Israeli President Reuven Rivlin lit Chanukah candles for the first night of Chanukah with IDF combat soldiers from various Charedi units. Among those present were soldiers from Tomer in Givati, Chetz in the Paratroopers and Netzach Yehuda of Kfir.
Currently in the IDF, some 7,400 Chareidi soldiers serve their country in various positions including combat soldiers, officers, career soldiers and many other roles. In the past decade the amount of Chareidi soldiers serving in the military has multiplied by a factor of 10.5. Some of the soldiers told their own personal stories of how they came to serve during the Chanukah event.
Rivlin told the soldiers: “I see you, and I see the Chashmonaim of our own era. Soldiers, warriors, Tzaddikim and Oskei Torah, this is the truest sense of the meaning of the Al Ha-Nissim prayer. You are an inspiration, proving we can find the balance between protecting the country and protecting what is most important to us.
I am also taken aback by the internal diversity here among you. We have representation here from the Chassidic community, the Litvish community, and Sephardi and eastern Charedim as well. You represent well the entire spectrum of the Charedi community. I want to tell you all how much of a deep pride I feel for the dedication and sacrifices you have made for the security of the State of Israel. Your services applies in all aspects of your life. You are a unifying bridge that brings the people of Israel together. You are not breaking down walls or fences, but paving a new path.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
So many Yeshiva boys, who are not cut for learning 10 hours a day and spend their best years floating through the system, doing odd jobs and wasting so much precious time, would benefit from a sense of accomplishment and self worth that a truly segregated and kosher army unit could provide, giving them structured learning and davening times and making them feel proud to be a frum Jew and a productive member of society. Unfortunately, such a framework still does not exist, creating this lose-lose situation that those who do enlist have to fight for their religious requirements, many feel ‘second class’ and slip in their observance while in the army. On the other hand there are thousands of discontented young men who are not learning but are prevented from having a meaningful existence and building a parnassah pathway by the draft requirements which they cannot comply with.
What a shame.