MTAB:
I appreciate articulate comments that reflect thought and the skill to express it. You’re a breath of fresh air. I disagree with you, but there can at least be a dialogue that is level headed.
You noted that the military draft is an outdated process. Well, maybe so. But the approach to that is to understand its origin, and to work with the system to modify it to where it is rational. Arguably, a broad based draft was a dire need in the earliest days of the medina. Perhaps that is no longer true. But even in the earliest years of the IDF, there was recognition that there needed to be yeshivos with full time talmidim, and there were deferments to accommodate. What changed?
There are probably several factors here. One is the growth of the population. It is an assumption, though I have yet to see statistics on this, that the growth of the young population in the chareidi community is far greater than the secular community. The appearance is alarming to the secular population, and the politicians representing those factions will respond to their constituents’ call to rectify the imbalance. Not to reduce the chareidi population, but to have them proportionally represented in the military.
The growth of extremism is notable. Wherever one looks, the activists for extremes are prominent. Causes are just that, with those who are pro or con, but the attention is grabbed up by those voicing and doing extremes. That drives media, and that drives societal trends. America has its movements, well represented by MSM, such as BLM, Antifa, etc. They grab headlines all the time, and there are enough people with limited knowledge to accept anything they say, fake or exaggerated. We have a vocal NK, a serious cancer to Yiddishkeit, without a legitimate claim to the shitos of gedolim who were against the medina. Activism is being hijacked to extremism, and the result is colossal chilul Hashem, failure, and negative backlash.
Are yeshivos today truly institutions of solid learning, or are they refuge spots for those who seek to avoid responsibility? There were yeshiva bochurim in America that were known as the “4-D’s”. That was the draft classification for students who were deferred from the draft. I knew many of them. Yeshivos need to be places of learning, and a ben Torah should be recognized by his behavior outside the beis hamedrash, as well. Sadly, we see too much of the opposite. Yeshivos are not producing the gedolim they once did. There is an obsession with kavod, glamour, publicity, and a frummer-than-thou mentality. There is a spectrum of this, and not all are alike. But the extreme ones get the attention, and get the publicity engine to push their agenda, of which too big a percentage is questionable if it is leshem Shomayim. When the public observes bochurim busy with anything but learning, there is reason to question whether this is valid grounds for deferment.
Lastly, your opening line, “There are many ways to serve one’s country.” speaks volumes. If there was not such a virulent and toxic reaction to the chok hagiyus, there could have easily been a compromise to work with the system and arrange for some form of public service. Certain yeshiva bochurim should qualify to be exempt from even that, as their learning excels and should be supported. Others need to support the public, and can certainly do so without compromising any values or halachos. However, Peleg has opted to work against the system, and the futility of this approach is only overshadowed by the sheer disgust over the extent of violence, chilul Hashem, and damage to countless innocent victims.