A Response to the Post From Eitan Phillips
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This is a response to the respectful and inspiring post from that I recently crossposted here. The author of this response is a combat medic who has been serving since the beginning of the war, and also has a son who has been serving. He has contributed many posts on this topic, see a list here, and especially this one.
Dear Eitan,
Your description of your dedication and sacrifice for the sake of the Jewish people is quite impressive. May Hashem consider it a merit for yourself and for the Jewish people as a whole. And I wish upon you that no harm should befall you physically or psychologically, and that your son whom you mentioned should not suffer any long-term psychological harm because of your frequent absences.
I too have spent considerable time in miluim during this war. Except for approximately 2 months during which I returned to civilian life, I have been called up continuously since the beginning of the war. My own reserve battalion (גדוד) is currently in the midst of its third cycle of miluim, with each round lasting several months. But in addition, because of my unique skill set (I am a battalion physician) I was assigned to other units during the time that my own battalion was not serving. Although I did not do anything particularly heroic during the course of the war, I was certainly in my fair share of dangerous and horrific situations. I hope that Hashem will find my service meritorious as well.
I read your thoughtful and articulate essay, and I felt compelled to respond because I think that you are missing a fundamental point. You describe the dedication, and self-sacrifice under difficult circumstances that you witnessed, and held it forth as an example of how Judaism ought to be properly practiced. And yet I feel that you are missing the forest for the trees.
Serving in a military during wartime and demonstrating courage, commitment, concern for ones comrades, and self-sacrifice, are not in any way uniquely Jewish. Even some of the most evil people in the world have demonstrated these same characteristics during wartime. German soldiers fighting under the Nazi regime during world war II often demonstrated courage, commitment, concern for their fellow soldiers, and for their Nation. It is possible to argue that the Chamas fighters that we face in Gaza are not particularly concerned about their nation, but they certainly demonstrate courage and commitment. And yet these characteristics make them even worse people rather than better people. Courage and commitment on behalf of evil is far worse than someone who would be cowardly and lazy on behalf of evil.
All of the characteristics that you laid out, with the possible exception of learning a wee bit of Torah when one is exhausted, could also describe what goes on today in the Ukrainian army that is fighting on behalf of the Ukrainian Nation and the greater glory of their country. Hashem did not choose the Jewish people to be another Nation of Ukrainians.
Hashem chose the Jewish people to reveal his glory in the world. This is explicit throughout tanach. The primary way that we do this is by studying his revelation (which we generally refer to as the Torah) and thereby bring into human consciousness Hashem's thoughts (so to speak) on the significance of any given issue. When we study Bava Kama we are delving into Hashem's view of how to relate to damages to each other's property, and when we study masechet Shabbos we are studying Hashem's view of how to bear witness to the fact that he created the world that we know in 6 days and rested on the 7th. When we keep the mitzvot we are demonstrating how Hashem wants us to relate to him, which is of course vital as well. But the primary way that we reveal his glory in the world is by studying his Torah. That is why talmud Torah is keneged kulam.
An extension of this idea is the fact that it is only Torah study that preserves the Jewish people as Hashem's unique treasure. Fighting on behalf of the Jewish people, or preserving Jewish lives in general in any context is an extremely great mitzvah. If it is done with self-sacrifice, then it is even greater yet. But it does not have the power to maintain that which causes the Jewish Nation to be unique in hashem's eyes. If Torah scholarship is not spread throughout the entire nation, and becomes the inheritance of only a tiny elite, then the Jewish people will have no future. The power of the corrupting ideas and ideologies that surround us is far too great for us to withstand on our own. Peer pressure, and the general enthusiasm for whatever nonsense becomes the burning ideology of any particular generation is far more powerful and destructive than the guns of terrorist organizations. The Jewish people as Hashem's unique preserve can only survive if we dedicate ourselves to spreading true Torah scholarship to as much of our nation as possible.
My son was just recently released from the regular army (סדיר) even as I continue on in the reserves. Although his injuries were minor, he was wounded in Gaza. He was awarded מצטיין חטיבה when his brigade was withdrawn from Gaza. I am truly impressed by the courage and dedication that he demonstrated while leading his troops in Gaza, particularly since he was the type of kid who could never stand the sight of blood. He and I have had numerous conversations regarding this issue, and we both agree that the significance of what we are doing in saving Jewish lives through our own self-sacrifice, lies in the fact that this allows for there to be a healthy cadre of Jews that spend all day in the Beit Midrash toiling over Hashem's Torah. Otherwise we are just a bunch of Ukrainians who happen to have been born Jewish so we relate to the state of Israel in the same way that Ukrainians relate to the state of Ukraine.
In 100 years from now the Jewish people will still be revealing Hashem's glory in the world, as the prophets promised us. The heroes that will be responsible for that will be those who dedicated their lives to learning Torah day and night. In their reflected glory will bask those who with great self-sacrifice fought the wars of the Jewish people to allow that Torah study to go on. That is the real truth, and all the rest is just chatter.
Still, there is something unique to a mitzvah that is done with self-sacrifice. And as you eloquently point out, fighting our vicious enemies entails greater self sacrifice then learning in the Beit Midrash all day does. So while we dare not confuse what is the goal and what is the means to obtain it, we can be confident that Hashem will reward self-sacrifice even if it was only by providing the means, in its own unique way.
