Q&A: On the Haredi Brigade
On the Haredi Brigade
Question
Hello Rabbi Michael,
Recently I came across a new Haredi brigade they want to open in the IDF (the Hasmonean Brigade), whose purpose is to allow Haredim to maintain their way of life alongside military service (what they call: to enter Haredi and also leave Haredi). In a document published not long ago, the strict rules from a halakhic standpoint that fit the lifestyle of the Haredi public also appear.
But I think that the very idea of establishing such a brigade rather misses the essence of Haredi society. I always thought that, beyond all the stringencies the Haredi public practices, the separation between women and men, or even kashrut, did not stem directly from pure study of the laws in Orach Chayim and Yoreh De’ah, but also in practice from a desire to separate themselves from the secular public (or from Israeli society in general). In my opinion this is also expressed in the push toward Torah study in yeshivot, which is intended not only for Torah study per se but also to preserve the Haredim within their protected space (“Noah’s Ark,” in their terminology), and I think that the “yeshivot for dropouts” are fairly strong proof of this. In fact, if I am not mistaken (I did not find a source), when different Hasidic groups in Europe wanted to distinguish themselves from other Hasidic groups, they would adopt strict rules of prohibition and permission for themselves, and say one could not rely on the ritual slaughter of such-and-such a Hasidic group, specifically in order to create a break between the two.
My question to you, as someone who understands “Haredi-ness” a bit: is there really, in all the stringencies of the Haredim, a dimension of pure halakhic analysis (of course, the overwhelming majority indeed is like that), so that the rigid adoption of these stringencies is genuinely justified? Or, as I wrote, are there stringencies whose whole essence is merely a practical device for distinguishing themselves from Israeli society, such that the Haredi brigade, which in effect adopts those same stringencies, rather misses the point—that those stringencies were meant to prevent this very brigade itself.
Answer
Obviously not. You are completely right. But sometimes groups like these fail because of the façade they themselves present. The Haredim present their non-enlistment as concern for their way of life. (That is of course a lie, as you wrote. There is such a concern, but it is not the main reason for avoiding enlistment.) Now a framework will be created that removes that concern, and this will put them in an awkward position. They will of course want to continue not enlisting, but it will be hard for them to admit that they have been lying until now. So they will have to find other tricks, and I assume they will. Therefore such a step may perhaps move us forward a bit, because there will be Haredim who will not buy the new tricks, although it probably will not bring the full salvation.
Discussion on Answer
Out of fear of exposure to the broader public and of developing identification with it, and out of fear of leaving the kollels—because then the Haredim might end up having a livelihood, God forbid, and their dependence on the operatives and the rabbis who keep them captive would diminish.
Rabbi, apparently I’m naive—what interest do rabbis and operatives have in keeping them captive? Could you explain it simply, please?..?
Is there not simply a desire for Torah study in kollels, and that’s all?
The interest can be ideological (there are some who are simply wicked, but not all of them). Once they build a warped outlook and a warped society, the interest in preserving them justifies very problematic and forceful conduct. Their feeling is that if they do not take the Haredim captive and force them to live such warped lives, Haredi society will disappear from the world. From their perspective, that is a disaster, if only because they have become used to thinking that this is what Judaism looks like. A great deal of wickedness can attach itself to that ideological outlook, but at the root it really is ideology.
In the Rabbi’s opinion, what is the real reason the Haredim do not enlist?