The national-religious movement's "Torah" community is up in
arms over the increasing complaints of hesder yeshiva
students, who caution that military service has become
intolerable due to severe breaches in halocho and
tsnius.
The attempt by the Mizrachi Movement to combine yeshiva
studies with military service, encouraging yeshiva students
to perceive army service as a Zionist and idealistic duty,
has already encountered numerous problems in the past.
National-religious soldiers complained about what takes
place in the army and questioned the ability of the young
religious man to survive and to maintain his beliefs and
religious practice in the framework of the IDF, which is
built on secular foundations and serves as the melting pot
for Israeli society. Recently these problems have become
more pronounced.
Last week Hatzofe published a letter written by
students about to be inducted into the army through the
Yeshivot-Hesder program, describing the dilemma they face:
"We have been hearing more and more complaints by yeshiva
students in uniform and those who have recently completed
their period of active duty about serious problems in the
army today in the area of tzniut that would not allow
us to serve without affront to our sensibilities, upbringing
and halachic requirements." The students signed on the
letter note that they have heard descriptions by fellow
students in active duty of increasingly severe problems ever
since the IDF began to promote the recruitment of female
soldiers by involving them in the training of combat
soldiers.
"Why have [our] roshei yeshivot not cried out
against this?" the letter continues. "Month after month,
rotation after rotation, and the problems continue to
multiply--why has no solution been found? Certainly there
have been plenty of good intentions; we have heard about
meetings and discussions and consultations, but no
substantial changes have been made! For the time being
yeshiva students have been left to face impossible
situations, while roshei yeshivot and ramim
remain silent! Is this darka shel Torah? Is this the
way you raised us?
" . . . we feel uncertain whether we can be inducted to
active duty, . . . We do not want to shirk our duty, but we
are very concerned about all the problems and stumbling
blocks we will have to face.
"We are asking you, our esteemed roshei yeshivot and
ramim who we view as our leaders," the letter says in
closing, "as those who are in favor of and responsible for
allowing us to serve in the Israel Defense Force without
facing halachic problems and affronts to our sensibilities
and upbringing, to please do everything in your power to
remedy this situation."
The chareidi world has always objected to the concept behind
the Yeshivot-Hesder program, which are not really yeshivas
as we understand them of absolute dedication to excellence
in Torah. Leaders of the national-religious camp were
tempted by the pledges of secular government officials who
said that their boys would be provided suitable conditions
for military service, but now, according to firsthand
sources, the secular framework designed by the IDF presents
very serious problems in terms of religious practice and
tznius.
Despite this crisis, some National-Religious figures are
seeking to expand the Hesder program and to create further
distortions by promoting a program to recruit religious
women, which all of the gedolim of the previous
generation placed in the category of yeihoreig ve'al
ya'avor prohibitions. An article published in the
military organ, Bamachane, describes a women's
Hesder program, which began three years ago and is
held at Midrashot Bruria in Jerusalem, and at Midrashat
Hakibbutz Hadati at Ain Hanatziv, where female soldiers
participate in Jewish studies for a period of seven months,
are inducted as a coherent group for a period of 13 months,
return to the seminary for another two and a half months and
then return to the army.
Bamachane writes that during the first course in
1998, 30 women enrolled in each of the seminaries, in 1999
the numbers doubled and last year more than 80 participants
took the entrance tests. So far this year 100 candidates
have applied, "but despite the great demand, the IDF has not
authorized more than 32 participants. Recently 60 female
soldiers were inducted through the two seminaries, and
enrollment for next year is currently being completed."
The National-Religious "bridge"--which "gedolim" of the
previous generation called a "one-way bridge"--continues to
lead youth raised on flawed, compromising modes of thought
over the brink.
