Former Chief Rabbi of Israel and member of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah, HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef, spoke out again on Sunday against Chareidim serving in the IDF.
During a sichah to yeshivah bochurim, HaRav Yosef said: “Even a batlan (someone who wastes time) is forbidden to serve in the army. Do you hear me? Absorb this message. My uncles, the brothers of Maran [HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef, z’tl] learned in Yeshivat Porat Yosef and were talmidei yeshivos. They went to the army and were corrupted, they all became secular. Later, they did teshuvah.”
HaRav Yosef’s words caused an immediate media storm in Israel. The Shas party spokesperson tried to downplay the uproar by stating: “HaRav Yosef’s words were directed at the essential need to ensure appropriate frameworks for Chareidi youth who wish to enlist. There is no call for refusal in his words, chalilah.”
The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement saying: “The remarks of former Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef are unacceptable and worthy of condemnation. We will not accept any manifestations of refusal from any side.”
However, HaRav Yosef’s statements received support from an unexpected source. The “Wives of the Soldiers for the Kedushas HaMachaneh” movement responded to the uproar by corroborating HaRav Yosef’s concerns. Efrat Lupo, the founder of the movement, stated: “HaRav Yitzchak Yosef’s words express a genuine and significant concern and pain for Chareidi young men who chose to enlist in the IDF and lost their faith due to the lack of a framework suitable for their way of life. If a Chareidi young man loses his faith in the IDF – why would Chareidim want to enlist? The IDF must promote suitable frameworks to uphold a Torah lifestyle and thus open the ranks to thousands of Charedim wishing to enlist.”
Lupo added: “As wives of soldiers who have served in reserves for hundreds of days since the beginning of the war, while we have to sustain our homes practically and spiritually, we call on anyone who can contribute their part in the IDF to do so. However, we also often encounter cases where senior IDF officers choose to promote agendas and values that harm the spirit of the IDF and its kedushah as the army of the Jewish people. This is not why we sent our heroic husbands to face the cruel enemy for hundreds of days.”
“We call on senior IDF officers to cease promoting foreign agendas, to adhere to the values of Judaism, and to focus entirely on achieving absolute victory and destroying the enemy.”
About a month ago, Lupo revealed in a meeting of the Knesset’s Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women, that her husband, who serves in the Paratrooper reserves, was forced to sleep alongside female soldiers during a a battalion exercise in Lebanon.
Lupo recounted during the discussion that she had received numerous inquiries from the wives of soldiers about similar incidents in various combat zones.
The Gender Affairs Advisor (GENAD) to the IDF Chief of Staff, Ella Shado-Shechtman, who participated in the discussion, ignored Lupo’s testimony.
After the discussion, Lupo approached Shado-Shectman and requested to meet in order to address the situation and prevent cases of violation of orders related to this issue. Shado-Shectman referred Lupo to her secretary, but so far, Lupo has not received a response regarding scheduling a meeting.
Lupo told Chareidim10: “Shado-Shectman boasts about the increase in the number of female combat soldiers, but when asked to discuss the implications for the motivation of religious combat soldiers and their wives, she remains silent.”
“We asked her what is being done to preserve the spiritual world of the combat soldiers, including our husbands, and we are waiting for an answer. Shado Shectman’s choice to avoid a meeting with us about stopping this phenomenon and assisting the IDF in achieving victory, is a disrespect to the soldiers and us as the wives of the soldiers who support the home front for the sake of victory in war.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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11 Responses
The Sfardi hashkofoh based on their own experience is clear: The IDF is a spiritual danger to any religious boy – period. We have heard this numerous times in the recent past from various sfardi gedolim. Whether ashkenasy gedolim agree or not, they know what they are talking about! The zionists just don’t want to admit that is the case. And certainly deny that is the purpose!
classic lsat question. “my brother went to yeshiva and now he’s not frum. Therefore, Yeshiva must be why he is not frum”
NOT listening to Rav Yosefs instructions to not enlist might in and of itself be Al Yahrog Val Yavor!! no one should heed his mistaken instructions. it is a Public Chillul Hashem! To sit and learn freely in a country on the backs of the blood of other young heroes (both religious and non religious) while you refuse to risk your life! and you convince others with this nonsense ?!
