In light of the recent developments against Yeshivos in Eretz Yisroel, a massive Yom Tefilla is being scheduled for New York City – possibly as early as next Sunday.
Sources tell YWN that the event is currently being planned, and organizers are in the process of securing a permit to hold the Yom Tefilla in Lower Manhattan – in the area where a similar event was held around 10 years ago (Water Street).
Gedolim in America would like to create awareness among Frum Yidden in America about the unfolding situation in Eretz Yisroel, where most of the funding for Mosdos Hatorah will be cut by the Government, as well as the possibility of Yeshiva Bochrim being drafted to the Army.
Our sources tell us, that Gedolim would like tens of thousands to attend. It is unknown if Yeshivas such as Beth Medrash Gavoah will cancel Sedorim to allow Bochrim and Yungerleit to attend.
YWN will continue to bring you the latest updates on this story as soon as there is confirmation on exact details.
(Dov Gordon – YWN)
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68 Responses
You know how a typical American will translate this?
Like a large group of Chinese Americans getting together during WWII, and praying to their God, that their group should be spared from the draft.
That’s, so so nice.
Which gedolim?
1) will neturi karta attend??
2)the yeshiva in eretz yisroel that dont take money have a right to dodge draft
I hope someone or two with good communications skills will get up and do a good job explaining what’s the teffilos about.
IN ENGLISH.
Please orgenizers, open your eyes and think big.
Forget about the pettiness of “this Rebbe has to speak” etc. Remember that all eyes of our modern brothers are upon this event, and every word will be zoomed into. Please get us just 1 or 2 nock-out addresses in English, packed with info that you won’t read in the Jewish Press…
#1:
I think a typical American can understand that Israel should have the same standards as the US. When the US had a draft, even during the Viet Nam war, all Yeshiva students (including me) had unlimited deferments as “divinity students”.
What a disgrace!
Do I hear Citifield??
i soo agree with ADER
What does awareness do? Isn’t davening enough? No different than any other group “raising awareness” for their cause. Either one believes Hashem has the final say or not.
#6, US would not exempt 8% of the population as divinity students. Let’s be real. Especially, that Chareidim in Israel are not the most patriotic and beloved group.
Sure are lots of POSSIBILITIES…
So there will be a mass tefillah rally for a draft that will occur in 4 years,, and we will explain to the media and each other that we are demonstrating that our chadorim and yeshiva ketanos have to teach Math, English and Civics for 8 hrs a week……..think there will be symphatizers or what!!!!
to #1 who said: “You know how a typical American will translate this?
Like a large group of Chinese Americans getting together during WWII, and praying to their God, that their group should be spared from the draft. That’s, so so nice.”
1. Bad analogy. The Muslims are no threat to the Hareidim. The discrimination against Hareidim under Muslim rule (which ended in 1917 when the Brits conquered the place) was no worse than the discrimination against Hareidim under the Zionists. Since the Muslims did not make military service a requirement for Jews to have gainful employment, arguably the Jews were better off under the Muslims. The fact that the non-zionists of Eretz Yisrael did not support the Brits suggest they certainly thought so.
2. Most westerners will see people who are peaceful and want to study Talmud saying they are refusing to go around killing Arabs and smashing down people’s houses over a territorial dispute in which Israel’s claims are dubious. Remember that unless you base Israel’s claim on Torah (which the Israelis reject), the Israeli claim is based on the United Nations giving them the land. And having hareidim oppose the state calls attention that Israel rejects the “biblical” claim for its territory even though that is their only logical basis for expelling the Arabs.
3. To #3 — NK will probably be there with a sign saying “I told you so”.
4. Most western countries will consider it to be a serious violation of human rights law to conscript people who are refusing to go to war over religious principles. The fact that the noisiest hareidim have been refusing government funding all along makes the zionists look especially bad. Unless the Israelis drop the idea, this could severely undermine foreign support (or at least toleration) for Israel and undermine Israel’s long term survival prospects.
I smell a PR nightmare…
Akuperma- “The discrimination against Hareidim under Muslim rule was no worse than the discrimination against Hareidim under the Zionists.”
Please explain…
It’s about time. I hope this will convey the message that Jews worldwide are concerned about the attempts of Lapid and his lap dog Bennet is to get the vast majority of the Chareidim out of the Bais Medrash and into the army and workforce.
If you want to hold a Yom Tefilla, don’t schedule a PR protest event and call it a tefilla event. Make up your mind. Are you trying to reach HKBH or CBS?
borninthebronx [17],
Those are foolish words. Hashem wants you to do everything in a way that only brings kiddush Hashem, not only when you call it a “PR event”…
This demonstration has nothing to do with draft. This is 100% because the money pipeline flow to the Chareidi kingmakers is REALLY threatened. The Chareidi community in chu”l is scared out of their wits that they will be squeezed to fill the financial gap. (this is why rabbanim are banding to end the year in E’Y thing for their talmidim) Time for yoim tfilla indeed.
