Verse That Depicts the Previous Israeli Government
Yirmiya 17:11:
קֹרֵא דָגַר וְלֹא יָלָד, עֹשֶׂה עֹשֶׁר וְלֹא בְמִשְׁפָּט; בַּחֲצִי יָמָו יַעַזְבֶנּוּ, וּבְאַחֲרִיתוֹ יִהְיֶה נָבָל.As the partridge that broodeth over young which she hath not brought forth, so is he that getteth riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days he shall leave them, and at his end he shall be a fool.
קֹרֵא דָגַר וְלֹא יָלָד - Just like the partridge sits over young birds that are not its own, the outgoing government felt that they must be the "parents" of all Haredi kids and decide the curriculum that must be taught them and that they must enlist in the army even if they are full-time Torah learners.
עֹשֶׂה עֹשֶׁר וְלֹא בְמִשְׁפָּט - It cut stipends for large families to make itself wealthy - unlawfully.
בַּחֲצִי יָמָו יַעַזְבֶנּוּ - Its term was cut in half (from 4 years to 2 years)
וּבְאַחֲרִיתוֹ יִהְיֶה נָבָל - The members of government - נתניהו בנט לפיד (Netanyahu, Bennet, and Lapid) end up looking foolish in the end.
The very next verse is:
כִּסֵּא כָבוֹד, מָרוֹם מֵרִאשׁוֹן--מְקוֹם, מִקְדָּשֵׁנוּThou throne of glory, on high from the beginning, thou place of our sanctuary,
May that throne be complete over the Beit Hamikdash immediately following the downfall of the government, Amen.
posted by yaak @ 12/09/2014 10:30:00 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
There seems to be some misconception here which needs to be cleared up.
Firstly Yesh Atid were the ones that insisted on the core curriculum and yesh atid (pery commitee) also insisted on criminal sanctions for draft dodgers. So I take offense that somehow you have included Bennet and netanyahu.
Netanyahu and Yaalon both said in public that there will not be any criminal sanctions for draft dodgers ever - i guess in the next government the will amend the law if necessary.
Most people I speak to will agree the following consensus - that full time Torah students should not be forced to enlist but everyone else should enlist. But how do we get these non full time learners to enlist? What percentage of full time learners are actually in full time learning and are moser nefesh?
And another question why must my children get shot at whilst your children sit in a beis midrash?
The whole notion of evading army sevice to learn Torah creates a Hillul hashem of the highest order. It is a distortion of the Torah and essentially trying to be Galus Jews in the land of Israel.
We have a land so defend it, we have a Torah so learn it NO EXCEPTIONS
I was brought up in South Africa where we had conscription and everyone did the army including the well known and brilliant Rabbi Tatz. We know that the Chafetz Chaim even approved of Jews enlisting in the gentile armies of Europe, indicating that it would be good training and preparation for our own Jewish army. He told them: “In a short time the Mashiach will come, and we will have a State, and a State needs an army. Will you wait until then to learn how to be soldiers? Now you have the opportunity to learn how to fight. This is very important to us. The Master of the World is arranging this opportunity for practice to prepare you for service in our own Jewish army”
So this whole concept of full time learning and exemption is a distortion and probably more due to Israeli coalition politics than anything else
AMEN!
Anonymous,
Bennett knew full-well what Yesh Atid's intention was when he made the pact with him to keep Haredim out of the government. Any statement from Bennett afterwards is just hogwash. He knew exactly what he was doing.
And Netanyahu could have created a coalition with BY, the Haredim, and Labor - admittedly Labor would not have been his first choice - but one that would have been less demanding than the coalition he set up. He didn't even need Livni and he had her - of all people - negotiate with the Palestinians. So including Labor would have been a step up as far as security goes.
Netanyahu talks a nice game, but does quite another. By voting for the criminal sanctions, he showed his true colors. No matter what he said he wanted.
How do we get non-full-time learners to enlist, you ask? If their rabbis don't want it, then there's nothing to do. We cannot force enlistment for those who don't want it on religious grounds and whose rabbis oppose it. You're shooting yourself in the foot if you do that. What good are unmotivated soldiers anyways?
What percentage of full time learners are actually in full time learning and are moser nefesh? That's a good question, but army should not be used as a punishment for not learning. Rather, army should be used as an alternative life-direction if not learning. Read: choice - not punishment.
"And another question why must my children get shot at whilst your children sit in a beis midrash," you ask? Do we ask the same for those who are providing tactical support? Do we ask the same for those in the army sitting at desk jobs? How is learning Torah different than those positions? Both are helping the fight - some physically and some spiritually. Those who don't believe it are the ones who need convincing.
Evading the army to learn Torah for those who are really learning is the exact opposite of a Hillul Hashem. It's the biggest Kiddush Hashem. Unfortunately, most religious Jews need to be convinced of that fact before it can be relayed to the general public.
Efraim,
No Haredi Jew says there shouldn't be an army. What they say (and of course there are some differences of opinions within Haredim themselves) is that those learning Torah full-time should not be fighting. See the difference, which makes what you say moot.
Yaak, your last two comments in response to the above commenters were EXCELLENT! Clear and to the point! But wonder if they will want to understand. You know how facts sometimes get in the way with certain mindsets.
Btw, my "AMEN!" was to the blog post, not the comments. Just clarifying.
But wholeheartedly agree with Yaak's responses. The Torah itself gives reasons to excuse people from military service. I would just add that there are more applicants than spaces in comba
t units. The students are not needed. The army is being used as an assimilation tool, that's all.
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