Regardless of your reasons this is a chillul Hashem.
i respect the talmid chochoms opinion. it is a machlokes among many talmidei hachachamim. but i don’t respect publicizing it. Keep it quiet if you think you aren’t on a level to overcome bad surroundings. Yaakov avinu LISTENED to rivka to go to Lavan — terrible surrounding. he turned out fine. Don’t pre judge others to say they are too spiritually weak to be in the army of heroes.
This is nothing new. The Chareidi Gedolim are against IDF service.
Whats the chiddush, and why is this causing an uproar?
אין חדש תחת השמש
I have no doubt, and fully respect, those gedolim Shlita who differ (if any) to the Psak of Rav Yosef and other Sfardi gedolim, in their view, experience and strategy to give a different psak to their talmidim and askonim no less important and correct.
Does anyone know what the childish was in his words they are nothing knew and are facts.
He cited facts and even if there is just a safeik that what occurred to his uncles will occur to you it is assur to join and we know that it is a lot more than a safeik that it will occur to you
And to the PMO get used to absolute refusal wherever you turn in the yeshiva sector
Here is a list of rabbis who are associated with the opinion that discouraging IDF enlistment could constitute a chillul Hashem::
1. Rav Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook – Founder of Religious Zionism.
2. Rav Shlomo Goren – Former Chief Rabbi of Israel, involved in halachic issues within the IDF.
3. Rav Yehuda Amital – Founder of Yeshivat Har Etzion.
4. Rav Aharon Lichtenstein – Rosh Yeshiva of Har Etzion.
5. Rav Yaakov Meidan – Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion.
6. Rav Moshe Lichtenstein – Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion.
These rabbis emphasize the importance of contributing to the collective defense and well-being of the Jewish state as part of Torah values. They view active participation in the IDF—or at least refraining from discouraging others—as a way to avoid a chillul Hashem, particularly in the context of national unity and public perception.
Interesting.
He’s extrapolating to today’s IDF from the experiences of two uncles who served 76 years ago in the pre-war Irgun (R’ Eliyahu Yosef, born in 1928, was one of those brothers).
The entire state of Israel existence and essence from it’s beginning was to destroy the Torah from the Jews in the land of Israel and according to the satmer rabbi and historical notes the Holocaust was not above them, it was we want to live as a kind of proud Jews to destroy our Judaism anybody with eyes knew this, we never needed them they needed and still use us and till today we don’t need them for anything at all only evil people see protection in this state and nobody that gets persuaded to there lies and to there solemn will even see the heavenly court, once asked a rabbi in Israel how it is not considered “the blood of those people” the army that has no religious holiness and does much criminal acts, he made like he didn’t know what was asking and didn’t answer the question. But anybody that thinks and believes that we need them for something will eventually bring the third Holocaust
What’s the uproar!
I say even frei people shouldn’t join the army!
The army leaders care more about what CNN will say than the safety of their soldiers consequently putting them in harms way instead of bombing from the air.
If the and when the Likud leaders and the current army leaders are replaced with Yidden who care about every soldier life then we can discuss joining the army
Unfortunately the corruption of their Supreme Court and the wicked Attorney General and they’re extreme methods to destroy our holy students leave us no choice but to match their methods with provacating statements and antagonizing comments meant to get their attention and upset them even more. They have zero interest in negotiation and they are just sending criminal sanction letters to everyone’s house, so be it. I applaud the rabbi for speaking his mind and let the lefties cry about it
@amicable33 – Sonyou provide us with a list of Zionist Rabbonim who say it’s a Mitzvah to go to the IDF.
Ok. FINE.
What about the FACT that these same Rabbonim said there is an ISSUR KARES TO GO TO HAR HABAYIS – ANY PART OF IT. EVEN KNE INCH (Read the letters they signed!)?!?!
You’re just another Zionist faker.