Yoel Marshek, an official in Israel’s National Kibbutz Association attended a session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, telling committee members that he met with a number of Nachal Chareidi officials. Marshek explained they told him that while enlistment and military service is difficult for some chareidim, the most difficult aspect is being released from service and having to face the reality of returning to a family or community that has shunned a young man for joining the military.
Marshek explained that he and others in the kibbutz movement are working to formulate a plan to accept chareidi veterans in farms and kibbutzim towards building chareidi farm communities for them.
Also present for the meeting were representatives of the Jordan Valley area and advisors to the prime minister. They are planning to launch a pilot program around a large abandoned Jordan Valley building that would accommodate 50 chareidi veterans. The former soldiers would have room and board and receive training to prepare them for a farm/kibbutz life.
Marshek feels the program will be capable of providing a solution for up to 3,000 former chareidi soldiers, all in an atmosphere that permits continuing their chareidi way of life while taking a “hands on part” in fulfilling the Mitzvos of the Land.
Maariv quotes a Nachal Chareidi rav anonymously, telling the newspaper that many of the soldiers do indeed have to face a difficult reality when they are released from the military for not all of them have an option of returning to their homes and communities.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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10 Responses
What a busha on a community for not being able to absorb and welcome their sons’ who performed IDF service!
The zionists assumption is that after serving in the army, the hareidim in question will have “seen the light” and be anxious to give up on yiddishkeit and will need to be facilitated into entering hiloni society. That is their goal.
For all hareidim being drafted, they will have to choose between zionism and Torah. How they decide will be critical as to what happens. If most choose Torah, and either refuse to serve in the army, or if drafted refuse to obey orders – the zionist movement will be on its way to the “dustbin of history” (to quote one of Ben Gurion’s rebbes). IF most hareidim choose to serve in the army, it means that Hareidi/Yeshiva world will be marginalized and turned into a “cult” similar to the Samaritans or Karaites (which has been the goal of the zionists all along).
It will be interesting to see which side wins, in what is about to become a zero sum game.
‘they will have to choose between zionism and Torah’ – and the growth of CATAGORY III, those who choose Torah and Service…
“telling the newspaper that many of the soldiers do indeed have to face a difficult reality when they are released from the military for not all of them have an option of returning to their homes and communities.”
MOST of the soldiers,being dropouts,would have had a difficult reality even without serving
What a kavod on some communities that they have loftier values than serving in a .. army.
#2- Can you give it a rest already? You have no idea of what you are talking about. I DO! You have never answered my questions as to why there are IDF regulations (i.e. kashrus, chometz, etc.) that can get you booted out for violating. If the goal is to make frum young men into chilonim, for whom do these regulations exist??? To whom does my brother give gemara shiurim at an air force base?
I have stated many times that my brother, brother-in-law, dozens of nephews and cousins (and their children) have all served in the IDF. Not one was ever pressured to do anything against halacha and not one came out any less frum than when they went in.
Btw, it is SO noble of you to sit by your computer all day and give up all your time learning, so that anyone reading YWN will know the truth about Israel (as you see it). I’m sure HKB”H appreciates your efforts to make sure no one thinks anything positive about E”Y, lest they C”V have a thought about moving there.
Yanky55 – Thank you for ‘facts on the ground’.
There is a propensity to talk (write) for the sake of talking (writing)and rewriting history and events to fit the theme is a must. Many are willing to never remove the ‘battlegear’ or adjust the focus of the lens.
if all chariedi bouchrem go and apply to the army they will stop all draft laws to draft learning bouchrem they don’t realy want them they just wanna make problems
How many court martials are there of officers who tolerate anti-religious behavior in their units? The regulations don’t even require suspension of unnecessary work on Hol ha-Moed or fast days – and soldiers who follow halacha are routinely hassled.
The reality is that the percentage of graduates of Shomer Shabbos schools who enlist is significantly higher than the percentage of Shomer Shabbos veterans. The conversion of the Sefardim from close to 100% frum to the current situation where most are barely traditional is clearly attributable to the army.
In America, an officer who is found to express prejudice against, for example, Blacks or Hispanics or Asians, is blacklisted and forced to retire. In Israel, officers who express dislike of orthodox Jews, are routinely promoted. Such views are not only common among even generals, but are considered socially acceptable.
A chaver of mine from my beis midrash days (who is now the menahel of my daughter’s seminary in Israel) shared with me an interesting phenomena that is cursorily relevant to this topic: there are 3 main groups in Israeli charedi society — 1. those who are dutiful card-carrying members of the kollel velt; 2. those who are angry and cynical towards the system, but who won’t fry out or rebel; 3. those who see what group 2 is upset about, but who simply sidestep the issue by moving into communities or yeshivas that are predominantly Anglo. It is within the Western yeshivasche velt where they feel most at ease due in large part to the American/British, etc. tolerant, open-minded, laid back mentality. An Israeli charedi IDF veteran who moves into a Har Nof, Beit Shemesh, Anglo neighborhood in Beitar, Neve Yaakov, etc is not going to feel stigmatized by the Yanks. Adaraba, to guys like us, it’s kind of neat and interesting to hear from an Israeli haredi guy who did the Army, and can give us the unfiltered look.