If They Build It, Charedim Will Come

Charedim in the Chashmonaim brigade ( TOI - Chaim Goldberg)

In yet another unsurprising development in the ongoing ‘war’  between Charedi leaders and just about everyone else in Israel, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch has withdrawn his support for a Knesset bill that would have enabled (with their approval) the IDF to draft Charedim who were not studying Torah full-time.

As has been widely reported, that support was not sincere in any case. A recording of a private conversation revealed Rav Hirsch admitting that the bill was a sham and that not a single Charedi would end up serving.

That had drawn the ire of respected talmidei chachamim in the Religious Zionist camp, such as Rav David Stav. Religious Zionists serve with distinction and honor, risking life and limb in the process. Unlike Charedim, they see military service as a requirement of Torah law.

Now it appears that Charedi leaders will not even support the bill they would not have honored in the first place.

What is most galling about their rhetoric is how they describe their opponents. Mincing no words in portraying them as evil. Do they actually believe what they say? The following excerpt from a message delivered in Hebrew by Rav Dov Landau (which is typical of their attitude) stood out:

“To those evildoers and schemers of wickedness who seek to break our spirit and steal the treasure of our world, we say clearly: do not delude yourselves that you will succeed.

Unlike you, we are people of noble spirit. Our hands do no evil, and we have no desire to use the tools of your malice. Yet know this: your opposition to lomdei haTorah is a war against the eternal Klal Yisrael.

History is full of those who sought to remove Torah from Yisrael. They perished, their names forgotten, their power vanished like a fleeting shadow. But the Torah endures forever.”

It may be the case that some of their opponents fit that description. But they cannot possibly say that about their Religious Zionist opponents. No distinction is made. To imply that Rav Stav and his Religious Zionist colleagues are “evildoers and schemers of wickedness” is, in and of itself, terribly wrong.

Rav Landau has every right to disagree. But to issue such a blanket condemnation is something I cannot believe a religious leader in Klal Yisrael would say - knowing full well that Religious Zionist leaders support drafting Charedim. Surely Rav Landau knows there are devout Jews serving in the IDF - some of whom are even Charedi. How can he speak this way?

As I have said many times, the power behind the ‘throne’ of Charedi leadership is Daas Torah...

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