Reply To: The Killing of Nahal Haredi Soldiers and the Anti Draft Protests

To all:

I considered answering each of the comments in turn but — I concluded that would not make for a great read and would, at best, appear disjointed. However, as i read through the comments — i would like a shot to answer some of them. So…in no particular order…and with answering only the arguments I remember, here goes.

As an initial matter — and on a personal note — i have been (binge) listening to a podcast on the History of World War II. It is excellent, although — at 225 plus episodes, it feels longer than the war. It was while listening to the podcast that i finally understood the moniker Neville Chaim Berlin. So — i have been responding to NCB for a while and never got it. On that basis alone, you would be correct in assuming I am not among the best and brightest.

1. By way of introduction — quick introduction — I am from a non-orthodox home. I did not go to yeshiva hs. i am a YU grad. I am an ivy league graduate school grad. Among my children is a charedi daughter (and SIL), modern orthodox son (who served in Netzach) and DIL, and neo-Chasidic son who will be serving in army — in Hesder. There are others too.

2. To answer NCB, I dont want anyone to die. I was literally nauseous during my son’s service. It is obvious, that if the charedi boys dont serve — someone has to. I said — and will say again — that if the government wants to do a deal and allow deferments thats fine with me. I am always surprised that people dont agree that there should be a shared responsibility to serve in the army. And while i know that people disagree with me — i dont believe that that responsibility is fulfilled by learning. (Nonetheless, I agree that there is room to have exemptions for some to learn, study, etc. They give exemptions for sports — I dont see why learning is different. But for all? — I am not so sure.)

3. My son served in Netzach. It is true that not all the boys in this particular unit are religious. Most of the non religious ones came into the army that way. They are from religious homes but had long gone away from observance. Sometimes there parents required them to go to Netzach — while others did not feel comfortable going elsewhere even though they were no longer religious. On the other hand, a good amount mature and become part of the community as a result of the army. I saw that with my son’s friends. Most are religious and regular young men. They are part of the Kfir unit — the work is hard and dangerous.

4. I read above — by Horrified — that he/she is praying for me and my children. And me for him/her. Is there a particular reason that he/she is concerned about my children/grandchildren “not being Jewish.” I worry about it too.

5. In another thread — i wondered aloud which was the better (or worse) type of OTD (no longer orthodox). Was it what we seem to see more in the yeshiva community — with drugs, alcohol — but less than what we see in the MO community where kids just becoming non-religious professionals? There was a very interesting study on the modern orthodox community — that concluded that in the OO community — the kids were less religious than the parents. I assume that there is a large percentage from our MO community that leave than from the Yeshiva (not including Chasidishe) community.

6. Finally, I think that talk of Tziyonim is tired and dated. The days of true secular zionism are over — and in many ways has hurt Israel. But nonetheless, this canard that there is a majority out to destroy Torah in israel is just false. Yossi Klein HaLevi — author of Like Dreamers — argues that after the Six Day War the nature of the country became religious. I think that is true. Again — it is not a majority religious country (yet) but the attitude is far removed from the start of the state. Even small things — like soccer games which used to be all on Sat afternoon — are mostly Sat night, Sunday and Monday. Jerusalem Beitar does not play any game (home or away) on Shabbat. To point to some non existent Zionist boogey-man who is cutting of peyos — demonstrates the weakness of the argument.

Thanks.
MrSL613

PS I didnt proof read this. Also — I have no ill will toward anyone — especially those who take the time to post here.