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| Rav Asher Weiss - What does he really believe? |
The biggest issue confronting Israel right now (outside of issues relating to Palestinians) is the clash between Charedim and the rest of Israel. Mostly centering on the Charedi refusal to serve in the IDF in any capacity. This issue has been festering ever since the State of Israel was founded.
It seemed to have been settled at the time of Israel’s founding by an agreement between the Chazon Ish, the de facto leader of the Charedi world, and David Ben Gurion, Israel’s founding prime minister. They agreed that Charedim who studied full-time in yeshivas would be exempt from military service. At the time, this exemption applied to only a few hundred people.
Ben Gurion felt that this compromise was necessary for the sake of an all-inclusive Jewish state that would not be plagued by internal factionalism. A few hundred exemptions would not make or break the IDF. He likely believed that the Charedi community would eventually disappear, to be replaced by the ‘new Israeli’ - the soldier-citizen of the world in a nation like any other, rather than the bookish yeshiva type weakling, long victimized by centuries of persecution.
Had Ben Gurion known that the exact opposite would happen, he may never have made that deal.
The proportion of Charedim in Israel continues to grow, and at some point, they may overtake the secular population. Currently, however, Charedim make up 17% of Israel’s Jewish population, meaning that 83% of the population resents their refusal to share in the burden of defending the country. This burden has become uniquely difficult since the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023.
Difficult is, in fact, an understatement. Since then, 83% of the population has been subjected to the horrors of war. Either by directly serving in combat, facing death or serious injury, or by their families worrying about whether they will ever see their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers alive again. Worrying also about whether those that return will sustain serious, life-altering injuries.
Charedim, on the other hand, don’t have to worry about such things. Their wholesale exemptions take care of all that for them. If I were a Charedi mother, I would be beyond grateful for that good fortune. If I were a non-Charedi mother, I cannot imagine being angrier at them for that.
The question is, what kind of person feels no guilt about letting others suffer the dire consequences of obligations from which they are exempt? How can they say that studying Torah is what really saves the country. And even that were true, it obviously does not involve the same level of sacrifice
What it does involve is the continuation of living their daily lives as though nothing is happening. Their lives have not changed at all. Yeshiva students still spend their days studying and return home to their families. Their families continue doing the same things they did before the war - working, shopping, and having some leisure time in between. One would hardly know there was a war going on with significant Jewish casualties.
Do they not care?
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein had some interesting thoughts about this in a podcast. If he’s right, it is both good news and bad news at the same time. He said that the vast majority of the Charedi world does care deeply about what the soldiers are going through. But caring and doing one’s part are two entirely different things. No matter how much one empathizes with the hostages, their families, and those who have suffered loss or permanent injury, that is an order of magnitude different from actively participating in the war effort. You simply cannot compare empathy with actual involvement.
What was revealing to me was that, according to Rabbi Adlerstein, most Charedim actually know this deep down. They realize that others are fighting and dying for them. Perhaps some would even be willing to join the IDF if their leadership permitted it.
But that is where the problem lies. The majority of their leadership is firmly opposed to any Charedim serving in the IDF. For reasons that may (and I emphasize may) be valid in times of peace but certainly not in times of war. However, Rabbi Adlerstein made it clear that there are recognized Charedi leaders who privately disagree and would encourage enlistment.
But they won’t say so publicly.
The reason is simple: The moment they publicly disagree with the most senior Charedi leaders, they are no longer considered Charedi leaders. They lose their stature, and their opinions cease to matter. They may as well be members of the radical left or Religious Zionists. whose views the Charedi world considers wrong.
On one level, it’s good to know that some recognized Charedi leaders understand the enormity of this problem and have exactly the right attitude. On another level, it’s sad that airing their views publicly would disqualify them and render their opinions irrelevant. No card-carrying Charedi would be able to keep that ‘card’ if they joined them.
All of this makes it seem like the problem will never be rectified - that the system is built to perpetuate itself as it is.
Is it?
