Q&A: Working Despite My Status as a Yeshiva Student
Working Despite My Status as a Yeshiva Student
Question
Hello.
I am struggling with the question of whether I may work on Election Day despite my status as a student in a hesder yeshiva. Does “the law of the kingdom is law” apply only to monetary matters, or to more than that? Does the State of Israel have more authority than just “the law of the kingdom is law”? And am I bound by what I signed—that I would not work—in order to receive my deferment of service?
I have heard halakhic decisors who say it is permitted and others who say it is not permitted, but I have not heard their arguments, so I need help deciding, mainly based on reasoning or the Talmudic sources…
Thank you very much.
Eitan Avraham Perlman (Yeruham).
Answer
In my opinion, it is forbidden. It is neither legal nor fair. “The law of the kingdom is law” applies in a case like this, especially since it is primarily monetary in nature. It is also unfair on the political level, because you receive leniencies in your service, while soldiers who are serving cannot do this. It turns out that the hesder framework gives an unfair political advantage to religious-right-wing parties.
Discussion on Answer
I understood that you were talking about working on behalf of a party. If this is just ordinary work for money, then there is no moral problem, only a legal one. As far as I know, the law forbids a soldier or someone in deferred-service status from earning money. If not, then there is no problem.
A. Why is this included under “the law of the kingdom is law”? The law forbids working, not taking money. (Maybe the Rabbi defines “the law of the kingdom is law” differently; I’d be glad to hear.)
B. I am not yet in deferred-service status.
C. I did not understand why the hesder arrangement gives a political advantage to right-wing parties. (As a polling-station worker, at most you count votes or mark who voted…)