I’m frequently asked: “I understand why you [i.e. chareidim] can’t serve in the army but why can’t you do national service?”
Truthfully I’m not sure I understand the question. If the questioner means to denigrate yeshivah students by implying that they are somehow incapable of military service I cannot agree. Yeshivah students would not be any less-good soldiers than the average new recruit today. They are not any less physically fit. And in any army in which the most important elite units are increasingly ones in which brains are more important that brawn many chareidi young men would be prize recruits.
Nor do I understand the implication that national service would somehow be more acceptable than military service. The lack of physical danger in national service cannot be the distinguishing factor. Chareidim have never claimed that their blood is redder or that they have some special exemption from risking their lives in defense of the Jews of Israel.
The question shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the reasons behind the rejection of the draft of 18-year-olds for those reasons would not be one iota less applicable to national service than to military service. The destruction of Torah learning that would result from removing young men from learning between the ages of 18 and 21 would be exactly the same if they were doing national service instead of serving in the military.
Create a free account to keep reading.
