HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Auerbach Shlita traveled to IDF Prison 6 on Wednesday morning, 1 Teves 5774 to give chizuk to a 19-year-old talmid yeshiva imprisoned for being AWOL from the IDF.
Military police arrived at the home of Moshe on Sunday 28 Kislev 5774 at 3:00 AM, arresting him for not reporting for military service. Moshe is a talmid in the Nachlas Asher Yeshiva in Petach Tikvah. He was taken out in handcuffs and brought before a judge, who sentenced him to 14 days in jail for failing to report for duty.
The Yeshiva Bochur who was jailed received his draft notice before the Supreme Court disqualified the Tal Law. He reported to an induction center and declared Torah study he fulltime profession, as was done during the Tal era. Following the disqualification of the Tal Law, he received additional notices ordering him to report. He consulted with the mashgiach of the yeshiva, who instructed him not to report to an induction center, in line with the instructions from rabbonim.
The mashgiach of the yeshiva on Tuesday, 30 Kislev, visited Yerushalayim to meet with Rav Auerbach and Eida Chareidis Gavaad HaGaon HaRav Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss Shlita, receiving chizuk from the Gedolei Torah. On Wednesday, the second day of rosh chodesh, Rav Auerbach decided after shachris to visit the military prison personally to give the young talmid a chizuk. Several hundred avreichim were outside the prison with signs, also sending a message of chizuk to talmid.
Israel Radios Military Correspondent Carmella Menashe reports on the protest of avreichim outside the northern military prison and their recitation of Tehillim and signs “learn Torah and you will succeed”, “We will not be broken” and “We will not serve”. Menashe points out that Rabbi Auerbach has instructed his followers not to report to any induction center at any time.
Askanim are working to get the young man out of jail before the two week term is completed.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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20 Responses
It’s funny how all these guys are protesting bitul Torah, yet all the picture show these yeshiva guys just shmoozing, smoking and talking on their phones – no seforim or learning….
Looks like lots of people outside. If they got all yeshiva bochurim to sit down on the road in and out of the prison and refuse to move, this situation could be reversed in short order. Sure, many of them would be carried away to jail, but there are not enough jails to hold even a fraction of the numbers we are talking about. Nobody would get hurt, and nobody would be in jail even overnight. And all the cases would clog the court system. Having a police record for this would not have any effect on these boys later in their life. You don’t even lose a day of learning if they show up with their seforim and sit there and learn.
Fighting those who wish to destroy us allows for bitul Torah. The issue was widely discussed during the war between the hareidim and the misyavanim (cf. the events we refer to in Al ha-Nissim). As long as peaceful protests and civil disobedience are effective, there is no requirement to use violence against the zionists. There are some halachic precedents that would have allowed the boy to use lethal force against the soldiers sent to arrest him, but we should rely on our gedolim who are opposed to use of violence.
The boy in question doesn’t have to worry about a “police record” anymore than those arrested by the Nazis had to worry about a “record.” Be arrested for standing up for Torah and the honor of Ha-Shem is something to put on your resume in big letters.
This seems to have been based on a paperwork “snafu”, but its a preview of what is to come if the zionists don’t back down on their plan to break the yeshiovos.
It is interesting that in Israel refusing to report the army is a military offense (in effect, they “draft” you anyways and then declare you to be a deserter). In the US, refusal to report for conscription was always a civil crime (meaning there had to be a jury trial to send you to prison – arbitrary arrest without a fair trial is limited to wartime spies and terrorists).
Michael,your sense of humor is funny. This is about much more than Bitul Torah. And as it is, when protesting, you must leave the Beis Midrash. I have an idea where you stand on the whole learning thing.
#2- That is precisely what one of my rabbeim at YU did every year at the Soviet Jewry rally. We sat and leaned against a wall and he gave his regular shiur.
To MichaelB: It’s funny you’re able to tell what they’re saying to each other and on the phone when their lips are not moving. It’s not even a matter of judging favorably. The very fact they are standing there is a Kiddush Hashem. It takes guts to go against a government to stand up for what you know is right.
I’m not even going to bother saying it’s very likely a large percentage if not all are reviewing or learning Torah, even without a sefer, as I’ve seen happen countless times. And wont even bother going into osek b’mitzvah potter min hamitzvah or talmud Torah al menas l’assos. (And that person on the phone was answering a question a chavrusa sent him, I’m that man behind him.)
esmith9200 & yanky55:
an interesting and certainly well meant suggestion. One problem: we’re not talking about new york. Imagine a thousand blacks staging a sit-in like that in Alabama 50 years ago. That’s the level of hatred by the zionist regime and it’s adherents for chareidim. They would send in their riot squads who would start bashing heads. And, of course, the zionist media would make it out to be the chareidim’s fault
To the moderators: Pretty ridiculous that you allow “akuperma” to go off the way s/he does, but do not allow my very mild statements.
