What made those times different was the Vietnam War. The civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King were largely non violent but the War helped spawn violent, radical offshoots ( SDS, the Weathermen, Black Panthers ). There was a cottage industry in NY where rabbis established ” yeshivas ” for the purpose of selling divinity draft deferments. For a price they would inform your draft board that you were a rabbinical student and you’d receive a 4D ( later a 1y) deferment. Once you were out of school ( and ineligible for a student deferment, the yeshiva tuition went up. The exception were teachers, who were exempt from the draft, causing a spike in men becoming teachers in the 1960s. The implementation of the draft lottery pretty much ended the paying for a 4D.
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