Rav Aharon Feldman on Why Chareidim Refuse to Join the Israeli Army - גיוס - English

shoes. I don't think there's much left to say after the Rashida clearly delineated the problems that face us as Jews. I will say this, the secular Jews and the religious Jews, all Jews want one thing. They want the survival of the Jewish people. The question is what's the definition of the Jewish people? The secular Jews do not have a definition of the Jewish people. To them, the Jewish people is a nation like any other. It's Israel is a nation like Italy or France. There is no definition of the Jewish people. If you ask him a secular Jew, why he wants what's the purpose of the state of Israel, he will be able to tell you what the purpose is. I had occasion to meet President Herzog about a year ago and I asked him, "Every nation has a vision. It has something that I would like to accomplish, a goal. America believes in democracy and freedom for all." What is the goal of the state of Israel? So he told me, he told me this twice in two different questions. Our purpose is to survive. What does that mean? He doesn't know what the goal of Jewish people is. It's like telling a sick person, why would you like to be healthy? Because I want to be healthy. Why do you want to be healthy? He doesn't know. He doesn't know why the Jewish people should survive. And that is the president of the state. And that's the typical vision of a secular Jew in Israel. He doesn't know why he wants the Jewish people to survive. He knows he's Jewish. He feels it's important, but he doesn't know what it means to be a Jew. On the other hand, a religious jewel says that the purpose of life is to come closer to come closer to God, to perfect one's character, to become kinder, to create a society where everyone cares about everyone else, a society that expresses belief in God. A society that fights for truths. A society that leads the world to a recognition. That's our vision. Our vision is a vision for the entire world. We want the entire world to recognize that there's one God. We have diametrically opposed visions of the Jewish people. The religious Jew says their purpose is the will of Hashem. And the nonreligious Jew says he has no vision. There's no there's no definition of the Jewish people beyond surviving. That's what the president of the state of Israel said. Because of that, we can never join with each other. If two people have two different definitions of what life is about, they can't join in any endeavor. They can't raise children together. A marriage with two people have different opinions of what life is all about, what the purpose of life is, can't raise children. to always be squabbbling those fighting and the children grow back normal. We cannot join with the secular Jew in any endeavor because we have a different vision of what it means to be a Jew. Yeah, we can be good citizens. We can obey traffic laws. We can stop and stop signs. We can pay our taxes. We can have a functioning society. But when it comes to the goal of the Jewish people, anything that affects ideas or vision, we cannot join with a secular Jew. There's no way how we can join with them because we have two definitions of what it means to be a Jew. Now to live in a society where the people around me have different definitions of what it means to be a Jew is the most torturous existence for a person. To send anyone to live for 3 years in a society where everyone thinks the definition of being Jewish is different from yours. is torturous. It It's wrong. It's undemocratic. It's a violation of human rights. You're asking someone to live to be married for example to someone who has a different view of life than you. If you ask someone to join, to live, to be a friend, to share with someone has a different view of life, it's torture. A religious Jew that goes into the army believes that people have another another definition. He his life is the religious Jews life is to control his because that way he comes closer to Hashem. The secularist Jews life is to enhance the how could they live together. The second Jew has mixed genders, unfiltered internet, vile language. Shabus and the religious Jewish says my values are to come closer to Hashem. I cannot have internet unfiltered. I cannot have vile language. I cannot have mixed genders. How can I live together? What happens if he does live in such a environment? Either he succumbs to his environment or he may overcome it possible. I asked the rabbi of a very large town in in Israel, what's the percentage of his children, children of his community, they go to the army and come out religious. He said 50% at least and probably more come out not religious. I have a student who was born in Bimish. His parents lived here when he was a young child and he made friends. He grew up here, went to school here and then his parents moved to America. He had 15, 20, 25 friends that was close to and and every time every year they used to come back to visit and he continued his friendship with his friends until the age of 18 when all his friends went into the army. He was not left with one friend because they all became secular. Telling you the story that someone told maybe that's extreme. I don't have statistics. But everyone I know from my family cousins here in Israel went into the army. They became secular. I could not be secular. 18-year-old without any inspiration without anyone saying without inspiring him about the glow of a Jew he has to sing and say that the dream of the Jewish people is and salute the flag that becomes his becomes his religion. He does that for three years and he's supposed to salute the flag and say the goal of the Jewish people and at the same time to say they go crazy or succumb. That's normal. How can we put our children into such a now? The problem is the two definitions of being a Jew. the one the religious Jew that says that a Jew is the servant of God and the non-religious Jew just just says I like to survive. The problem is that the definition of the sacred Jew leads to the disintegration of the Jewish people. If you don't know what it is to be a Jew, you're not going to remain a Jew. And indeed, what is Jewish about the state of Israel? philosoph what's Jewish about the state of Israel it's all a copy of western culture or sometime remains of something Jewish like the manora that's lit but it's not called it's called right there's nothing Jewish about the A prime minister writes in his biography that he's an atheist. Is that Jewish? What is Jewish? So there's this integration of the Jewish people. They are a threat to the Jewish people. [snorts] 2 million Israelis in Los Angeles that are intermaring is is an example of what happens with that definition or non-defin Jewish. They're a threat to the Jewish people and we are the only guarantee of the survival of the Jewish people. We've survived for 3 and a half thousand years. We just had a khan which is as fresh and as vibrant today as it was when we overcame the ivani and their Jewishness is vestigial. It doesn't exist. What's their Jewishness? What do they do when they light? They remind themselves of Makabi. You probably think that's football team. So we're the gu we have a responsibility to maintain our vision of what it is to be a Jew. We have a responsibility to remain religious Jews because we are the survival of the Jewish people. They