Is a 14 day prison sentence the only penalty for being AWOL and not responding to a draft notice? If that’s the case, than I suspect that most kollel yungerleit would willingly accept the two week government-funded vacation and then move on with their shiurim.
MichaelB youre plain ignorant, Bitulah zu hee kiyuma
SOME THING WRONG
The IDF does not induct 19 year old bochrim who submit the papers proving that they are in a yeshiva. Either the bocher did not submit the papers or he is not in a yeshiva or some other screw up on the bocher’s part.
The IDF will give extensions if the bocher did not get the papers needed in time.
Maybe he the bocher decided not to pay attention to the IDF’s call for sending in his papers? In which case he is a jerk.
My sons and sons-in-laws all dealt with the IDF. I know from experience myself what goes on there. SOME THING IS MISSING FROM THIS ARTICLE!
1.
Based on what can only be described as sheer jealousy, let me just take a guess here that your personal Torah learning and kovaya itim are simply non-existent.
TorasMosheEmess: 50 years ago the police in the American south did routinely attack peaceful protestors, resulting in the rest of the country be outraged enough to pass the radical legislation the protestors favored — if the zionists do engage in physical attacks on the hareidim, or engage in mass arrests, it will lead to a massive backlash that will jeapordize the medinah’s existence (at least in its current form).
lazerc: The IDF is no longer “deferring” yeshiva students, and yeshiva students are starting to become “refusers” (not “dodgers”). Instead of playing along with the system to avoid military service (tolerated draft “dodging”) they are now challenging the legitimacy of the state by refusing to serve (something in the past done only by a few radical individuals). This is a major change – from “draft dodging” to “treason.” It raise the stakes.
SecularFrummy: Do you really think the IDF has anything to do with Israeli or Jewish survival? It should be very obvious that Jewish survival is based on us doing Torah and Mitsvos, and Ha-Shem disposing of our enemies? Do you really think Hitler was stopped by Jewish soldiers marching into Berlin? Did Rome fall becaused we sacked its capital? Did the Jews rise up and defeat Haman in a civil war? The people who give up much of their livlihood to concentrate on learning Torah are the “front line” in the war against Jewish survival – and those seeking to undermine them are stabbing the Jewish people in the back. This is true today, it has been true for the last few millenia, and will be true in the future. Live with it.
Akuperma- As I have stated many times, as far as YOU are concerned, Jewish survival has NOTHING to do with Torah and mitzvos. Clearly, it must be related to sitting by a computer all day and waiting with baited breath to post something negative about the State of Israel. For that is what you seem to be doing all day.
Yanky55– I’m always laughing when you post about Akuperma, because you got his number. I was a smoker so I understand him a bit. You need that nicotein fix at any odd hour of the day so you carry a pack with you always.
He has an addiction to bashing the State so he’s at the computer all day and talking Torah this, Torah that and finding faults along the way.It’s pathetic, isn’t it?
I looked and looked at each photo. Not-a-one is holding a sefer.Just hanging around and waiting.
“Did the Jews rise up and defeat Haman in a civil war? ”
My Megillah says yes.
Did the 7 nations fall before Joshu’s army? My T”nach says yes.
Did the Jewish army defeat the Midianites, Amalek? My Chumash says yes.
Did the Pelishtim fall before David Hamelech? My T”nach says yes. AND…… Surprise-surprise….!!!! This was all Torah..
#15- Glad to see I am not the only one who’s got his number.
#17- You are trying to reason with a person who has no interest in or is incapable of doing so.
@akuperma (#3):
Normally I wouldn’t even grace you with a reply but here you were “merim lehanchata” as they say here:
“Fighting those who wish to destroy us allows for bitul Torah.”
That means that you can *join* the IDF to fight the terrorists, and other enemies who are *trying to destroy us*. Just saying, it’s a milchemet mitzva or the preparation for it.
And as far as your remark in #13 on deferments, I know tons of Yeshiva boys (and even some who aren’t) who keep getting deferments or have their induction date pushed up, please don’t state facts that you have no way of checking on the ground, or fiction or motzi shem ra.
The Chofetz Chaim is probably turning over in his kever again and again from all the Lashon Hara you are willing to speak about your fellow Jews (that is if you are a Jew, considering what you spew on a regular basis that is enough to start questioning your Jewishness).
As far as survival goes, Hashem clearly stated he won’t allow us to be destroyed and the gemara clearly states that the geula does *not* depend on us, at best we can speed it up with Torah and Mitzvos, but then Torah and Mitzvos outside of Israel according to that same gemara border on avoda zara/are just reminders of what you are supposed to do while in Israel.
Do you honestly believe that it is in the power of man to cancel the purpose of creation?
And regarding whether it’s a civil or military offense, in Israel you are “property of the army” from the moment you receive a draft notice until you are released from the army, therefore being AWOL is a military and not a civil offense.