In an interview with the BaKehilla, Rosh Yeshivas Merkaz HaRav HaGaon HaRav Yaakov Shapira Shlita warned against a gezeira that might diminish the numbers of bnei yeshivos. The rosh yeshiva of the dati leumi tzibur’s flagship yeshiva gedola comes at a time when the chareidi parties are working to form a religious bloc in Knesset with Bayit Yehudi, but it appears the leaders of the dati leumi party prefer to remain committed to their agreement with the secular Yesh Atid Party, which is working to compel talmidei yeshivos to serve in the IDF, in line with the vision of the dati leumi party’s leadership.
Rav Shapira added that contrary to reports in the media, he remains confident that party leaders of Bayit Yehudi will indeed heed the words of the community’s rabbonim.
Bayit HaYehudi leader Naftali Bennett has come under a great deal of criticism from members of the dati leumi Torani community which feels he must adhere to the word of rabbonim and not just act as he sees fit. They are referring to his deal with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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The earliest leaders of the religious Zionist political movements had been great rabbis such as Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines, Rabbi Dr. Yosef Burg (founder of the old Mafdal party), and Rabbi Dr. Joseph Soloveitchik, and later Rabbi Yehuda Amital (founder of the old Meimad party). That is no longer the case.
That said, compromise is possible here if all would work together. It is possible to create a charedi equivalent of the hesder movement, and a charedi equivalent of sherut leumi. Some such service organizations already exist, such as Zaka and the hatzolah groups. I’m here in the diaspora, but I hope this can get worked out.
At present, anyone, whether Hareidi or Dati Leumi (and whether there is a clear difference is debateable – since many Dati Leumi types are not only quite frum, but more importantly, reject the idea that the laws of the medinah are valid in situations where they are contrary to halacha) who choses to serve in the army is in effect a volunteer. He can stay in yeshiva, but instead is choosing to serve in the army.
Once yeshiva students are subject to conscription at age 18, as proposed by the Lapid plan (supported by Bennett), those religious boys who go in the army, even if in fact motivated by patriotism (or zionism, even hatred of Arabs, even out of monetary considerations) will be contrasted to those boys are are risking imprisonment by refusing to go.
Whereas serving in the army may be motivated by self-interest, or courage — it will now be seen as an act of cowardice by those frum Jews who are afraid of prison. Being “kravi” may be brave, but going to prison for the sake of learning Torah is heroic.
So even the Dati Leumi camp is threated by the proposal to conscript all yeshiva students.
“Bayit HaYehudi leader Naftali Bennett has come under a great deal of criticism from members of the dati leumi Torani community which feels he must adhere to the word of rabbonim and not just act as he sees fit”
With all respect to Rabbi Shapira, BH leader Bennett is responsible to the voters who cast their ballots for his party and NOT to some unnamed “rabbonim” who have refused to acknowledge the need for some sharing of the burden for defending th medinah.
Chashuva Ben Torah…..hope to see him as Chief Rabbi of Yerushalayim.
#1 – charliehall, you are neither a good historian of Religious Zionism nor a good reader of current events. Every single one of the individuals you mentioned (and there were many more) were denigrated and marginalized by the extremists. Incidentally, while MK Yosef Burg had semicha, he did not function in any rabbinic capacity.
As for your read on current reality, B’H the Dati community is blessed with Gedolei Torah and talmidei chachamin, no less than the chareidi community. You may wish to marginalize them or ignore their very existence, but the truth remains the truth nonetheless.
I would suggest to you and your chareidi counterparts that the old insults won’t work. The Dati community has built a strong, self-sufficient and sustainable Torah world despite all the challenges it has faced from the Left and the Right.
I will grant you that the last paragraph in your post made sense, but the fact that the chareidi leadership won’t even consider these sensible ideas speaks eons about that leadership, not the Dati leadership you chose to insult for some reason.