Getzel: You’re right. I mashed those two together. It’s a long Z’man and I’m not quite on top of everything anymore. I need to catch up on sleep and relax for a bit. I can probably make it until Tishah B’av though. And I never disagreed about that or said that it was less valuable. My simple question was where is the source that it grants more physical protection than actual physical defense does.
I believe the source that is used to say that those learning in Yeshivah don’t need the army is Bava Basra 7a (or somewhere around there), “Rabannan Lo Tzrichi N’tirusa”. But if I recall correctly, if you look at the Rishonim there it shouldn’t really apply to this case.