Cry of Solidarity

A day after hundreds of thousands of bnei Torah filled the streets of Yerushalayim in a declaration of determination and faith at the Atzeres Tefillah in Yerushalayim last Thursday afternoon, Rav Yehoshua Eichenstein, Rosh Yeshivas Yad Aharon and a leading address for Yerushalayim’s English-speaking yeshivah community sits down with Mishpacha to shed light on the draft law standoff that has seen yeshivah bochurim arrested and Eretz Yisrael’s flourishing Torah world facing an uncertain future

The rally was triggered by the arrest of yeshivah bochurim who simply want to learn Torah — something no one believed would happen here. The army on the other hand says that it needs more manpower and won’t back down. Do those two things together mean that we’re entering a new era in the relationship between the chareidi community and the State of Israel?

I’ll say in general terms that yes, the reality has changed.  The situation that has existed for decades, meaning almost total army exemptions even for those not learning, won’t continue. What was will not be, for either side. The reality has changed, and it will not return to what it was; not for us, and not for them. But one thing is clear: The Torah world will fight, with every means at its disposal, against any attempt to uproot Torah learning from those in the beis medrash, or to compel others into frameworks that aren’t suitable for sustaining a life of shemiras hamitzvos.

At the same time, it’s possible that the natural course of events will bring certain adjustments in how our community functions within the framework of the state. Yet one foundation is immovable and the gedolei Yisrael are working tirelessly, day and night, to ensure that anyone who wants to learn Torah can do so without disturbance.

Without that, the Jewish People has no existence. It’s unthinkable that Torah learners should live under threat of arrest in a country that calls itself the state of the Jews.

What exactly is the chareidi public fighting for? Why this insistence on confronting the government, the state institutions, and the army?

There are two central principles.

First, without Torah study and Torah scholars who dedicate their lives, day and night, to their sacred calling, the Jewish People has no existence. It’s that simple. Conscripting someone who sits and learns Torah is outside the bounds of discussion, nothing to talk about.