Q&A: Haredi Conscription into the Army
Haredi Conscription into the Army
Question
Hello Rabbi, the Rabbi has spoken several times about the phenomenon of enlistment among the Haredim and about how it causes them to go off the religious path almost automatically… And what the Rabbi said was that enlistment itself, for them, expresses leaving the religious system. This past month I went through basic training in a Haredi company, and I was stunned by how low their religious level was. The army gives them an hour of Torah a day, and most of them just try to sleep as much as possible during it or talk through it, and even in the prayers there isn’t much of an uplifting atmosphere… not to mention the cursing, etc. Up to this point I really wasn’t all that surprised, but one incident made me remember what the Rabbi said. In the middle of a Torah lesson, the rabbi giving it spoke about divine providence in a Hasidic spirit, that everything comes from above, and I dared to argue with him a bit and raise difficulties based on logic, and all those Haredim who weren’t really interested in religion suddenly jumped on me and said that this was a heretical approach and that in this matter you have to throw away your intellect, etc.
This reminded me of the Rabbi’s words that on the one hand they left the religious framework, and on the other hand they can’t believe within a more open framework that might also answer their questions.
I just wanted to share this with the Rabbi..
Answer
Many thanks. Indeed, very typical. Much success,
Discussion on Answer
What he described wasn’t just a desire to work, meaning to remain religious but not stay in kollel. This description speaks about people who left faith and religious commitment, not just the kollel. Sociologically, though, some of them remained Haredi. I also encountered this phenomenon in quite a number of cases (also in the army, in a meeting I had with soldiers from the Haredi Nahal unit).
Maybe this shows that they don’t need a framework that answers questions for them, since they aren’t asking. They need a social framework that will accept them as part of society even though they want to study a profession and work normally and not stay in kollel (or supposedly be in kollel while doing side jobs).