Avi K;
An even bigger mitzvah may be safeguarding one’s ruchniyos by not enlisting. The Rav you quote is clearly a daas yochid. None of the recognized Gedolei Yisroel hold like that.
I heard from a son of Rav Boruch Kaplan z”l (husband of the famous mechaneches Reb. Vichna Kaplan) that his father related how he witnessed as a talmid in Chevron Yeshiva in the 1920’s, Zionist activists provoking the Arab population which led to the infamous riots of 1929. The point is that mostly secular Zionists instigated and eventually established the state. Therefore it is their obligation to protect it, not to force everyone to do so. To proclaim it a “milchemes mitzva” which was deemed by Neviim is preposterous.
Additionally since the holocaust tens of thousands of Jews have perished in wars and terror attacks in Israel R”l. How many have perished elsewhere? I am not a supporter of neturei karta or even the Satmar shita rather I’m an Agudist and just trying to put this in perspective.
Menu