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Conscription of yeshiva students

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Conscription of yeshiva students refers to the conscription of Orthodox yeshiva students in Israel. Since 1977, this community had been exempted from military duty or national service. In 2012, service became mandatory with a penalty of imprisonment for up to five years for draft-dodgers, although the law has never been enforced.

Bird's-eye view of the large demonstration
Aerial view of the demonstration

History edit

On March 2, 2014, a mass rally was held in Jerusalem, the so-called "million-man protest," against a proposed law overturning the exemption from military service for Haredi students and criminalizing those who refused to serve. From 300,000 to 600,000 people attended the protest. A petition led to a 1998 high-court ruling that the Minister of Defense Act was not intended to exempt the Orthodox community on such a large scale, and new Knesset legislation was required.[1]

A public committee, known as the Tal Committee, headed by Justice Zvi Tal was appointed after the 1999 Supreme Court decision. Its findings led to the 2002 deferment for yeshiva students, regulating the deferral of yeshiva students with the rationale that their religious studies constitute national service. The ruling, which provided a timeline of five years, was extended an additional five years in 2007. During the summer of 2012, the court ruled that the law was unjust and must expire.[2] With its expiration IDF service became mandatory for all members of the Haredi community, with a penalty (imprisonment for up to five years) for those who refuse to enlist. However, the law is not enforced against members of the Haredi community by authority of the Defense Minister.

 
Yeshiva students during the demonstration

After unsuccessful attempts to draft a new law (such as the Plesner Committee), the Special Committee for the Equal Sharing of the Burden Bill[3][4] (also known as the Shaked Committee after its chairwoman, Bayit Yehudi MK Ayelet Shaked)[5][6][7] was formed. During its deliberations (ongoing at the time of the protest) the committee proposed a law establishing annual quotas for the drafting of yeshiva students for military or national service and calling for criminal sanctions against draft evaders if the quotas are not met by mid-2017. The bill would mandate a gradual increase in recruitment levels of yeshiva students. Each year 1,800 promising students would be granted exemptions to continue their studies, and yeshiva students beyond draft age would be allowed to enter the workforce.[8]

Smaller protests against conscription of yeshiva students began around 2012 with the meeting of the Plesner committee.[9] The first of such protests was held in Kikar HaShabbat in Jerusalem with thousands in attendance.[10]

On February 24, 2014, the leaders of Agudath Israel, Degel HaTorah and Shas including Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, Rav Shmuel Auerbach, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, and Rav Shalom Cohen gathered for a conference in Bnei Brak and decided on a demonstration a week after the conference.[11] All haredi boys and men over age nine were summoned to attend. Rav Shteinman publicly encouraged attendance at the protest. He said that in the IDF there is Gilui Arayos (sexual immorality) Shfichus Damim (bloodshed), and Avodah Zarah (idolatry), but greater than these 3 cardinal sins is the Chilul Hashem that a country calling itself the Jewish State should put quotas on Torah learning.[12]

Leading rabbis from the conservative wing of the national religious community (including Shmuel Eliyahu, Mordechai Sternberg, Micha Halevi and Shlomo Aviner) supported the rally,[13] and a group of nationalist haredi rabbis issued a proclamation calling on the public to participate in the religious, Zionist rally.[14] Other groups, such as the Tzohar and Beit Hillel rabbinical associations,[13] and rabbis from the religious Zionist community (including Haim Druckman)[13][15] opposed the protest. After harsh commentary by a haredi newspaper about Religious Zionist leader Haim Druckman, Yehoshua Shapira (rabbi of the Ramat Gan yeshiva) and the Association of Community Rabbis (led by Chief Rabbi of Tzfat Shmuel Eliyahu) canceled plans to attend the "million-man march".[16][17] Roads in the capital around the protest area were blocked in the early afternoon and Route 1, the main highway between the capital and the coast, was closed to private vehicles from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m.[18]

