Rabbonim reacted very strongly against the Government
moves on Sunday to extend a program of national service
for chareidim. Gedolei Yisroel rejected the repeated
attempts to seduce yeshiva students to leave their
yeshivas and said that it was part of a longstanding
focused attempt to undermine the yeshiva world and to
weaken the values held dear by Jewry whose members
dedicate their lives to Torah study as yeshiva students
and kollel avreichim.
Coming as it does in the middle of an election campaign
in Israel, the comments of the rabbonim elicited sharp
reactions from many secular politicians.
At its weekly Cabinet meeting, the Israeli government
extended a program that had been part of the Tal Law
that expired in the summer. The program had allowed
chareidim to join national service programs as
civilians in areas such as welfare and public
health.
In a letter published last year dated Motzei Shabbos
Mikeitz, 5772, HaRav Eliashiv warned, "it is necessary
to protest and to warn against all sorts of attempts
from the outside to damage the pure cruse of oil, by
establishing "special frameworks for chareidim" that
will be under their total control and in their spirit,
and including various frameworks and paths for national
or civil or army service whose purpose is to create
places where a group of chareidim will be formed which
is under their control and subject to their cultural
influences." (See the full
letter here.)
With the announcement of the decision of the Israeli
government, Maran HaRav A.Y.L. Shteinman said that we
must warn the public against this grave and dangerous
trend whose purpose is to undermine the foundations of
our existence, and run counter to the nature and aim of
every ben yeshiva to dedicate his life to learning
Torah.
Maran shlita said that we must make it clear that no
one should join these organizations and that the entire
aim of the programs is to change the aspirations of the
typical ben yeshiva who only wants to stay in Beis
Hashem throughout his life, to cleave to Torah and to
those who transmit its ways.
The national and civil service is entirely prohibited
by all maranan verabbonon. Reports have reached Yated
that the civil service forces the chareidim in its
ranks to attend special workshops designed to convince
them to join the general work force. Sometimes they try
to hide this aim, but it is clear from the statistics
that they proudly quote, that 85 percent of the
chareidim going through the civil service later went on
to work full time.
Maranan verabbonon said that we must fight for our
souls and stand immobile like a wall in the face of all
these dangerous temptations.
To see the article written last year about this
issue
click here.