I think it is also worth noting, that the heroism and self-sacrifice of those who are fighting on behalf of the Jewish people should be an inspiration to those who are learning, to increase their level of dedication. Both because seeing someone else act with great dedication should be an inspiration in its own right, and because an appreciation of the sacrifice that was made to allow Clal Yisroel to continue with its primary purpose of revealing Hashem's glory should engender an even greater sense of obligation.
May Hashem preserve his people, and comfort us by redeeming us speedily, and may he avenge the blood of those who fell on his behalf.
For various reasons I do not want to publicize my name, so I will simply sign as:
A combat physician in the reserves
Thank you for your service and i hope your son has a refua sheleima.
Whilst I do not subscribe to everything you wrote, I am not sure there is anything there that directly argues or contradicts what I wrote?
I would just comment none of this directly is my experience, I am far from the best example, but I have been zoche to know people who live up to what I wrote, and they far from learnt a wee bit of torah. My friend Elisha Hy"d poured through mishneh torah, in Khan Yunis, better than I did in Yeshiva.
Hello Eitan,
Thank you for your good wishes. My son is fine thank God, his injuries were relatively minor. 5 days after his APC was struck by an RPG, he was already back leading his soldiers in Gaza.
I appreciate your communicating your feelings regarding my essay. It seems like you are focusing on two points, the first is that you are not sure exactly in what way I meant to disagree with you. The second is that you held forth your friend Elisha hy"d as an example of someone who was able to undertake serious learning during combat conditions, and therefore stands in contrast to my use of the term "a wee bit of learning".
Regarding your second point, Rambam famously points out that one cannot apply oneself properly to gaining wisdom while one is constrained by the various obligations of this world. He specifically uses the example of warfare. Even without Rambam pointing this out, this is self-evident from widespread human experience. While Elisha may have been one of those very unique individuals who can apply himself at all under those circumstances, it stands to reason that he would still have accomplished much more had he been applying himself in the rarified environment of the beit medrash. So for the overwhelming majority of people combat conditions are incompatible with any serious learning, and even for the very rare individuals such as Elisha combat conditions are a great constraint on their ability to obtain wisdom. Hence my use of the term "a wee bit of learning".
Regarding your primary question of in what way I meant to differ from what you wrote, I believe that we differ on a fundamental point. While I acknowledge that properly applied, going to war with all that that entails can be a great mitzvah, it is not an end in its own right. It is a means to accomplish a greater end. And that greater end is the revelation of Hashem's glory in this world, primarily through revealing the wisdom that he revealed in the Torah. And so those who apply themselves to studying Torah in the beit medrash, are actually accomplishing the goal which gives meaning to the sacrifice of those who engage in combat. It is true that those who are fighting are performing a mitzvah with מסירות נפש, which greatly enhances its value, but it is still only a means to allow for the greater end of those who are studying Hashem's Torah in the beit medrash.
And therefore the resentment that you seem to feel towards those who are applying themselves to the very goal for which you are making such great sacrifices, seems very out of place.
That is my response to the points that you made. But in addition I think there is another issue here that you didn't express, but may lay at the root of what is disturbing you. It is a vital condition of studying Torah that one study with the intention of fulfilling that which one has studied. You believe that the state of Israel has some sort of religious meaning, which implies an obligation to fight on its behalf whether or not one would define its wars as a מלחמת מצווה. Therefore, it seems absurd to you that one would dedicate themselves to studying Torah, but not to fulfilling one of The commandments that is derived from that study.
While there are great Jewish scholars from the past two or three generations who indeed felt that the political state of Israel has religious significance, they are a small minority of the great Jewish thinkers of the past few generations. The great majority of great Jewish thinkers did not believe that the state of Israel has any Jewish significance, and it is their opinion that is followed by the majority of the Charedi community.
So according to that understanding, that there is no Jewish significance to the state of Israel, then there is no cosmic meaning to its wars. Fighting on behalf of the state of Israel is no different than fighting on behalf of any other state. A position that a Jew may one day find himself in, but not something to seek out by any means. Therefore the obligation to fight in Israel's wars does not derive from any obligation to the state itself, or any desire to promote its greater glory. It derives from the obligation to help other Jews, in other words the mitzvah of chesed, which itself is derived from the commandment ואהבת לרעך כמוך.
There is great significance to this distinction, because the rules of the obligation to fight on behalf of a Jewish state are very different than the rules of the obligation to perform chesed. Without going into the specifics, I think the root of what is disturbing you about the Charedi attitude towards fighting in Israel's wars derives from your fundamental understanding of the significance of the state of Israel. But when you appreciate that they have a very different understanding of that significance, then it all begins to fall into place.
While I don't know you, and haven't had the opportunity to discuss this issue with you, in my experience it has often been the case that when well-meaning people are at a loss to understand the Charedi attitude, the root of their wonderment lies in their not appreciating this distinction. Often times when they come to appreciate this distinction, it makes perfect sense to them and the resentment evaporates. I am speculating that what I have learned from experience with others applies to you as well.
Be well, and may the merit of your מסירות נפש stand by you and keep you safe.