[VIDEO AND PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman last Thursday hosted a Chanukah candle-lighting ceremony in the Kirya in Tel Aviv with chareidi soldiers and rabbis of the Nachal Haredi Foundation, who provide chareidi soldiers with ongoing support throughout their term of service. During the event, the Defense Minister attacked the phenomenon of shaming chareidi soldiers and called it “idolatry,” expressed hope for the day when there would be a chareidi chief of staff (while humorously referring to Ben-Gurion’s unfulfilled dream of appointing a Yemenite chief of staff), and pledged to fight “with all his might” against those who attempt to offend chareidi. The minister kindled the candles together with Rabbi Tzvi Klebanow, president of the Nachal Haredi Foundation. Below is a video of the speech with a transcription of the defense minister’s speech:

“The start of every war is a breakthrough. Once one person breaks through, everyone enters and follows him. You have truly made a breakthrough. There’s no other way to say it.

“The holiday of Chanukah is a miracle. When I look around this room, a great miracle occurred here, to see these people here as soldiers, perhaps the best soldiers. I asked to see the recruitment data of the first batch of chareidim to join the paratroopers. I looked at all their data, their aptitude scores and their success on the physical — it’s simply a terrific group. I have no doubt that they’ll be good soldiers. One day we might have a Haredi chief of staff. Once, we dreamed of a Yemenite chief of staff, now we’ll dream of a Haredi chief of staff. So maybe there’ll be an even greater miracle here.

“Until I made aliyah, I never knew that there’s a contradiction between Torah learning and army service. Didn’t King David fight? Didn’t Yehoshua bin Nun fight? I think they also had an understanding of Torah and Judaism, no less than Rabbis Deri and Litzman. And therefore, I think that you’re really going on the best path. You’re combining Judaism, defense of the homeland, and defense of the Jewish nation. We need to integrate these two aspects; and in the toughest of circumstances, spiritual leaders of Israel always knew how to be lenient and integrate. They knew when it was permissible for a Jew not only to learn, but also to fight.

“I came here to express my respect and appreciation because in your circumstances, you made this choice; this isn’t a simple decision to make. I know how much we, to my regret, confront prejudices and how much we’re forced to fight unacceptable occurrences — all kinds of shaming, condemnations, and attempts to embarrass those serving in the IDF. This is simply unbelievable. Whoever in the name of Torah, attempts to denounce others, shames soldiers — he’s simply involved in idolatry. This is not Judaism. It’s definitely not identification with Jewish values, and it’s something that that we, as an army, will battle with all our might. We will not come to terms with it, and we won’t accept it. It’s not freedom of speech and it’s not just pranks — it’s simply damaging to Judaism and also to the holy of holies of the Jewish nation. This harms the most unifying factor in Israeli society. As you said, Dr. Sokolik, I definitely think that national resilience is the most important thing. At the end of the day, when we measure the strength of every country, national resilience is top priority.

“And therefore, I’m saying that we now find ourselves basking in the light of the miracle of Chanukah, and I hope that this light will truly accompany us our whole life, and truly illuminate the right path for us so that we’ll be able to choose the right course. We spoke of 5,000 chareidi soldiers in the IDF today? I hope that next year we’ll speak of 10,000 soldiers, and that we’ll double it from year to year. I hope that we, the administration, will be worthy of that effort, the same deed that you did, and we’ll be available for you.

“Happy Chanukah, and may everything pass peacefully. You should arrive home safely, and continue to serve the Jewish people. Thank you very much. Happy Chanukah.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Nachal Chareidi Foundation)