Tikkun Olam

The Hareidim *, in Israel as well as the United States apparently, have no understanding of the proposed new law drafting the Ultra-Orthodox into the IDF (Israeli Defense Force). In their thinking, it will mean a cancellation of Torah study and a secularization of their bochurim *. They seem to forget, ignore--or are totally ignorant of--the current system which includes what is know as " Hesder Yeshivot ," which combine Yeshiva Torah and Talmud learning with service in the IDF. But that system was for the Dati Leumi - the "National Religious" Israelis, or the "Modern Orthodox." It wasn't for the so-called "Ultra-Orthodox," who learned Torah full-time, excluding army service and even working for a living. The way it stood until now was that the Hareidim were exempt from military service until the expiration of the Tal Law. This exemption dated back almost to the founding of the State of Israel, when then Defense Minister David Ben Gurion ...

(nablopomo day 27) “there is no reason that my daughters are required to do national service and someone else’s aren’t.” Those were the words of  Brig.-Gen. Orna Barbivai , who is only one of three women in Israel to hold such a high rank in the IDF .  She stated that because of "demographic challenges" and lower immigration, the Israel Defense Forces should start cracking down on draft-dodgers.  She was partially referring to the ultra-Orthodox who receive a religious exemption from serving in the armed forces, and have twice the birth rate of the regular population, or higher. The ultra-Orthodox receive an exemption in order to study Torah, which is fine, for scholars--but it is now out of all proportion.  Even those who do not have an inclination nor an aptitude for studying and learning Torah get this exemption.  Initially, it was a reaction to the decimation of Judaism in Eastern Europe because of the Holocaust, when six million men, women and chil...