POINT

COUNTERPOINT

What Might Have Been

Distinguished Service

deal as a major concession by the
sraeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
Orthodox leadership. It is nothing of the
is to be congratulated for his vig-
sort.
What is being proposed is a dis-
orous pursuit of peace. Peace with
criminatory law granting special legal
security is Israel's first priority, and
status to a defined group of people,
it is understandable that Barak assem-
while others citizens of the
bled his coalition with an eye
same age are called upon to
toward gaining support for his
risk life and limb in defense of
peace efforts.
their
homeland.
But make no mistake.
Such
a law would be pro-
The cost was high, and
foundly unfair. The principle
Israeli society will be paying
of universal army service, the
the price for generations.
most important pillar of
During his campaign,
national
solidarity in Israel's
Barak addressed religious
contentious
democracy, would
issues with unprecedented
be
further
undermined.
And,
candor. He focused not on
RABBI E RICH. most critical of all, a major
conversion and other matters
YOFF IE
blow would be dealt to the
of interest to Diaspora Jewry,
Specia / to
hope that Barak's election
but on the issue that is most
the Jewish News
would lead to a significant
sensitive for average Israelis:
lessening of tensions between
the drafting of yeshiva stu-
Israel's secular and religious
dents into the Israeli army.
populations.
For 50 years, a de facto arrangement
For secular
has granted an exemption from army
Israelis,
there is no reli-
service to those who declare that Torah
gious
issue
on Israel's
study is their occupation. Upwards of
national agenda that
.30,000 young men now take advantage
generates as much
of this exemption, which keeps them in
anger and resentment
yeshiva until their 30s, supported by the
as the failure of Ortho-
public dole.
dox youth to serve in
Last year, Barak made a widely
the army or do appro-
applauded proposal to end the exemp-
priate
national -service.
tion for all but 750 exceedingly gifted
Average Israelis who
Talmud scholars.
care little about the
Yet in the agreement reached with the
ongoing religious wars
three Orthodox parties in his coalition,
and do not even know what the Con-
Barak not only abandons his initiative
version
Law is are acutely aware that
but proposes a new arrangement that is
their
sons
go off to the army at age 18
even worse than what exists now.
while
the
young
men of B'nei Brak do
According to the coalition docu-
not.
ments, Orthodox men who enter a
The fact that so many modern
yeshiva at age 18 will be granted a
Orthodox men serve with distinction
legal exemption from army service
while maintaining the strictest levels
when they reach age 24.
of religious observance. only heightens
The advantage of this proposal is
their sense that those who refuse to
that at age 24, young men will be able
serve
are slackers or worse.
to enter the workforce and support
It
was
precisely for this reason that
their families. The disadvantage is that
Barak
offered
his initial proposal, and
after six years of yeshiva study, Ortho-
suggested that an equitable draft was
dox Jews will receive a permanent,
the first step towards national recon-
lifetime exemption from army service
ciliation
in the religious realm.
— or, for that matter, from any other
And
never
has national reconciliation
form of national service.
been
so
desperately
needed. The recent
What has existed de facto will now
election
featured
an
unprecedented level
become de jure. In virtually every case,
of
name-calling
and
anti-religious
Orthodox young men will attend
rhetoric.
And
it
is
a
serious
mistake to
yeshiva for the requisite six years and
think, as some American Jews do, that
then be free, formally and legally, from
Reform and Conservative Judaism will
assuming the most basic obligations of
be
beneficiaries of this rhetoric. Quite
citizenship in the Jewish state.
the
opposite is true.
Incredibly, some have described this
Secular Israelis outraged by Ortho-
dox Jews who avoid the army are not
Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie is president of
likely to be drawn to liberal Judaism;
the Union of American Hebrew Con-
they are far more likely to conclude
gregations, the umbrella organization

