Q&A: Haredim in the Army
Haredim in the Army
Question
Hello Rabbi, I read your article about the Haredi claims against enlistment in the army, and I have to say I enjoyed it, and agreed with most of it (I say this as a Lithuanian yeshiva student). But what is still difficult for me is that you relate to the matter of service as though it is simply an obligation toward society that the Haredim do not want to fulfill, and nothing more. I am the lesser one, but in my humble opinion this is a halakhic question for several reasons: for example, whether it is permitted for someone who keeps Torah and commandments to integrate into secular society; and also regarding matters of life and death, which the heads of the army are not expert in, and seemingly this could lead to the taking of life, Heaven forbid; and also what Maimonides ruled, that anyone whose spirit moves him like the tribe of Levi may do so and is exempt from going out to the army; and this is not the place to elaborate, and all this with my limited knowledge, and perhaps I am mistaken. And from here, seemingly every moral obligation toward other people stems from the obligation toward God, and if so, if the law of the Torah is not to go to the army, what place is there for claims about a moral obligation? It is similar to a father who commanded his son to violate one of God’s commandments, about which we say that both of them are obligated in the honor of Heaven. Would someone who does not work on the Sabbath in a country where the day off is Sunday be sinning against his moral obligations?
In advance, thank you
Answer
1. It is indeed an obligation toward society and toward themselves as well, since they too are part of society. That is exactly the problem: the discussion is presented as though they owe something to me. They owe it to all of us, including themselves.
2. Integrating into secular society is of course not a halakhic question. But even if it were, in cases of danger to life they permitted much more severe prohibitions.
3. The laws of danger to life, and certainly public ones, are not similar to private ones. The Haredi leaders do not understand this very well, and certainly no better than others.
4. If you read my words, you could understand that Maimonides’ words at the end of the Laws of the Sabbatical Year and Jubilee are not relevant here, for many reasons.
5. Even if you were right and there were a conflict here between Jewish law and morality, and you are not right about that, you assume automatically that Jewish law prevails. But morality too is God’s will, and therefore there is no way to determine which overrides which. There are situations in which the circumstances create a moral or other problem that justifies changing the Jewish law. Even Torah study for women was considered there a moral prohibition (although that is not true), and nevertheless they saw fit to be lenient ever since Beit Yaakov. And cooperation with secular people, which is also not a halakhic matter, was permitted when necessary, not to mention Haredi service in the government. In short, when necessary, all the “Jewish laws” that the Haredim invent stop being Jewish laws.
The example of honoring parents is not relevant for several reasons: a. There is a special verse about it. That implies that without it there is no override. b. Honoring parents is itself a commandment and not a moral obligation. Therefore this is a halakhic principle of override, and one cannot learn from it about Jewish law versus morality. c. Jewish law and morality are both God’s will, so this reasoning, “both he and you are obligated in My honor,” does not apply.
6. And what about all those who do not study? Do they also protect and save? Is there also some “halakhic” principle here that exempts them? So why do they not agree to draft at least them?
7. In the end, every reasonable person understands that the reasons Haredim do not enlist have nothing to do with all these arguments. They are afraid of the encounter with the world, which may dissolve Haredi society. It is a shame they do not say this honestly, although even that is not a justification for evasion; it is no better than prohibitions in time of war.
8. Distress and bias cause people to raise baseless arguments, just to justify what cannot be justified. Rabbis and political leaders are used to lying in such situations, and presenting arguments that they themselves understand are not correct. The public that accepts these lies and repeats them again and again is what mainly disappoints me. In your Torah study one sees a higher intellectual level, and it would be worthwhile to do some soul-searching as to why this happens.