Israel – Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, a highly respected leader of the “Lithuanian” yeshiva hareidi religious Jewish community, on Thursday released a letter condemning the High Court’s declaration that the Tal Law contradicted Israel’s Basic Laws, and that the Knesset could not vote to extend it.
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The letter, which was published in hareidi religious newspapers, said that no Sages (Gedolim) in previous generations had even given their authorization for Yeshiva students to join the army. “They have called this an attempt to destroy our religion. This is something that we are commanded to lay down lives down for. May G-d change the intentions of all those involved to a positive direction, that they should not seek to harm the existence of Torah and Judaism.”
Yes it’s true.
to join the israeli army is involved with all 3 sins of “Yeherag ve’al Yaavor”
Maybe they will come to the USA.
whats a yeshiva boy doing on the internet its the same 3 sins as going to the army perhaps more then 3 sins too
Is he a satmar chusid? Now lets read from the frum ultra zionist bashing Rabbi Auerbach. Lets be real the only reason they want chariedim in the army is to assimilate the frum yidden. Hashel yilochim v’atem tachrishun
I think if all roshei hayeshiva called the bluff of the idf and sent for once all their talmidim there will be no more problem bcause the idf will kick all bochurim out they really dont want them it just is politically correct for them to say that they need the chareidim
It would be a bigger chilul hashem to c’v not provide for the defense of the medinah and risk a massive loss of lives. If the litvish chareidim wish to run and hide under their shtenders in the beis medrash, thats certainly their option but to portray this as somehow a principled decision under Yeherag ve’al Yaavor is misguided and disrepectful of all the kadoshim who were niftar the last time frum yidden refused to fight our enemies in the misguided belief that learning and tefilah alone would protect kl’al yisroel.
I do hope he is going to refuse the protection of the IDF at all costs
This apple fell far from the tree. His father would have never used such strident and offensive terms.
So who is to protect them ? Someone else should die so they can “learn”
They can do both Learn how to protect Israel and learn Torah
If they are defending the country with their learning, the yeshivas need to be placed right on the border of the Palestinian territories.
“This is something that we are commanded to lay down lives down for”
Insanity, not to lay down their lives to PROTECT their mothers and grandmothers, but NO TO PROTECT THEM. r’l.
and I for one would be quite happy for Tzahal to withdraw it’s protection from the chareidims neighborhoods. I think that the time has come for us to stop protecting you from the Arabs & the terrorists.
Sure, the hilonim should put their lives on line for the charedim, who don’t recognize the medinah, nor do they contribute, but they know how to take. They should not be in Israel – let them go to the US and collect welfare.
Maybe if more chareidim join the IDF it would create a frum environment, every jewish person has a obligation to protect the jewish people!
Torah and Judaism have survived the Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, Egyptians, Philistines, Syrians, Romans, Christians, Muslims, Cossaks, and nazis (i’ve probably left out a few dozen), but their existence will be harmed by having Charedi serve a couple of years of national service to defend their families, friends, neighbors and country? With all due respect to the Rabbi, this is just silly.
in this case,the apple did fall very far from the tree,his father Reb Shlomo Zalman Aurebach z’l was a brilliant talmid chochom and the POISEK HADOR, and on top of it a very normal person,this guy might have the first two attributes of his father but definitely not the third one,what a CHILLUL HASHEM to have a talmid chacham say what he said.
this is exactly what CHAZAL had in mind when they said ” KOL TALMID CHACHAM SHEAIN BOI DAAS,NEVEILA SERUCHA TOIVA MIMENOI.
so it has nothing to do because of learning Torah it is a blanket philosophy
no army for frum people
If the chareidi commitment to yiddishkeit is so thin that a couple of years service in an environment that supplies kosher food and sifrei torah would destroy the fabric of their yiddishkeit, then their commitment is only clothing deep to begin with.
Does Rabbi Auerbach feel the same way about benefiting from living in the medinah, participating in the elections and taking their money?? How long can people fool themselves that the Zionist regime would allow them to simply take and take and not give anything in return. It would seem to be very selfish and unrealistic. If you don’t want to serve in their army and are that unhappy, then why do you encourage your people to stay under the Zionists??!!
In the photograph in the article, the rav has what I would have to call a “pained” expression in this photograph where he is expressing his thoughts on the Tal Law. The photo seems to convey his disappointment that the Court’s decision was not cleared in advance with gadoyley yisroel.
I’m sure Matisyahu and his sons sat and learned and Antiochus just ran away.
They didn’t?
You mean they fought?
Like the Jews fought in Shushan?
Why didn’t they just sit and learn?
His father zt”zl did not get involved in politics.
The son is gunning to be the next “posek hador”.
Want to avoid serving in the IDF? LEAVE ISRAEL.
This commentary sets up a society for SEGREGATION. THIS IS NOT TORAH.
Did Joshua give some jews the day off to study gemarra instead of coalescing the Jewish Nation?
A politician does not necessarily know what’s right or better than a Rabbi just because he has knowledge of politics-those same politicians are recorded in the knesset promising there would be no rockets if we gave back gaza! Rabbis knowlege are formed from eternity- politicians – by mans small mind- I’m not commenting on what the Rabbi said, but I do recollect similar Rabbi bashing in a holiday we will be celebrating soon…the other thing is that now we have no centralized leaders and there are PLENTY of extremely learned religious zionists who take everything literally the way they are supposed to in learning and go learn and go to war- I happen to acknowlege their sacrifice in learning and for their people-and for their love of their brothers. There is no such thing as zionism or zionists or charedi- we as a people cannot escape the fact that labels are irrelevant at the end of the day- a chareidi would die for another zionist without the label and vice versa- we have to stop separating ourselves with names
A patient of mine (teenage girl) found out that my father was a ba’al teshuva. She asked me “why would anyone who didn’t grow up frum want to become frum?!?”
