Yehoram Gaon is a popular Israeli entertainer who has a weekly radio program in which he comments on current events. Here is a translation of some his remarks about the status of those who learn Torah.
This past week, if you can recall, the dramatic decision was arrived at through a vote of 1 to 8 of nine Higher Court judges issuing an interim order forbidding the State to honor its budgetary commitment for yeshiva students whose army duty has been deferred to a later date. This decision relates to yeshiva students between ages 18-20 who received enlistment orders for various dates, beginning from August 2013, and did not make their appearance at the army induction center because of the decision of Defense Minister Yaalon to postpone the date of reporting.
O.K., so nowadays it is popular to talk about draft dodgers, those dressed in black with payos and clothing from a century ago, who are living at our expense. It's the `in thing' to mock them, hate them. As for me, I don't mind going against this trend, because, contrary to many others, I am trying to understand them, yes, I actually want to understand them. I want to believe that they are not simply draft dodging out of fear of fighting.
Now don't be angry at me, but in one particular newspaper, several pages away from a story about the draft dodgers, was an additional story, this time about Europe threatening to boycott Israeli products. Nu, this is a time-worn method of harming Jewry, through the pocket, and it has always worked, as history has borne out through the ages. If at least the two separate items pertaining to the Jewish purse were in separate newspapers! We can perhaps find comfort in the fact that the European sanctions are called anti-Semitism, but the sanctions against the funding for yeshiva students is called sharing the burden. What can I do? This still doesn't sit or smell quite right to me...
The problem is that we are asking those chareidim to integrate themselves and to contribute their fair share, when they are altogether convinced that they are fully integrated and contributing their fair share — in an even greater measure than the rest, even more than the soldiers at the borders. This is what they truly believe. Period.
On the face of it, it sounds presumptuous and galling. But we must at least try to understand the real underlying issue, not just act for the sake of political populism. They are convinced that they are pulling their share of the burden through their Torah study and it won't help us a bit to ridicule or charge them with evading their duty. They declare that they definitely do not consider themselves as such while declaring that they are the true soldiers and defenders of Eretz Yisrael who stand and guard its walls, as they see it. Again, this is their belief, also that their contribution to the war effort and in defense of the country is far more valuable than the contribution of anyone else.
These are people who were born into this set of values, this vision. They breathed this credo from age three, if not earlier. It is their very oxygen and they breathe it day and night, while shunning the hectic, turbulent and enticing life all around them. They live sequestered in their homes which constitute their whole lives. It isn't as if they suddenly fabricated an excuse not to serve in the army; they live within this Torah study world, and this alone, from the moment they emerge from the womb. They are prepared to die for it - for this idea of dedication to Torah study, if they are thwarted from it. We have got to realize and remember that they are ready to put their lives at stake for it and would that it should not come to such a head. This is their battleground, absolute and definitive, to the very end. Mamash to the very bitter end. We must believe it and admit its truth, not to make peace with it, but to understand and realize what it represents.
We are not talking about those who do not wish to be suckers, who are afraid of the battlefield, who want to be artists and who think that army service is a waste of time while they have better things to do. No. We are talking about an entire sector of the population which believes that it is sacrificing its life for the sake of Torah and that it is more important for the Land of Israel than tanks and planes.
We have two ways of relating to them. One way is to put it on the line and force them into the prisons. The second is to hear them out and to try to understand them. This is a factor which we must deal with. This is their truth. They truly believe that they are guarding and defending Eretz Yisrael in their way. They preserve our relationship with the land from between the lines of their holy books which is their kushan, tabo or property deed of ownership of the Land. It is imperative that we comprehend this since this public is a vital component of the Jewish Israeli milieu in this country.
They are vigorous in their study, in their tenacity to the letters wafting in the air which the Tana R' Chanina ben Tradyon, one of the Ten Martyrs, saw when he was being immolated by the Romans, encased in a sefer Torah. His disciples asked him what he was seeing and he replied, `Parchment scrolls being burned and letters flying in the air.' This is a power which we cannot belittle. It has proven itself and it is this power that brought us back to our homeland.
We cannot convince them of evading their obligation or sharing the burden because they deny this. They absolutely believe that they are doing the right thing, while an outsider cannot understand this. But let us nevertheless attempt to understand and not be `outsiders' or strangers.
Before imposing sanctions, we must work on ourselves, to free ourselves from prejudice and bigotry and preformed conclusions. Maybe we can think differently? Perhaps we can draw a bit closer. Our only chance is by coming nearer because if we distance ourselves and punish and imprison, they will fight back in full force, with sackcloth and ashes, fasts and weeping. We cannot possibly do battle against a whole community of our brothers and this could turn out to a civil war which no one wants.
Let us stop using their not-serving as our ax to grind and to provoke hatred and promote our political agendas.
Let us convince ourselves that army duty is a privilege and not an obligation; it is a privilege to serve and whoever avoids that privilege is the loser; he denies himself that benefit. It will help us immeasurably to think of Torah scholars as losers and not gainers. Let us really examine how many combat soldiers do we have? And how many soldiers we really need?
It is vital, very vital, to preserve the fire of Torah and keep it burning; it is our reason for being here. In the Diaspora and throughout the generations, Someone always stood guard over us that we didn't vanish like so many other peoples. It wasn't an army which preserved us, so apparently, there is some truth in what they are fighting for and preparing to sacrifice their lives for. It is very important to keep the eternal light burning for if not them, who will guard over it? We? The secular?"