are headed for oblivion. We are guaranteeing the survival of the Jewish people because the survival of the Jewish people exists when we have a vision of what the Jewish people is about. Therefore, we cannot permit our children to lose their Jewish. We cannot permit them to go to the army as it's constituted. Now, if they do something else, I don't know. They haven't done anything. The closest thing to doing something is supposed to be strictly you can't have a and there was a genuine desire by those who founded to accommodate religious youths. I spoke to one rabbi who was invited to deliver the view before the generals that were supposed to were reforming the unit. They genuinely they're not all there the ones that originally founded it. They generally wanted to help the Jewish people the people have a environment for the army. So he presented the view without any compromises. He told him you know that have the name of Shabas who's going to decide the shabas you're going to have some rabbi who who finished learn a couple years in yeshiva he's going to be you have to have this decision who's going to decide these things is to have a deciding his life, not a commander. They said they'll try to accommodate. They'll try to get an authority which they haven't done. >> Please don't interrupt me. >> Don't say these are not true. >> RASHID SPEAKS NOT A WORD. >> Don't Don't get upset. Don't get upset. He has a right to speak whatever he wants. I'll just continue. Yeah. Uh then he said, you know, this is his quoting what happened at the meeting. He said, the religious Jew cannot say hatiko. It's against his religion to say he can't sing. How will you accommodate him at your ceremonies? He's swearing in. You have to sing hatiko. He says that's something we're not ready to do. That's what commander said. That's what general said. In other words, they want you they want to accommodate religious Jews, but they want to turn you into a they want you to be a nice Zionist, but a Zionist. They want you to lose your I'm not saying but I'm talking about the value system the belief of the definition of the Jewish people they want you to believe that the Jewish people is meaning a free people in our nation purpose no purpose vision no vision no definition of the Jewish people. We want you to be a Jew without a definition of being a Jew. We're not ready that you should be a Jew with a definition of a Jew. This was told to me by this very famous rabbi who was invited to present the view to the generals that form the Okay. So, it's a nice attempt. First of all, who knows if they'll keep their whatever they do, they won't keep their word. Yehudi didn't keep their word. He they they the commander can change. There's no there's no mechanism when a commander doesn't want to keep his the promises. There's no mechanism to overru overrule the commander. There's a boy in there whose brother volunteered for he's a big idealist. He wanted to help in the war. So he volunteered for hashim. The first shabas he was ordered to carry his cell phone around. Commander told him you'll be put in jail if you don't carry your cell phone. He says the shabas I can't carry. He says no you have to wear your your cell phone. That was that's the first time in his life is Mahal Shabas who makes the decision the commander. So maybe a lot of people meant well by forming it but it's not going to work. Above all, how long will a Kashmir group last? It doesn't permit women in there and his rights from people until the BATS strikes it down. It's illegal as without Shivom. So that's going to happen. It's inevitable. They're running the country. They want to secularize us. And if is successful in keeping people free from they'll strike it down also. So it's not no option. We have no option. Our only option is to say we are the survival of the Jewish people and we cannot join the army. That's that's the only option. What about what about the fact that other people are dying or we're not dying for the army for for the country? It's a very very serious question. It bothers me very very much. But the thing is if somebody wants to make you not you have to give up your life. I'm supposed to give up my life to to to maintain my Jewish Judaism. I therefore also and I'm to save someone else's life and give up my Judaism. There's no there is no unless some genius finds an maybe if there'll be a serious attempt that will find an I don't know there might be some but as it's constituted now with these within this dissolution and with generals and higher rank leftist they're all they're all leftists they don't let religious Jews up in the higher levels of the army there's that glass ceiling So the leftists that are interested in in removing anyone who defines a Jew as believing in Hashem. That's what the leftists want. They want us to be without a definition of being Jewish. Until then, we can't join the army. It's it's unfortunate. We just we'll have to our contribution to the Jewish people is that because of us the Jewish people survives. That's everyone puts on film in the morning. Everyone keeps shabas. Everyone that gets married within everyone makes he is fighting for the survival of the Jewish people. And those who go to salute the flag and to see they are contributing to destruction of the Jewish people, this disintegration of the Jewish people. It's true. The army saves lives. No question about it. But what do we do? I can't give up my children to save lives. Just like I can't I have to give up my own life before I see before I stop being religious. It's the same thing. Unfortunately, if they would understand what's at stake, I think they would they would not make these laws. The prayers signs at the entrance of Tel Aiv five story high sign that says as if we only as if we don't pay taxes. I felt like getting up on that getting up on the scaffold and adding lamin. We don't we won't [music] pay taxis. Where do they get the money that no m where did they get their money from us? [clears throat] We have a right to their money like anyone else. They are giving us money. They are supporting us and supporting ourselves. We pay the taxes also. Nonsense. That is it's all propaganda. propaganda of leftists that want to destroy the Jewish people by saying that the Jews have no definition. That's what it is. It's a very painful situation. But we have to stand strong. We cannot compromise. And if we don't compromise, they will have to succumb. They cannot fight against us. We're the ones that have the truth and they have nothing but the vision of becoming a pale copy of other nations that have no purpose. We're all in it together. We also want the secular Jews to survive. We don't We're I'm not speaking what I speak out of hatred for them, out of pity, because they're causing their themselves destruction. There's no Jewish nation in the secular world. They've destroyed themselves. Okay. I wish we should be [snorts] like we should be this intractable problem. But we should keep our eye on what the problem is. The problem is the survival of the Jewish people. If they let us keep shabas in the army, that's not the survival of the Jewish people. Keeping Shabas and being in an environment where people say there's no such thing as being Jewish, Jewish is notem is not survival. Then it's ush together with all of the name. Amen. When I only see it, I can call you. >> [music]