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Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef and the IDF (Israeli Army)
__________________________________________
In recordings reviewed by B’Chadrei Chareidim
tonight, the former Rishon LeTzion,
Rav Yitzchak Yosef, nosi of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of Shas,
addresses recent controversy surrounding his
statements on the issue of IDF enlistment.
The newly revealed audio captures the Rishon LeTzion
clarifying that his words had been distorted and misunderstood.In the recordings, Rav Yosef firmly rejects claims
that he ever spoke against the army or its soldiers.He said: “Our Torah protects all the soldiers,
it protects all the residents of the land.
They twisted my words as though I
spoke against the [Israeli] army — absolutely not.
I visited all the bases — in the air, at sea, and on land
— and I strengthened the soldiers.
Among them are truly God-fearing men who
set aside fixed times to learn Torah.
I always gave them encouragement.”Rav [Yitzchak] Yosef is also heard emphasizing
that he harbors NO ANIMOSITY toward IDF soldiers:“There is no hatred whatsoever toward the soldiers
— on the contrary, we deeply value what they do.The Iron Dome — it is HaKadosh Baruch Hu Who
sends them to protect the residents of the land.
But their strength must come from the Torah.”He cited a Midrash about Dovid HaMelech,
who sent his soldiers into battle while appointing
Torah scholars to learn on their behalf,
lustrating his view that Torah serves as the
ultimate source of protection for the nation.While expressing admiration for IDF soldiers,
Rav Yosef reaffirmed the centrality of Torah learning in safeguarding Klal Yisroel:
“Without the Torah, Heaven forbid,
soldiers could be injured or even killed.
The Torah learners are our foundation,
and they are the ones who give
strength to the soldiers and the pilots.”Concluding his comments, Rav Yosef called upon
avreichim and yeshiva bochurim to strengthen
their emunah and connection to Klal Yisroel:“You need to strengthen the proper perspective —
to love the Jewish people, to care for the Jewish people,
and to produce more soldiers for the Torah.”SOURCE: article titled: Rav Yitzchak Yosef Clarifies
His Remarks on IDF Soldiers: “We Strengthen Both the
Yeshiva Bochurim and the Soldiers — I Strengthened Them”
2025 August 23 at 10:00 PM from www (dot) matzav (dot) com__________________________________________
FULL DISCLOSURE:I did not write this article or any part of it.
I do not know the person who wrote it.
I merely copied it from www (dot) matzav (dot) com.
__________________________________________
MY RESPONSE:Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef — a Chareidi Gadol who is
the son of a Chareidi Gadol – has publicly stated that
the IDF (Israeli Army) includes:
“God-fearing men who set aside fixed times to learn Torah.”Rav [Yitzchak] Yosef is also heard emphasizing
that he harbors no animosity toward IDF soldiers:“There is no hatred whatsoever toward the soldiers
— on the contrary, we deeply value what they do.”Unlike certain fanatics who comment in the YWN Coffee Room,
Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef NEVER SAID that the Israeli Army is a “shmad army”.__________________________________________
Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef also also publicly stated that
he has NOTHING AGAINST the Rabbis of the
Religious Zionist movement, and he mentioned that;“among them are truly righteous and G-d-fearing individuals…”
Unlike certain fanatics who comment in the YWN Coffee Room,
Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef NEVER SAID that Religious Zionist is “idolatry” or “heresy”.__________________________________________
Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau (Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi
of Israel from 1993 CE to 2003 CE) said this:“Over the years I have had the very special opportunity
to pray near some of the greatest rabbis
on the holiest night of the year, Yom Kippur.
I have prayed near Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Rabbi Leizer Shach.
I saw and heard them cry, shedding copious tears
as they recited the Ashamnu and Al Cheit prayers.And I saw them cry when they heard that our soldiers had been killed.”
SOURCE: At the Maggid’s Seder (page 92,
commentary on “this is the bread of affliction”)
by Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn, year 2020 CE,
ArtScroll Mesorah Publications,
ISBN-10: 1422625753 ISBN-13: 978-1422625750__________________________________________
“The Chazon Ish encouraged people from overseas
to settle in Eretz Yisrael as it is a positive commandment,
and he felt that Yiddishkeit was more prevalent
and easier to practice there than in the diaspora.”SOURCE: Rav Chaim: The Life and Legacy of the
Sar HaTorah Rav Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim Kanievsky
(chapter 5, page 56), by Naftali Weinberger,
Mesorah Publications, February 2023,
ISBN-10: 1422632873 * ISBN-13: 978-1422632871__________________________________________
This is from a recent news article,
written by Yehuda Dov for VIN News:“As revealed in Lechatchila, two avreichim
from the Haredi community in Tiberias, studying at a local kollel,
approached Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, head of the Slabodka Yeshiva,
sharing that they felt spiritually unfulfilled and were under
severe financial stress due to recent sanctions on yeshiva students.Rabbi [Moshe Hillel] Hirsch reportedly listened and
ruled that in their situation it was permissible
to enlist [in the Israeli Army / IDF].”SOURCE: article titled: “DRAMA: 120 Bochurim
From Top Charedi Yeshivos Have Recently Enlisted In IDF”
by Yehuda Dov, 2025 July 23 @ 7:30 AM, for VIN News in Jerusalem__________________________________________
from the ArtScroll History Series biography
of Rabbi Moshe Sherer, chapter 13, page 321:“He [Rabbi Moshe Sherer] assured [Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin…
that he could always count on Agudath Israel of America
to be strongly supportive of Israel’s security needs.”__________________________________________
from from the ArtScroll History Series biography
of Rabbi Moshe Sherer, chapter 22, page 547:“Such a committee of investigation would have served
as a ploy to unseat Prime Minister Menachem Begin,
for whom both the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
of America and that of Eretz Yisrael had great respect.”NOTE: Mr. Menachem Begin Prime Minister of Israel
from June 1977 to October 1983.__________________________________________
In a conversation with the Satmar Rav, shortly after
his talk on the U.N. declaration, Reb Shraga Feivel
[Mendlowitz] was subjected to the sharpest criticism
for his “Zionist leanings.”Later he told his family,
“I could have answered him [the Satmar Rav]
Chazal for Chazal, Midrash for Midrash,
but I did not want to incur his wrath,
for he is a great man and a tzaddik.”He added with a twinkle,
“And besides, he has a fiery temper”…SOURCE: Reb Shraga Feivel: the life and times of
Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, the architect of
Torah in America (chapter 26, page 335 to 336)
by Yonoson Rosenblum for Artscroll / Mesorah,
year 2001, based on Aharon Sorasky’s Shelucha DeRachmana,
ISBNs: 157819797X, 9781578197972, 1578197961, 9781578197965Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz was the founder
of Torah U’Mesorah and became principal of
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas in year 1921 CE.His career in Yeshiva Torah Vodaas lasted 25 years.
