The Draft and the Haskala

I was living in America when the draft controversy began and I listened puzzled at times to my shul rav as he decried the prospect of drafting yeshiva bochurim. He cited gadolim who called this a threat to the continuation of Torah observance. That seemed hyperbolic to me. After all, the Religious Zionist rabbis assured us that solders can keep kosher in the army in an environment of gender segregation.

So I have been living in Israel now for six months and can tell you that my shul rabbi was understating the danger. I work in Tel Aviv, ride the trains with many solders, and work with non-religious Israelis some of whom are officers in army and nearly all of whom were solders in the army. Without hesitation I tell you that the Israeli Defense Force is a religion and a brain washing machine. We shouldn't be surprised. Jews are religious people by nature and will turn whatever they are doing into a religion of some kind. The IDF is consumed with its power, might, cleverness, and ruthlessness. I don't see how it is possible to retain a semblance of emunas Hashem after being subjected to their rhetoric and abuse. I was talking to a nice young secular Israeli in Jerusalem a month ago and asked him about his army experience. Were they tough on you I asked. He said in perfect seriousness that he wanted to kill himself about a dozen times.

So I thank my shul rabbi for alerting me of the truth long before I was in a position to understand it. Maybe he could have elaborated more. So I'm doing that now. The problem is much greater than a decrease in Torah study. It's a mentality as bad as the haskalah, as bad as serving in the Czar's army. It might be worse than them all. The IDF has more solders than they need and they don't need charedim. Unless the IDF changes its culture and approach to life, we should work feverishly through the political channels to stop the draft. I'm not telling anybody to break the law. I'm telling all to work to change the law.