the descendants of Gad and Reuben cross the Jordan with you armed for battle before the Lord, and the Land is conquered before you, you shall give them the land of Gilead as a heritage.		כטוַיֹּ֨אמֶר משֶׁ֜ה אֲלֵהֶ֗ם אִם־יַֽעַבְר֣וּ בְנֵי־גָ֣ד וּבְנֵֽי־רְאוּבֵ֣ן | אִ֠תְּכֶ֠ם אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֞ן כָּל־חָל֤וּץ לַמִּלְחָמָה֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה וְנִכְבְּשָׁ֥ה הָאָ֖רֶץ לִפְנֵיכֶ֑ם וּנְתַתֶּ֥ם לָהֶ֛ם אֶת־אֶ֥רֶץ הַגִּלְעָ֖ד לַֽאֲחֻזָּֽה:
30But if they do not cross over with you armed [for battle], they shall receive a possession among you in the land of Canaan."		לוְאִם־לֹ֧א יַֽעַבְר֛וּ חֲלוּצִ֖ים אִתְּכֶ֑ם וְנֹֽאחֲז֥וּ בְתֹֽכְכֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֥רֶץ כְּנָֽעַן:
31The descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuben answered, saying, "We shall do as the Lord has spoken to your servants.

Lapid's Tirades vs Chareidim and Army Wrong

This post is also on Israel Blogger as Chareidim to IDF with Honey not Lapid’s Tirades.

The truth is that I do think that the chareidim and the extreme Leftists who have been finding lots of loopholes to to get out of IDF service should serve. But there's one thing for sure. Yair Lapid's hateful and spiteful tirades against the exemption for chareidim will only make them oppose army service more. And all those religious people who support him, like Dov Lipman, should take Lapid's rabid anti-chareidi statements more seriously. Lapid doesn't have the personality characteristics to make him a national leader of the State of Israel.

Chareidim aren't a small marginal part of the Israeli demographics, the way they were seventy years ago as the modern State of Israel came into being. A very large portion of the First Graders each year are in various chareidi educational frameworks, and the percentage shows no real sign of shrinking. One of the big problems in chareidi society and families is the vast difference in educational curriculum between the girls and the boys. The girls generally study enough English and math to pass the Bagrut, Matriculation exams, study a profession and support their families. The boys have an extremely limited curriculum, which sometimes even ignores Hebrew as a spoken language, besides not teaching English and Mathematics. This not only limits professional opportunities, but it can make for difficult homelife.

Lapid's We're done being suckers statements only makes army service into an unbearable burden for fools/"suckers," rather than an opportunity to serve one's country, mature, make lifelong friends and even learn a profession or complete a Bagrut Diploma.

I have no doubt that by being amenable, understanding and sympathetic, plus offering an extensive "end of service educational package," more and more chareidim will decide that it is to their advantage to serve in the IDF. To make it more suitable, the teachers should be male, preferably religious/chareidi, and some will be graduates of the program who undergo teacher training. The added bonus will be a new cadre of chareidi men qualified to teach academic subjects. That's the educational revolution that must happen here in Israel, the sooner the better.

Lame Duck Obama and PM Bibi Meet Again

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2010.
Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters

From what I've been able to glean from the news, both United States President, the lame duck, Barack Hussein Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, are hoping for a polite drama-less summit this week. They went head to head last time Netanyahu was in the states over the "Iran deal," and with elections to replace Obama just a year away and Israel's suffering daily Arab terror attacks, neither of them want negative headlines.

I highly doubt if their personal chemistry can ever improve. Obama and Bibi are so extremely different in both their ideologies, educational backgrounds and mentalities. Obama was raised by his extreme, far-Left mother, who even gave him foreign, rather than American education and culture. Netanyahu comes from Israel's Right; his father, Professor Benzion Netanyahu PHD, was a world renown historian who taught in prestigious universities around the world and raised his sons to be IDF heros. It's possible that Bibi had more years of mainland American education than Obama did. Even more than political ideology, there's a frequent phenomenon I've noticed here in Israel which can be seen in the bad chemistry between Bibi and Obama. American and Israeli males are very different and can have serious trouble establishing friendships.

There's also a lot of personal anger between Netanyahu and Obama. The Americans illegally and immorally funded and supported the last Knesset campaign against Bibi, the V15, which had a slogan/motto of "anyone but Bibi."

The Obama administration is using taxpayer dollars to fund a radical anti-Israel group that aims to drive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office in March parliamentary elections.
And the U.S.-based group receiving the U.S. government money, OneVoice International, in turn is working with V15, an "independent grassroots movement" in Israel, according to Ha'aretz. V15's unofficial motto is said to be "anyone but Bibi," a reference that includes the prime minister's nickname. (Frontpagemag)

It's no secret that Netanyahu has many supporters and long-time friends in the Republican Party, which continuously irks Obama, but nothing that Bibi has ever done can be compared to the immoral, and probably illegal, V15.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the aim of this upcoming meeting is "common ground." So, no doubt both Obama and Netanyahu will try to follow whatever script that has been planned in advance, or they would not be meeting at all.

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu look out a window before their lunch at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. (photo credit:OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO / PETE SOUZA)

Obama, more than a decade younger than Netanyahu, is most probably looking forward to his forced by law early retirement, while there doesn't seem like a dignified and respectable way for Bibi to leave office in the near future.