He was known as “the premier architect of Torah
in American history.”
He left this world in 1948 CE at the age of 62 years.__________________________________________
Hearing his criticisms of Zionism, someone once
told him [Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz],
“I too hate the Zionists. They should be cursed.”“Chas v’chalilah (Heaven forbid)!”
Reb Shraga Feivel [Mendlowitz] interjected.“To the contrary:
They should be blessed, along with
all those who are building up our Holy Land.
I only pray that they observe mitzvos.But chalilah to curse or hate them.
They are tinokos shenish’bu (people who n
ever received a Jewish education and so were led astray).”SOURCE: Reb Shraga Feivel: the life and times
of Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, the architect
of Torah in America (chapter 16, page 228)
by Yonoson Rosenblum for Artscroll / Mesorah,
year 2001 CE, based on Aharon Sorasky’s Shelucha DeRachmana,
ISBNs: 157819797X, 9781578197972, 1578197961, 9781578197965__________________________________________
Similarly, he [Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky] concluded, recognition of
Israel’s role in preventing millions of Jews
from losing any connection to the Jewish people
must mitigate our kana’us, even as
our love for our fellow Jews in Eretz Yisrael
must “not blind us to [their] shortcomings.”SOURCE: Reb Yaakov: The Life and Times of HaGaon
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky by Yonason Rosenblum,
based on the research of Rabbi Noson Kamenetsky
(chapter 11, page 209), Mesorah Publications,
publication dates: February 1993 & January 2004,
ISBN: 0-89906-413-2 (hardcover)
ISBN: 0-89906-415-9 (paperback)
__________________________________________More Zionist pollution…
First of all, he is employed by the Zionists, and is speaking to a particular audience, so he obviously has to be careful with what he says and how he says it. In this case, he had to do some damage control after the Zionists got upset at him for what he stated – which you did not quote, of course.
Regardless, he never denied the obvious facts that the Zionist army is a shmad. Period. Even your co-religionists, the “Religious Zionist” idolaters admit this publicly, that their boys come crying to their rabbis about the shmad through which the Zionist army is putting them – intentionally, of course, because they express purpose of that army is shmad, as all the gedolim mentioned and as is obvious fact.
Of course, as you quoted from Rabbi Lau, it is indeed a tragedy if a Zionist soldier dies, and the gedolim certainly were sad when that happened. In fact, it is a double tragedy: the first is that they died. But the greater tragedy is that they died having been shmaded by the wicked Zionists. An additional tragedy is that their death could very possibly have been against what Hashem wanted because Zionism and its organs are, of course, a tremendous rebellion against G-d. So that would make it a triple tragedy. But even if they died on a mission what wasn’t specifically anti-Torah, it’s still at least a double tragedy. R”L L”A.
Regarding the nonsense in the name of Rav Yaakov, first of all, Rav Yaakov told the Satmar Rav that after learning his sefer, the latter had convinced him – so anything Rav Yaakov wrote regarding this prior to that realization is simply hotzaas laaz against Rav Yaakov. Irrespective of that, the Zionists’ role in actively and otherwise severing the connection to Judaism of millions of Jews over multiple generations should, by that logic, greatly increase kanaaus against them.
What’s a “Chareidi Godol”? That’s the same thing as referring to a “Jewish Godol”. Both are redundant, as there’s no other kind of Godol.
R Yosef is no godol, he is a _Chacham_.
and the poster who is talking this way about the Chacham who is a head of a Sepahrdi Moetzet just proves that his stand of respect of Talmidei Chachamim is not serious. He simply chose a position first and then he “respects” those Rabbis who agree with him. This is, of course, disrespect to those Rabbis also.
> What’s a “Chareidi Godol”?
Indeed, if someone is a Talmid Chacham, then it does not matter whether he is charedi or not. Limiting someone’s godlus to a sub-group is demeaning. You would not say – R Akiva is a great scholar from Beis Hillel …
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