#13
You are probably a nice guy but your comments are so naïve. The Muslims hate all Jews, and Charedim are as much in danger as anyone else. I suspect you are fishing for reactions. I can’t imagine you trust the “Peace loving religion of Islam” as much as you claim.
#11
1) I think that if it’s a matter of principle they would defer them.
2) I don’t think the draftable yeshiva students are 8% of the population.
3) What does “patriotic and beloved” have to do with anything? Do you think the draft is to punish those that don’t agree with the zionists? Or to get even with anyone who is not “beloved”??
#21, you are wrong on all three counts:
1) No country except for Malchus Beis Dovid would accept such a principle;
2) It is 8%.
3)What I meant is that it comes as no suprise. They should not have gotten getting under the freis skin.
To all of you that don’t hold from the army you should never go to Eretz Yisroel because it is the “filthy” Israeli soldiers that protect you from the “wonderful” arabs.In the time of a Milchemet Mitzvah which according to the Rambam this is what we are fighting, everyone goes to the army. I do agree that all the Yeshivot and people that don’t take money should not have to go to the army. So maybe they should all not take money then they can stay in yeshiva.
#22
1) Once the principle has been accepted that divinity students should not serve in the Army, as it was by the US and most European countries, then the percent should make no difference.
2) If draftable Yeshiva students are 8% of the population, then if you add chareidi women, older chareidi men, chareidim who are not healthy, and working chareidim, then we should be at least 30% of the population.
3) That’s not what you said. And I don’t know what you mean by under the skin.
jakeg613, the soldiers are not “filthy”. Zionism is a different story, however.
I don’t recall reading that any contemporary gedolim called any Zionist wars a milchemes mitzvah, whether like the Rambam or any other rishon. Care to enlighten everyone who said this?
Can you please name some of the “gedolim” who are backing this rally?
The following gedolei rabbonim shlita called for this day of tefila:
HaRav Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld
HaRav Yitzchok Feigelstock
HaRav Dovid Feinstein
HaRav Aharon Feldman
HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky
HaRav Aryeh Malkiel Kotler
HaRav Avrohom Chaim Levine
HaRav Yaakov Perlow, Novominsker Rebbe, Rosh Agudas Yisroel
Chacham Yosef Harari Raful
HaRav Aaron Schechter
#24,As to 1) it is ridiculous. The reason why they exempt them is because it’s a tiny percentage of the population in other countries. Nobody would exempt a whole big community.
2) Among the bochurim, it is actually more than 8%.
3)Seems to me you’d advance any worthless proof just to say that the Israeli Chareidim are right.
If the Jeeba Dayan is speaking, count me (and most Flatbush folks) out!
#15 who asked “Akuperma- “The discrimination against Hareidim under Muslim rule was no worse than the discrimination against Hareidim under the Zionists.”
Please explain…”
Under the Muslims, last in power prior to World War I:
No restrictions on learning
No laws requiring service in the army as a requirement for a job
Jews governed by our own laws and courts
No government interference in Jewish education
No restrictions on Jewish immigration
Bluntly, Hareidim in Israel would be no worse off if the Ottoman Empire was restored, and Israel was again the Palestinian province of an Islamic Empire. THe hilonim would be bad off (imagine what this does to “gay tourism” – butg we would be no worse off). Yet to defend the zionist state, they are demanding that the Jews give up Torah and Mitsvos.
The original question compared our situation to Chinese in America in 1942. The Japanese were routinely murdering Chinese in the streets and taking their women as “comfort women”. They were engaged in a war to destroy Chinese culture and enslave the country. There was no attempt by the Japanese to claim any legal right, only they had the right to conquer inferior races.
Excellent idea, WRONG REASON!
There should be a yom tefilla begging Hashem for rachamim on all klal yisroel, and asking for Divine intervention to help lift our nation up out of the disgusting lows we have sunk. Just about every day, we hear and read about, disgraceful headlines of our brethren involved in extortion, embezzlement, and worse, sexual misconduct of sorts. These people are paraded across every newspaper (in their “frum” garb)for all the goyim to see.
I would like to know, why is there no outcry regarding this chillul Hashem? Why is there no outcry against this low of the low behavior? Why is there no Yom Iyun, or Yom Tefilla for that? Where are all our Gedolim????
The article mentioned a similar event about ten years ago on Water St. I do remember attending that one, but can someone please remind me what that one was about?
keeves, the last aguda yom tefila in manhattan was for the same reason when the israeli supreme court struck down the army exemptions for bnei yeshiva. the result was the tal law.
