Is This Deception Justified?

Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch

Assuming the information reported here is correct, to say that I am dismayed by what transpired would be an understatement of gigantic proportions:

Recordings broadcast Wednesday evening on Channel 12 reveal that senior Haredi rabbis backing the passage of a proposed conscription law view it primarily as a delaying tactic, with no expectation that it will ultimately lead to the enlistment of yeshiva students into the IDF.

In the recordings, Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch explains that he supports the legislation because it would “buy time” for the Haredi community. When asked whether yeshiva students who fall outside existing study frameworks would eventually be required to enlist, he responded unequivocally: “God forbid.”

Addressing the enlistment targets included in the proposed law, Rabbi Hirsch dismissed them outright. “Do they think we will want to meet the target? Of course we will not want to,” he said, adding that he believes the law will collapse after a few years. “In the meantime, we gained time,” he explained.

Rabbi Hirsch also referred to past attempts to create special enlistment frameworks for Haredim under the leadership of the late Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, calling them a mistake. “Our community does not have such compromises,” he said.

Another leading figure, Rabbi Dov Lando, was equally blunt, stating that there is no intention to enlist any Haredim — including those not studying in yeshivot. “What they are talking about is nonsense — it will not happen. We will not go to the army; no one will go to the army,” he said.

Their opposition to Charedim serving in the IDF is not new and should surprise no one. Their strident resistance has been on display for decades. They have consistently argued that those who study Torah full-time should be exempt, because they are the ‘real soldiers’  in the war against the mortal enemies of our people. That it is Torah study, not the IDF, that protects us.

I am not going to argue that proposition here. For the sake of argument, I will concede that perhaps a combination of both Torah study and a physical army is what protects us in our time. Still, I seriously doubt that these leaders truly believe that without a physical army Israel would be protected. On October 7^th -  Israel had both: a standing army and more people studying Torah than at any other point in Jewish history. And yet a massacre of 1200 Jews still happened on that day.

I am not sure how these leaders would answer the question of why such massive Torah study did not prevent that catastrophe. But it turns out that their oft stated reason is not the reason at all...

To continue reading this post - and comment on it - click on this link: substack. To receive substack posts - you must subscribe. It's easy and it's free.