I answered her by explaining that the Judaism she grew up with (chassidishe) is much different from the Judaism I grew up with (I guess you could say modern) and I have no trouble understanding why one would want to be frum. But stories/articles like these help me understand that patient’s question.
reply to #24
I see that you are a talmud chacham (at least not a am ha’arets) maybe you forgot a shach in yore daeh siman 158 sak 6 that somone that is mevaze talmud chacham has a din of an apikoros and in siman 243 seif 6 it says that he has no part in the world to come (ok you won’t have to pay litra didahva) so its agood idea while you might be eligeble to disagree depending on how big of a talmud chacham you really are but to be mevaze you should watch out.
I also find ths argument about the gedolim not realy knowing whats going on interesting at this time of the year when I remember seeing ( I don’t remember where at this time) that this was the argument that the people in shushan had against Mordchai in shushan when he told them not to go to the seuda of Achashveirosh that he really didn’t fully understand the political situation and how to respond to it but every body knows that the gemara according to one daeh and in medrush it spports this daehthat this was the sin that brought this gezaira
What’s wrong with Chareidi units? I’ve seen them and they look great – they are in great shape and have a sense of purpose. Is it better to sit on street corners smoking cigarettes and batul your time away?
It seems to me that the issue is service to your country. In the actual army or otherwise. Learning is important. So are all the other forms of service. I don’t understand how you can exempt yourself from any service in a nation so tiny and whose mission is to protect the Jewish People. All the Jewish People.
You could serve in Zaka, you could serve in Magen David Adom – you could serve in the IDF and keep kosher and Mitzvos. Look at all the young men from the Hesder Yeshivas. They serve with great honor and pride to protect our country. They have parents and wives and children who miss them when they serve, but they still serve with honor.
At the very least, let’s give credit to Tzahal for protecting the nation. Hashem should bless them and protect them and keep them from harm. They should all return to their families in good health with our Brachos.
I am sad to see how Rav Shmuel Shlit”a has become more and more extreme as the years go by. He has rejected his father’s ways. It pains me to see the chareidim applying the Peter principle to him. He is not worthy of being called the posek hador.
Excuse me Rabbi: You want to be protected but you do not want anybody to do it?
Unlike catholic theology, Judaism does not believe in the concept of “infallibility” as regards to our Gedoilim. We all love and respect Rabbi Auerbach; but to say that anyone that disagrees with them is going straight to hell; when other Gedoilim do disagree with him is not rational. We all have our opinions but it’s obvious that the status cannot continue
I greatly admire Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach.
I also know a lesser, albeit great, yeshivish rav that is the head of a kollel… in his office he proudly displays a picture of his son who is in the IDF. I don’t know the back story, but to say I was stunned would be an understatement. Not because what I saw offended me, but just because it was not something I expected to see in this rabbi’s office.
The secular, and dati leumi, resentment over military service evasion is no small thing. Sensitive Charedi writers like Jonathan Rosenblum have said as much. Many speak of the mesiras nefesh of those in full-time long-term learning. But those in engaged in the milchamas shel Torah don’t fear that instead of coming home at night they will be brought to the beis hachaim because of their learning. Note this post from the Daas Torah blog: http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2012/02/secular-arguments-for-abolishing.html May HKB”H protect those who protect His people Yisrael.
Im sorry but I just don’t get it. My father, my uncle both chassidesh men from very frum backgrounds served in the six day war and yom kippor war and both have continued to live very frum chassidesh life’s after their service. If you are a true Torah Jew who believes with his or her whole heart a few years in tzahal
The real problem is not that we don’t serve in tzaha”l. The IDF needs a bunch of out of shape bench kvetchers like Arizona needs more sand.
What’s driving the fight is the contempt with which not yet frum yiddin are treated by many of us and the lack of hakoras hatov to the chayalim who give the best years of their lives, a few weeks each year for many more years and r”l all too often much more.
Were the yeshivos to take the least learning 20% of their bochrim and create something along the lines of a USO and every chayal knew that his biggest supporter is a frum yid most of the hatred would vanish over time.
If Agudah and Shas fought for housing for charaidim AND injured veterans, and stipends for kollel students AND all veterans in university we wouldn’t be seen as always taking just for ourselves.
we must use this opportunity of not extending the tal law,to arrange for yeshiva boys to enter the work force and to contribute to the society they live in, this will bring unity to the Jewish people and sanctify the name of hashem.
Reply to # 78:
After everything we lost in Europe, you don’t think we can go to Israel before Mashiach comes? There are B”AH so many Yidden in E”Y today. You think we should go back to pre 1948? Are you sure that is what you would prefer?????
Might I suggest a simple thought experiment for a moment? Suppose that R Shmuel Shlita had come out on the opposite side. Suppose he had said “Every frum bochur should try his best to serve the country in the IDF. And the IDF should work to make them comfortable”. Just suppose. Uhm, what would the public Charedi reaction have been? Answer: It would not have been pretty. We have to wonder who is leading and who is following here.