Protests in Israel edit

 
Haredi boy holding a protest sign

Hundreds of thousands of protesters lined the streets surrounding the area, with Jaffa Road designated for women, despite unfavorable weather. Many leaders of the Haredi community, including the rabbis of Gur, Belz and Vizhnitz, Lithuanian rabbis Aharon Leib Shteinman, Chaim Kanievsky and Shmuel Auerbach, Sephardic rabbis Shalom Cohen and Shimon Desserts and other members of the Great Council of Torah and the Council of Torah Sages attended the rally. Members of the orthodox rabbinical community (including Yitzhak Tuvia Weiss, chief Rabbis David Lowe and Isaac Joseph, and Hasidic leaders, rabbis and public figures) were also in attendance. Small groups and religious Zionist rabbis, including Shmuel Eliyahu and Yaakov Shapira, were present.

The organizers, who called for a "million-man protest"[19] by men and boys aged nine and older,[20] estimated attendance at 500,000; police estimated a crowd at 300,000.[19] Some believed that 600,000 were present, which led to a public recitation of the Chacham HaRazim blessing.[21][22] All three major Jewish streams (Lithuanian, Hasidic and Sephardic) were represented.[23] The peaceful protest was one of the largest in Israel's history, with loudspeaker noise heard across Jerusalem. It was secured by about 3,500 police and other security personnel.[19] No speeches were made at the rally, but at its end statements received by the Council of Torah Sages were read opposing the conscription of yeshiva and kolel students.[24]

Protests outside of Israel edit

America edit

On June 9, 2013 a rally was held in Foley Square in Manhattan attended by 20,000–30,000 Haredim.[25][26] Among the speakers was Rabbi Elya Ber Wachtfogel,[27] the rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe in South Fallsburg, N.Y.

On June 11, 2017 a similar rally was held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Close to 20,000 Haredim attended.[28][29] The speakers included Rabbi Aaron Schechter, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chaim Berlin, Rabbi Leibish Leiser of Pshevorsk, known as The Pshevorsker Rebbe, one of the most prominent leaders of the Haredi community of Antwerp, Belgium, and Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, author of The Empty Wagon: Zionism's Journey from Identity Crisis to Identity Theft. A letter was read from Rabbi Aharon Feldman, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, who wasn't able to attend in person. Rabbi Schechter lambasted the attempt to draft Orthodox Jews as an assault on the essential characteristics of religious Jews.[30]

Europe edit

On June 27, 2013, Haredim protested in front of the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium against Israel attempting to draft Orthodox yeshiva students.[31][32] The protest was attended by Rabbi Ephraim Padwa, head of The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations in London, Rabbi Elyakim Schlesinger, a prominent English rosh yeshiva and internationally recognized halachic authority, and Rabbi Leibish Leiser of Pshevorsk from Antwerp, Belgium.[33] A protest in London in 2014 drew 4,000 demonstrators[34]