I

/-

/–)

study beyond their mid-20s. The change
re haredi [fervently Ortho-
is designed to add haredim to the pool
dox] men in Israel freeload-
of
those trained to serve Israel in times
ing draft dodgers, contemp-
of
need, to facilitate the movement of
tuous of their fellow citizens
haredim
into the workforce and to end
and unconcerned with their safety and
the dependence of many hare-
security? Some ardently secu-
di families on the very modest
larist Israelis readily answer
government subsidies provid-
in the affirmative; some
ed to the unemployed. A spe-
American Jews, gently guid-
cial committee, composed of
ed by much of the media,
representatives of the Defense
readily concur. Both groups
Ministry, the Prime Minister's
are victims of profound igno-
office,
the Attorney General's
rance and, in more than a
office
and
yeshiva heads, are
few cases, guilty of outright
to determine the final criteria
prejudice.
regarding conscription and
Virtually since Israel's birth,
RABB
I
AVI
exemptions.
Israeli yeshiva students have
SHA FRAN
The accommodation is a
received annual deferments, as
Spec
ial
to
reasonable
one. Yet the con-
is customary in many coun-
the
Jewi
sh
News
troversy
continues,
fueled, in
tries for divinity students and
part, by two stubbornly
religious scholars. (There are
resilient misconceptions.
many other deferment categories; Israeli
The first is that Israel's security is
government statistics show that fully 65
compromised by the relative paucity of
percent of draft-age
haredim in the military. The fact,
Israelis are excused
though, is that the Israeli army has no
from military ser-
interest
in enlisting haredim. With their
vice.) Yeshiva stu-
scholarly
demeanors and religious needs,
dent deferments are
young
haredim
do not easily fit the
conditional on the
requirements of the modern military.
students' full-time
Former Defense Minister Yitzhak
involvement in
Mordechai
testified before Israel's High
Torah study; their
Court
last
year
that the current number
employment in any
of
deferments
on
religious grounds did
way is-illegal. At 41
no
harm
whatsoever
to the state.
years of age (35, if
What's
more,
former
army Chief of
they have five or
Staff Lt.-General Amnon Lipkin-Sha-
more children), haredim receive perma-
hak has declared that the military is
nent deferments.
simply not prepared to absorb an
The arrangement, part of the "reli-
influx of haredi soldiers. "The Israeli
gious status quo" endorsed by Israel's
army,"
he said, "would have to reshape
first prime minister, David Ben-Guri-
itself"
entirely
to accommodate the
on, has become increasingly unpopu-
religious
needs
of such inductees.
lar in recent years. That's largely due
The second misconception, more
to the growth of the haredi sector of
trenchant still, is that those who opt
Israeli society and the concomitant
for
full-time Torah study are con-
increase in the number of full-time
tributing
nothing to the security of
yeshiva students.
the
Jewish
state.
As he was forming his governmental
Study
halls
may be safer places than
coalition, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
battlefields,
but
there are many vital
Barak entered into an agreement with
roles
even
within
the military that are
one of Israel's religious parties (which,
formidably
insulated
from danger.
together with the others, garnered a full
Think
of
engineers
or
communica-
quarter of the Jewish vote in the recent
tions
experts
—
or,
for
that matter,
Knesset election). The agreement allows
generals
and
logistical
planners
safe in
yeshiva students to seek employment at
underground
war
rooms.
Service
to
age 24 or 25, but only after undergoing
one's
country
and
exposure
to
danger
basic military training in accord with the
do not necessarily go hand in hand.
army's needs.
From a truly Jewish viewpoint,
The new setup is aimed at young
informed
by Jewish ideals and Jewish
haredi men who are not prepared to
texts,
the
single most important part
devote themselves to full-time Torah
of Jewish security is the practice and
study of Torah. While Jewish tradition
Rabbi Avi Shafran is public affairs
mandates the employment of conven-
director for New York City-based Agu-
tional means, like armies and arsenals,
dath Israel of America and American

A

The Drafting
Of Yeshiva
Students Into
Israel's Army

.

of the Reform movement.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 31

Director of Am Echad.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 31

8/6
1999

Detroit Jewish News

29