“Some of this is true, but what about the fact that people in the army are risking their lives? Many soldiers are killed/captured/wounded, that is a sacrifice people who avoid the army do not make.”
That is true, and my post was not intended to belittle the sacrifices made by chayalim, and I am “makir tov” to them as well (even though I personally feel that they would be helping the country more by learning, and I think that the Yeshiva Bochurim are doing more for me, I realize that they don’t realize that/feel differently/can’t be learning/perhaps we do need some people in the army to protect the country physically, etc., and that they are putting their lives in danger to help Am Yisrael.
However, the sacrifices made by those who choose to learn instead of going to the army often go unnoticed and people assume they are “taking the easy way out” when in fact, the sacrifices they are making may in fact be much greater.
A few points to keep in mind when comparing the sacrifices made:
1. Not all chayalim put their lives in danger. Only the ones in combat units do. I don’t know numbers, but MANY chayalim are not in combat units and are not putting their lives in danger.
2. In Israel, most or much of the danger from the enemies affects everyone equally (bombs, scuds, terrorist attacks, etc.)
3. If you grow up in Israeli non-Chareidi society, for the most part you don’t WANT to NOT go to the army. If you don’t go to the army, you are not a MAN. Boys who are not accepted into the army are not happy about it and TRY to get in (I have personally known boys like that who were VERY upset about not getting into the army or not getting into a combat unit).
4. It is very difficult to compare one type of difficulty to another, and I know that this is going to cause a lot of back-and-forth arguments (sigh), but it does seem to me pretty clear actually that not having a parnassah is one of the greatest challenges that there is, and most people would willingly put their lives in danger to earn a parnassah if they had to. We see all the time that this is so – in the olden days, people worked in dangerous mines (I think – I don’t know history so well, so I may need help from fellow posters on this one, but I am sure that people have always been willing to put their lives in danger and do whatever it took to earn a parnassah).
The Aruch HaShulchan in the halachos of bentching mentions that not having a parnassah is the greatest difficulty that one can have.
5. One of the MK’s from a non-Chareidi party said that there are three services that Israelis perform for the country:
a) army service, b) working c) Limud Torah.
She said that of the three, Limud Torah is the hardest since unlike army service, it does not merely last for 3 years but rather for many,many years,maybe an entire life. Also, unlike most jobs which are only for 8 hours a day, learning is for the entire day. Learning involves the most intense on-going commitment of any of the 3 types of service.
6. I have heard that it is REALLY difficult to learn all day. My impression is that it is much harder than going to the army. This may be hard for an American to understand (especially someone who is not learning all day). On the one hand, if you haven’t tried to do it, it is hard to understand how hard it is to learn all day. On the other hand, if you are not from Israel, going to the army sounds like the hardest thing in the world. I am not saying it is not hard, but if you grow up with it, it is not AS hard as it sounds. You do not have to be as self-motivated as you do when you learn.
7. Living in Israel, not going to the army IS going against the tide. While it is true, as someone pointed out in another thread, that if you are part of Chareidi society, in a certain sense, deferring army service is not going against the tide, at the same time, in a certain sense it is (which is why I initially said so and why I still stand by that). Even if you are part of a Chareidi society, you are still part of the country as a whole. You are very aware of the fact that the country is at war, and you hear about chayalim being killed, and you are aware that they are fighting (physically) and you are not. You are very aware of what the rest of the country thinks of you for not fighting (physically). You have to go down to the draft deferment office on a regular basis and prove that you are learning so that you don’t have to go to the army. You can’t get a job because you didn’t go the army. You are despised and looked down at as a draft dodger by many, including many religious people. Posters in the Coffee Room of Yeshiva World write posts for the entire world to see saying that you are taking the easy way out because you don’t want to go to the army. You don’t receive the many benefits that the government gives those who go to the army. Instead of being supported by the government, you have to pay the government money every month from the time you turn 18 even though you are in Yeshiva and not earning any money. The government holds you prisoner and will not allow you to leave the country even for a visit without their permission (which they will only grant for specific reasons and for a specified period of time).
Yet you are willing to make these sacrifices because you know it is for Am Yisrael’s own good.
8. Keep in mind that even if you want to claim that as an individual in the Chareidi world, someone who defers the army is not going against the tide, the Chareidi world itself didn’t come out of nowhere. The Chareidi world had to fight against the tide and is continually fighting for its very existence. The Chareidi world started out as a tiny, powerless entity, and is continually fighting for its very existence against the Secular Zionist Government who is in control and much more powerful and is continually trying to destroy it. They have only managed to succeed in maintaining their community through their constant vigilance and vigor in defending their right to exist and not be swallowed up by the Secular Zionist society that is trying to pressure them to assimilate. If an individual in Chareidi society feels that it is easy (which I can’t imagine to be the case) to learn and defer army service, it is only because the Chareidi society has been fighting very hard against the tide to create a society like that – a society in which it is possible for a boy to grow up and learn Torah and not assimilate into the secular majority.
Please Note: there is something a bit troublesome about arguing about who is sacrificing more than who. We all have to try to look at each other positively and appreciate what each one is doing for Am Yisrael and not be trying to prove who is better. I would really appreciate it if people would make sure that this thread does not turn into a sinas chinam/motzi shem ra thread. I am not trying to belittle the sacrifices that ANYONE makes for Am Yisrael or find the worst in anyone. My sole purpose was to defend those people who are defending the country by learning Torah against those who spoke negatively about them. Everyone is aware of the sacrifices made by chayalim; the sacrifices and contributions made by Bnei Torah are harder for many to see, so it is important to emphasize them. I personally feel (as do Gedolei Yisrael) that if one wants to give to Am Yisrael, he can give the most by learning Torah, and that we have to show the utmost respect and hakaras hatov to those who learn. On the one hand, through learning, one can do the most for Am Yisrael, so those who learn are doing the most for us. On the other hand, it IS harder for most people to see it, so it has to be emphasized. At the same time, I respect those people who feel they are contributing by serving in the army and/or working and I have hakaras hatov to them as well.
Regardless of who you feel is sacrificing the most and whether or not you agree with my points, that is not the most important issue anyhow. Those who decide to learn don’t make the decision to do so because they think it involves more sacrifices. They do so because they feel they are helping Am Yisrael the most this way, regardless of whether it involves more sacrifices or less sacrifices. It leads to less sacrifices; that is why they do it, and that is what counts.
Again, I beg of all of you, do not turn this into a Sinas Chinam thread. Most of you are neither learning full-time or serving in the army. You are not helping Am Yisrael in either of these ways. If you want to help Am Yisrael, if you want to make sure that one less chayal is killed, that one more mother does not have to sit shiva for her teen-age son, you can do your part by refraining from Loshon Hara and Sinas Chinam. In that way, you can accomplish much, much more than all of the chayalim in the Israeli Army put together.
Kesiva V’chasima Tova!