The Knesset’s legal adviser warned Tuesday that if the proposed Basic Law: Torah Study is enacted, Torah learners could become eligible for benefits currently reserved for combat soldiers and military veterans.
Speaking during a heated Knesset committee debate, Knesset Legal Adviser Adv. Sagit Afik said legislation providing free academic tuition for soldiers “could also have to apply to Torah learners in light of the law.”
Afik’s comments came as lawmakers debated the far-reaching implications of the proposed Basic Law, which was introduced by the Chareidi parties and seeks to recognize Torah study as a foundational value of the State of Israel.
During the discussion, a combat veteran suffering from PTSD interrupted the proceedings, angrily confronting supporters of the legislation.
“What’s going on with you? How do you run a country like this?” he said. “The faces of people who exploded in our hands come to visit us at night.”
The warning follows comments made Monday by another representative of the Knesset’s legal department, Adv. Avital Simpolinsky, who challenged coalition claims that the law would not place Torah learners on equal legal footing with IDF soldiers.
“We don’t understand what ‘a foundational value of Torah study’ means,” Simpolinsky said. “The term ‘foundational value’ has no clear legal definition.”
She warned that courts could ultimately interpret the law as granting Torah learners legal status comparable to that of soldiers, workers, or holders of higher education degrees, potentially affecting eligibility for a wide range of state benefits.
Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni, who sponsored the legislation, challenged the legal interpretation during the hearing, asking, “Where are you getting that from?”
Simpolinsky replied that her assessment was based on the wording of the bill and statements by coalition lawmakers that Torah study is intended to receive elevated constitutional status.
Separately, Israel’s Finance Ministry submitted a legal opinion warning that the legislation could have sweeping economic consequences. The ministry cautioned that if courts interpret the law as giving Torah study constitutional priority over other values, including equality, it could require expanding government benefits for Torah learners, including tuition assistance, housing benefits, daycare subsidies, land allocations, and other forms of state support.
The Finance Ministry also warned that the measure could weaken incentives for Chareidim to enlist in the IDF or enter the workforce, potentially reducing long-term economic growth, lowering tax revenues, and increasing the burden on reserve soldiers.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
5 Responses
That’s exactly why Elazar had a share in Midyan’s spoil in this week’s Parasha. It’s because they won the war in his merit.
G-d forbid lomdai Torah should have any rights!
“if courts interpret the law as giving Torah study constitutional priority…” all of sudden you are worried about the court deciding in favour of Torah, when you have been using the courts for a decade or longer to vilify Torah at every turn.
When it suits you, courts will decide to HARM Torah – when it suits you, you are concerned courts maybe support Torah!
They’re in full on panic mode
“That’s exactly why Elazar had a share in Midyan’s spoil in this week’s Parasha.”
What does Elazar’s portion in the spoils of (a particular) war (in which all the שבטים participated- see רש”י and חזקוני ) have to do with the domestic budget?
This basic law, if it should survive, has the following implications:
1) It establishes its drafters, the חרדי parties, as those who define the nature of the Zionist State.
2) By declaring the State as Torah centric, it weakens the claim that the State is secular anti-Torah. It thus negates argument that serving in a מלחמת מצוה is somehow a secular endeavor.
3) Obviously, there’s a mercenary motivation for the law: to restore and increase funding. It’s a קיום of קרדום לחתוך בו. As such, according to the רמב”ם in the end of שמיטה ויובל, the law removes any elite status claimed by Yeshiva students. The רמב”ם is talking about those rare individuals who don’t impose a financial burden on the community. (This is the understanding of the רדב”ז, the מעשה רקח. Contemporary גדולים such as Rav Chaim Kanievsky and R. Ahron Kotler זצ”ל agree.) The claim that this רמב”ם provides an exemption to such rare individuals, is no longer relevant, since he’s not talking about the masses of Yeshiva students who depend on funds provided by (and imposed on) the community.