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| True believers - they say they prefer dying to serving in the IDF (TOI) |
It is so powerful that giving up one’s life for guarantee of an eternal reward makes martyrdom for the sake of one’s belief the ultimate expression of that belief. It is the most highly prized form of service to God.
Although it is no longer true today, Christianity was once like that. The church believed so strongly in the truth of their religion that they believed God wanted them to force all of humankind to believe as they do or to kill them trying. Which is what the Inquisition was all about.
In our day this is most evident in Islam where there has been a multitude of Muslims mostly from the Arab world that have sacrificed their own lives as suicide bombers and the like in service to those beliefs. When it is one’s religious belief that Jews must be expelled from ‘their ‘ holy ground or be killed, they do it even if they die trying. Because they are then guaranteed that ultimate reward in heaven.
Judaism has a similar idea in the form of Kiddush HaShem. There are 3 cardinal sins for which one must give up their lives before carrying them out. One must submit himself to death if that is the alternative to being forced to commit murder, commit adultery with another man’s wife, or commit idolatry.
But not every motivation is taken to that level. Sometimes it is simply a matter of believing strongly only in a narrow interpretation of a religious belief - considering other (even similar) interpretations to be false. This is also a way to achieve one’s eternal reward.
For an Orthodox Jew, one might think interpreting whether one’s interpretations are right or wrong is a function of studying all of Orthodoxy’s various streams and using rational thought to choose the one that makes the most sense to you.
That would be true in a vacuum. But that is not how the world works. Generally we are raised by parents with preconceived notions, sent to schools where teachers give their own input. And then post high school - if you have been raised Charedi and have gone to Charedi schools you will probably remain that way and end up in a place like Lakewood that will reinforce those narrow beliefs
If you are not raised Charedi you are likely going to go to a Yeshiva in Israel. Except for Yeshivos that are specifically religious Zionist like KBY or Shalavim you will end up in a Yeshiva that is heavily populated by Charedi Mechanchim. The result of which is that a lot of students (but not all) from non Charedi homes become Charedi adults.
Diversity among observant Jews is therefore on the decline. The nature of the Charedi world is that it has a very high birth rate making them the fastest growing segment in Orthodoxy. It is also more likely they will be involved in Chinuch. So their narrow interpretation of observant Judaism is the one that is going to be spread the most - reaching Orthodox communities outside of their own.
This is a belief system that centers on following people they consider to be the religious leaders to the generation - to exclusion of all others. They believe that one cannot achieve their eternal reward if they disagree with them. A belief that is constantly being reinforced by local Charedi rabbis when challenges arise.
This was the case recently in Ramat Bet Shemesh. The legitimate challenges continually raised about the refusal of Charedi leadership to allow their young to serve in the military has had an impact on the Charedi world. That has generated a variety of pushbacks. At a recent gathering this issue was addressed by a local Charedi Rav. Rabbi Natan Slifkin who attended that gathering challenged some of his assertions but he doubled down on his views without adequately addressing them. Which suggests that in the view of Charedi world - not much value is placed on rational thought when it comes to matters of belief. If one wants to preserve his place in heaven, one must follow what the religious leaders of the generation say. The Charedi population of Ramat Bet Shemesh is growing too - as it is everywhere else. For the same reasons