References edit

  1. ^ בג"ץ 3267/97 אמנון רובינשטיין ואחרים נ' שר הביטחון, ניתן ב-9 בדצמבר 1998 Archived July 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ http://elyon1.court.gov.il/files/07/980/062/n18/07062980.n18.htm Archived December 31, 2013, at archive.today בג"ץ 6298/07 רסלר נ' כנסת ישראל (February 21, 2012)
  3. ^ "Knesset Committees: Special Committee for the Equal Sharing of the Burden Bill". Knesset. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  4. ^ "Knesset Committees: Special Committee for the Equal Sharing of the Burden Bill – Historical Makeup". Knesset. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  5. ^ "Press Releases". Knesset. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  6. ^ Ettinger, Yair. "Hundreds of haredim clash with police in Jerusalem over yeshiva student's arrest: Yeshiva student sent to military jail for not showing up at enlistment center". Haaretz. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  7. ^ Harkov, Lahav. "Coalition source challenges Lapid timeline on haredi draft bill". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  8. ^ Kershner, Isabel (March 2, 2014). "Ultra-Orthodox Jews Clog Jerusalem Streets to Protest a Draft Bill". The New York Times. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  9. ^ Goldman, Yoel. "Ultra-Orthodox hold mass Jerusalem protest against forced recruitment". The Times of Israel. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  10. ^ "Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Protest in Jerusalem Against Tal Law Replacement". Haaretz. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  11. ^ "HISTORIC MEETING OF GEDOLIM: Standing Firm in the Face of Threatened Chareidi Draft". February 24, 2014.
  12. ^ https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/215153/rav-shteinman-shlita-speaks-of-the-chilul-hashem.html February 25, 2014
  13. ^ a b c Sharon, Jeremy; Eisenbud, Daniel (March 2, 2014). "Massive haredi demonstration to take place in Jerusalem today: Prayer rally set to prevent drafting ultra-Orthodox men into national service; the last haredi protest of a similar size and nature was in 1999". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  14. ^ Yonatan Urich (February 28, 2014). יצאו מהארון? רבנים חרד“לים יפגינו נגד גיוס לצה“ל [Did they come out of the closet? HaRDaL Rabbis will protest against conscription into the IDF] (in Hebrew).
  15. ^ Dvorin, Tova (March 1, 2014). "Religious Zionist Leader 'Shocked and Outraged' by Haredi Rally: Another respected Religious Zionist joins the chorus of calls against the haredi rally Sunday". Arutz Sheva / Israel National News. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  16. ^ Baruch, Uzi; Dvorin, Tova (March 2, 2014). "Association of Community Rabbis Skips March Over Incitement: Group headed by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu cancels plans to attend until Yated Ne'eman retracts incitement against Religious Zionist leader". Arutz Sheva / Israel National News. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  17. ^ Sharon, Jeremy (March 3, 2014). "Tensions high in national religious community over participation in haredi draft rally: Criticism also leveled at chief rabbis for participating in demonstrations against ultra-Orthodox conscription". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  18. ^ Sharon, Jeremy (March 2, 2014). "Hundreds of thousands demonstrate in Jerusalem against haredi draft: Prayer rally to protest legislation to draft haredi men into national service shuts down streets in capital". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  19. ^ a b c "Hundreds of thousands protest Haredi draft in Jerusalem", The Times of Israel (March 2, 2014)
  20. ^ Isabel Kurshner. Ultra-Orthodox Jews Clog Jerusalem Streets to Protest a Draft Bill, The New York Times (March 2, 2014)
  21. ^ Yehudah Spitz. Birchas Chacham HaRazim, March 22, 2014.
  22. ^ "שש מאות אלף איש בירכו יחד: "ברוך... חכם הרזים" • שידור חי" [600,000 people greeted together: 'Blessed... the thin sage' • Live broadcast]. Kikar (in Hebrew).
  23. ^ Yolande Knell. Israeli ultra-Orthodox in mass rally over army draft, BBC News, (March 3, 2014)
  24. ^ החלטות העצרת[permanent dead link], אתר שטיבל, 2 במרץ 2014
  25. ^ "Ultra-Orthodox Jews Rally Against Israeli Army Draft Policies". The Observer. June 10, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  26. ^ Brenner, Yermi (June 10, 2013). "At Massive Anti-Draft Protest, Haredi Jews Came Together — But Not on Zionism". The Forward. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  27. ^ Clearly explained why Orthodox Jews refuse to serve in IDF. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via YouTube.
  28. ^ "Protesters in New York stage massive anti-Zionist, anti-IDF draft rally". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  29. ^ "Anti-Zionist Hasidic Jews Shake the Room at Brooklyn's Barclays Center". Haaretz. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  30. ^ Tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews in New York protest IDF draft law - Part 1. Retrieved January 13, 2022 – via YouTube.
  31. ^ "Haredim protest against IDF in Brussels". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  32. ^ Yanover, Yori. "AG Blocks Draft Bill as Haredim Rally Outside EU Headquarters". Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  33. ^ "European Rabbis Protest Israeli Persecution Against Orthodox Jews". Torah Jews. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  34. ^ "Stamford Hill's ultra-Orthodox rally against yeshiva army draft", Jewish News, March 3, 2014.
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