“Since the Muslims did not make military service a requirement for Jews”
This is not accurate. Starting with the Young Turks takeover of the Ottoman government in 1908, the centuries-old draft exemptions for Jews were eliminated and many Jews served in the Ottoman Army during World War One. One Jewish veteran of the Ottoman Army, Moshe Sharett, later served as Prime Minister of Israel.
Prayers for public school (i.e. Bet yakov, yeshiva etc.) funding!?
“I don’t recall reading that any contemporary gedolim called any Zionist wars a milchemes mitzvah”
Here are three I’m aware of:
Then Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren z’tz’l called the “Peace for Galilee” invasion of Lebanon in 1982 a milchemet mitzvah. (He also called the siege of Beirut a violation of Torah law.) Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli z’tz’l wrote that any war against the Arabs who had attacked us in the past and continue to want to oppress us is a milchemet mitzvah. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner two years ago called the current situation in Eretz Yisrael a milchemet mitzvah.
Zalman:
isn’t all this chaos due to the ‘TAL LAW’ not despite?
“Prayers for public school (i.e. Bet yakov, yeshiva etc.) funding!?”
THAT is something we should all support. We need to try again to repeal New York State’s Blaine Amendment. The last try was in 1967 and the repeal effort only got 28% of the vote.
The last rally in downtown Manhattan was because of the suicide bombings, the terror attacks, the request to Hakodesh Baruch Who to have mercy on klal yisroel.
dear organizers: only yiddish speeches please. the mama Lashon to man sure nobody understands
#28 It seems to me you’d advance any superficial argument to prove that the gedolim are wrong.
I thought this was “Yeshiva World”! Why are so many people bashing the stated position of the gedolim (even if they don’t mention the gedolim by name)? Is this the hashkafa we learned in yeshiva?
I have been trying to make the position of the gedolim understandable.
If you have other gedolim who disagree then please quote them by name.
If you think you are gedolim yourself, then write tshuvos and send them to all the gedolim and try to convince them.
But why do you bash the opinion of the gedolim and suggest they are not aware of obvious facts and arguments? Maybe they know or understand something that you don’t?
On the kashrus question in LA, eventually everyone understood that the rabbonim were not naive and were aware of the facts and the problems, but they understood the halacha better than the talkbackers. Maybe something similar is happening here?
mdd:
If the draftable yeshiva students are 8% of the population, that means that there are approximately 480,000 of them.
Sorry, your figures are way off.
The comments by all of you are distressing in that we are sitting here in new York etc and commenting on events in israel. To hold a Yom Tefillah for this purpose in manhattan is a Chillul hashem. Who will it affect? the [po[pulace in the US? Who is it aimed at ? it will only cause more schism and distrust on both sides. You want to demonstrate aginst the Government of Israel go there ( and not on turkish airlines) and participate in the democratic process and elect the Government you want; and Share The Burden.Is this not Bitul torah?
I don’t understand why many of posters in this thread is ripping the Atzeres Tefilla. It’s also good to daven to hashem & when 20 or 30,000 people come together for a few hours to say Tehillim together hashem must like that. The gedolim know what they are doing & anyone who rips them are getting big avieros.
@idachgissa;
it’s the moderator who decides what should be ported the commentators.
they are obviously YESHIVA-WORLD news.
thats one rally i am not going to
Thank you, bklynmom (#39). I suspected that the previous one was *not* for the yeshiva draft, despite what zalman (#33) said. This fits my memory closer. Anyone remember the date? That would make it a lot easier to research in some newspaper’s archive.
Baruch Hashem, I am very pleased that the Gedolei Yisroel shlit”a in Chutz L’aaretz are standing with our brethren, Acheinu Bnei Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel who are fighting this Shas Shmad.
I hope to see close to 100,000 Yidden in the heart of New York City davening on behalf of Klal Yisroel to overturn this draft gezeira. It also helps that with this Yom Tefila we are letting the world know and see how many Jews are opposed to this forcible draft and all the many other actions the Israeli government consistently takes against religious Jewry.
EY Mom:
The calculation is to be done on new inductees. That means, what percentage of new inductees per year as they reach age 18.
A few facts to add to the discussion:
The Haredi population in Israel is approximately 700,000, which is about 12% of the overall Jewish population here.
Yeshiva students becoming eligible for the draft are currently 15% of all those eligible. In another decade that number is expected to reach 25%. (The Haredi growth rate is 7% per year, as opposed to 2% per year for the general population).
To those who say that we’d be better under Moslem rule, I recommend that the Chareidi population in Eretz Yisrael (and I am a chareidi who lives in Eretz Yisrael) makes a new yishuv in Ramallah or Gaza.
I’m sure that the PLO or Hamas would give us a “kabbalos panim” like the Arabs did to the Chareidi bochurim in Hebron in 1929…
Back then, there was no State of Israel to blame.
We lived defenseless under British rule. And the Brits turned their backs on us while the Arabs stabbed us in the back — literally.
