Does Israel Consider Torah Study a Crime?

Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch (TOI)

Just when you think (or at least hope) that things can’t get any worse, they do. The Jerusalem Post reports that there was a massive protest today that blocked major thoroughfares in many cities throughout Israel.

In the past, these protests were organized and encouraged by the extremist faction of the Charedi world, consisting primarily of the Eidah HaChareidis and the Jerusalem Faction of yeshiva students founded by the late Rav Shmuel Auerbach.

While the entire Charedi world agrees with the position that full-time Charedi students should not serve in the army, there was once a more moderate faction led by the late Rav Aharon Leib Steinman. He believed that confrontation was counterproductive and strongly opposed such protests. He found a way for Charedi students to continue learning Torah full-time while honoring the government’s requirement that they register for the draft, thereby making them eligible for service should they choose to stop learning full-time.

The aforementioned extremists would have none of that. They believed that even registering for the draft was forbidden. This resulted in some arrests, which in turn led to massive demonstrations that disrupted traffic in Jerusalem, even preventing emergency vehicles from getting through. The protests also became violent, resulting in damaged property and injuries to both protesters and bystanders, some of them serious.

Rav Steinman strenuously objected to these protests, as did Rav Chaim Kanievsky. While both agreed that yeshiva students should not serve in the army, they understood that public demonstrations of this magnitude were not only counterproductive but endangered the lives of innocent bystanders and the protesters themselves. Rav Kanievsky was so upset with Rav Auerbach’s extremist position that he reportedly referred to him as a Zaken Mamre (a rebellious sage) for rebelling against Rav Steinman, whom most of the yeshiva world considered the Gadol HaDor at that time.

Sadly, it increasingly appears that Rav Steinman took his sober analysis and wise counsel to the grave with him…

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