10 Myths about Charedim and Army

A really handy FAQ

With all the lengthy polemics about charedim and army service, I decided to prepare a handy short list of the ten most common myths about this topic, with some brief and some more lengthy responses. This way, if anybody “snaps” and angrily confronts you, threatening violence, all you need to do is consult this list and immediately defuse the situation. Actually, I happen to think that “de-escalation training” is really what is needed rather than convincing the other guy with logic and arguments, since the issue is so fraught with emotion, almost nobody will be convinced with logic and arguments. But it is important to not be swayed by “Torah” arguments of people who have not been within four cubits of a Beth Midrash in decades and wouldn’t know which side to open up a Pentateuch from.

Myth #1: “Rambam does not mean (In the end of Shemittah v’Yovel) yeshiva students in his comparison with Levites, since he is not referring to someone relying on taxpayers!!” and “In Rambam’s Laws of War, he lists no exemption (of yeshiva students) from army service for such people!! If he held that there was such an exemption, he would have mentioned it there!!”

FACT: There is no evidence of this. The Levites themselves relied on taxpayers. Although it is certainly true that the Rambam opposed the funding of Torah scholars from charity and didn’t mean in that halacha that they should take charity, this is not the accepted halacha, and there is no principle that we discard every single opinion of the Rambam if we don’t rule like one of them. The Rambam mentions certain exemptions in Laws of War because these are the exemptions mentioned in the Torah and in the Mishnah. This doesn’t mean that there can’t be other exemptions. For example, the Levites were exempt, despite not being listed in those places. Furthermore, one doesn’t even need a specific legal exemption for Torah scholars, since not everybody is drafted in the first place (for example, people living in Chutz La’aretz). Therefore basic Torah values would dictate that Torah scholars should be high up on the list of those who ought to be exempted.

Myth #2: “Most authorities, from the Sages through to later scholars, are of the view that the Levites did fight in a milchemes mitzvah!! That is why they had swords (Shemos 32:27) and why the Talmud discusses laws of warfare relevant to them!!”

The Rambam, Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, Chizkuni, Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, Rav Chaim Kanievsky, and countless Gedolim and Roshei Yeshiva are of the view that Levites did not generally fight at all. This is why they were not counted among the rest of Benei Yisrael. Throughout the Tanach, the Levites are not seen fighting collectively as a tribe like the rest of the tribes. The Levites didn’t even conquer their own cities, but were given cities to dwell in in exchange until their own cities were habitable. In two places in Tanach, the Cohanim were not able to find weapons except those on display to decorate the Temple. And when the Levites are seen going to war in one instance, it is with trumpets and songs rather than weapons.

Myth #3: “There is no statement of the Sages state that Torah scholars should not be drafted!!”

FACT: There is a statement from the Sages that Avraham and Asa were punished for drafting Torah scholars. There is a halacha brought in Shas, the Rambam, and Shulchan Aruch that Torah scholars should not be drafted for the defense of the city. The Chazon Ish explains that this is even when Torah scholars feel they need protection.

Myth #4: “Torah does not protect from death!!”

FACT: The Gemara states that Torah and/or mitzvos do indeed protect a Sotah from death. The Maharsha on the page states that Torah protects from “calamities that arise in the present day, which are plague, sword, and starvation.”

Myth #5: “Nowhere in traditional Judaism does it says that Torah protects as a replacement for ordinary effort!!”

FACT: No chareidim claim it’s a replacement for ordinary effort either, but rather that it complements ordinary effort.

Myth #6: “According to the majority of rabbinic authorities, it is indeed a milchemes mitzvah!!”

FACT: This is probably untrue, but in any case, it is dishonest posturing since according to the majority of rabbinic authorities, Torah scholars are exempt, whatever the status of the milchama is.

Myth #6: Milchemes Mitzvah is irrelevant, since there is a halachic and ethical obligation to help Jews who are under attack!!”

FACT: Although there is a halachic and ethical obligation to help Jews who are under attack, nobody really believes that this generates an obligation for everybody to join the army, just like nobody believes it generates an obligation for everybody to attend medical school. If they believed that, they would be demanding American and British Jews immediately make aliyah and enlist, and they would be attacking these heartless and cruel malingerers with the same vehemence that they attack chareidim. But it’s a ridiculous claim that nobody believes in the first place, and is only used when attacking chareidim, along with a strong dose of cynicism.

Myth #8: “The army has really not turned away charedim, it just cannot manage older chareidim (over 24) who want to enlist!!”

FACT: The army turned away thousands of chareidim in their 20s and 30s under the pretext of “health issues”. This is obviously a sham and a farce, and requires a large dose of classic anti-semitism to even take seriously. When there is a will, there is a way. If there is a manpower shortage, the army ought to make it its business to manage them rather than turning them away with absurd excuses.

Myth #9: “Concerns about lifestyle risks are not a justification for avoiding helping the nation in its hour of need!!”

FACT: Keeping the Torah and having a proper chinuch system is not a “lifestyle” decision. It is life itself, and infinitely more important than having a Jewish state in the first place. The casual dismissal of the Torah as a “lifestyle decision” just demonstrates why it is so difficult to find a compromise with the secular in the first place.

Myth #10: “The campaign to enlist charedim has nothing to do with hatred of Judaism and/or bringing down the government!! It’s just people who feel sincerely that charedim should enlist and/or who are finding the burden too much to bear!!”

FACT: While there are certainly some people feel strongly that charedim should enlist both due to the innate religious imperative and in order to help alleviate the crushing burden on everyone else, the loudest voices hate the Torah and religious Judaism and have been trying to curb its influence and stamp it out for years. These are the voices that are cynically exploiting the pain of those who have born the heaviest burden to further their anti-Torah agenda.

Note that I have attempted to represent the opinion of the chareidi rabbinic leadership, to the best of my abilities. The dati Rabbis have ruled differently, and are entitled to their own opinion, but obviously chareidim should follow their own rabbis.