Whether or not the Israeli government has hakaros hatov for the lomdei Torah does not remove our obligation to show hakaros hatov to those (the IDF and police force) who have been protecting us from physical harm to allow us to peacefully learn Torah in Eretz Yisrael.
The intended government legislation also includes requiring learning English. This will enable Chareidi men to have more marketable skills in the workforce.
I don’t think that Mir yeshiva bochurim in Brooklyn are leaving the fold due to the U.S. Federal requirement to learn English, math or science.
48 we are letting the world know and see how many Jews are opposed to this forcible draft and all the many other actions the Israeli government consistently takes against religious Jewry.
please do the world will see the truth that they only want a free ride no education, no service for the country they live in and please give us money
maybe you will be able to explain to the world that you and they belive that the torah learning was the reason the world was created and why it still exists tell them what you really belive
“Hebron in 1929… Back then, there was no State of Israel to blame.”
There was zionism to blame. The zionist provocations began before the State existed, obviously. Which is also why the Arabs today are murderously riled up against all Jews. Due to the activities of the zionists.
What a chilul hashem!!!!
this is a total disgrace!!!!!! Agudah will lose tons of support if they make such a horrible move…
Israel is NOT america…
Israel Chariedim are NOT american Chariedim..
im America EVERYone goes to work – Everyone pays taxes – MOST people have some level of education..
The israeli chareidi system generates thousands of illiterate boys… boys and girls who can do basic math at best.. boys who dont want to contribute to society of which the MAJORITY are not cut out for learning full time… and hence they dont learn and dont work!!!.. what is happening in israel is going to SAVE the chariedim NOT hurt them…
Shaulson in his blog בעולמם שת חרדים claims that gur are bind the rally, that the rebbe needs to come for treatment in the usa and is using this as a smoke screen
Most people on this page do not want to hear about Zionism, but the fact that we do this to save Jews all Jews from our enemies for 2000 years we suffered pogroms, rapes The Holocaust and now it is our time to defend ourselves. And this is why we must have an army and why all able bodied men must join.
# 53: tell that sillines to the “Zionist” police who protect you and the talmidim; tell it to the “zionist” army whose presence prevents another chevron ; and finally as you go to the Kotel tell it to the “Zionists” who captured the city( many of whom died in the endeavor) and permitted you to have access to it.
#57: The only reason you need a zionist army is because of the fact that the zionists have riled up the arabs for the past 100 years. And the only reason the zionists captured the Kosel in ’67 is because the zionists caused the Kosel to be lost to the Jews in ’48.
#56: An army cannot save us from Hashem’s decrees. And the zionists are a partial cause for the holocaust. Learn of their treacherous activities against the Jews.
The unfortunate reality is that even here in the united states most of us are forced to stay in kollel for a few years without getting a decent secular education, and anybody that does go out to work and get an education while in yeshiva is immediately labeled a bumb,its about time all of us come out of the closet and stop this nonsense.
BOGEN, would pay to research the 16th, 17th, 18th Century history of Moslem – Jewish history, particularly in Tzefat and Arab countries. You have picked up on the anti-Zionist propaganda that says ‘if u repeat it enough times then it is true’.
Perhaps a seuda hodaah is necessary to thank the Israeli government for the over 35 years of donorship to Yeshiva learning (since PM Begin in 1976). SAY A few tehillim in their honor.
If not for that “donorship” no massive rally would be necessary. Let’s not forget why Volozhin Yeshiva was closed down.
#46
its ok, im sure ur church has other programs more suited to ur views
zionflag: Sure, all goyim hated us since we are in golus. But the Arabs were comparably a lot better to us than the Christians.
To all the commentators who are blaming “zionism” for causing the Arabs to hate and kill us, I say look at what happened to those Jews who were not “Zionists,” did not go to Palestine and aggravate the poor Arabs, and instead stayed “peacefully” in Europe…
#63
And now the Christians are comparably better to us than the Arabs. We will continue galus until Moshiach comes. The Christians served their time; now it’s the Arab’s turn to persecute us.
#64: The zionists helped the Germans exterminate the Jews. Read about Rudolf Kaster the zionist and his friend Adolf Eichmann.
Also, the zionists caused the British to not allow Jewish emigration to Palestine due to their terroristic actions and riling up the Arabs by threatening to take over Palestine.
Rebyid40, did you forget Hershel Greenspan?
Completely off….making so much noise for money…in the end that’s what it’s all about….
How about a Yom Tefilla for Adele Bitton or the Fogel family or the widows, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters…who actually LIVE in Eretz Yisroel (or sometimes maybe not) and have been hurt or killed simply because they are Jewish. Is their blood not worthy enough because they don’t study twenty five hours a day? ……priorities….or simply money…. How sad….yes let’s all pray for what matters: our own interests…am Yisroel hai