Speaking with haredi station Radio Kol Hai, Bennett added that his party would “fight against legislation which would coercively draft” yeshiva students.
“We will be a partner which will fight for Torah study in Israel, and we will fight against laws that coerce service,” Bennett said.
“Whoever is learning Torah should continue to learn Torah, full stop,”
“This is my stance from the beginning. Although it’s not always easy to explain this to our secular brothers, my way is to explain that the Jewish people have existed for thousands of years in exile because of Torah, and in the State of Israel we need to strengthen this.”
The Bayit Yehudi leader did say, however, that there was a problem with men who do not perform national service but who are not studying either, and that such people need to be integrated into the work force.
“I will support someone who is able to get up early in the morning to learn and sanctify their lives; there is nothing harder than this. Someone who does not, I expect him to join Israeli society.”
Yisrael Beytenu, which has focused heavily on the issue of haredi enlistment, condemned Bennett’s comments, saying that his position “would ensure that there will be no support for a true equalization in the burden of national service.”
“It seems that Bennett has no interest in changing the situation,” a Yisrael Beytenu spokesman said.
Idan Miller, one of the leaders of the Camp Sucker movement campaigning for haredi enlistment in national service and a candidate on the The Tzipi Livni party list, also denounced Bennett’s comments, and said that he was “promoting the shirker ideology of the haredim.”
“Bennett has removed the liberal mask from his face, and anyone who bears the burden of service in this country has to know that these are Bennett’s positions, and should therefore discount Bayit Yehudi as an option in the elections,” Miller said.
During the interview, Bennett took the opportunity to call for the religious establishment and institutions to be made more accessible and user friendly to the secular public.
In an apparent nod to the national-religious rabbinical association Tzohar, Bennett focused on what he described as the negative experience secular couples have when approaching their local rabbinates to get married, and said that “greater efforts must be made to embrace the secular public and explain” Jewish laws and values to them.
He also criticized the rabbinate as a “machine for dolling out jobs” and said it was “no surprise that young couples are going to Cyprus to get married.” Send Large Small Print Share
@ Aryeh Zelasko:
Give me your authority where it is a requirement for any Jew to study night and day the Torah? And your authority for the disregard of Jewish lives by avoiding doing what is possible to save and defend Jewish lives under threat?
Defending the Land against the gentiles is Pikuach Nefesh in a National sense.. Every mitzvah in the Torah may be put aside if by doing them they are a danger to life except one. Milchemet Mitzvah, which is a unique mitzvah and takes preference over every other mitzvah including Shabbat and Yom Kippur.
According to Maimonides, a war waged in order to save members of Bnai Yisrael is a milchemet mitzvah. It is reasonable to regard such a war as obligatory. In instructing Moshe to annihilate Midyan, Hashem specifically noted Midyan’s previous attempts to destroy Bnai Yisrael. Torah is clear. If one plans to kill you, you obligaterd to protect yourself by killing this would-be assailant before he can attack you. Any war waged to save fellow Jews is a milchemet mitzvah. Even if one is not under personal attack, we are obligated to take preemptive action on a national level.
So how many hours a day do you learn Torah? Simple question. Why avoid an answer? Throwing all sorts of irrelevant issues into the air is not an answer. How many hours a day do you dedicate to your divinely ordained obligation to learn Torah? @ Shy Guy:
@ Aryeh Zelasko:
Meiri on Babylonian Talmud Sotah 44b
One may launch a pre-emptive attack against an enemy that is amassing forces on the border. Such an attack is sufficiently defensive to be categorized as milchemet mitzvah (obligatory war).
Rambam, Mishna Torah, Hilchot Melachim u’Milchamot 6:1
One should not make war against anyone until first calling out to them for peace, whether in the case of a Permitted War or in an Obligatory War, as it says: When you come upon a city tomake war upon it, you shall call out to it for peace (Deut. 20:10).
It is a mitzvah for every member of the Jewish people who can come [to their assistance] to go out and aid their brethren who are under siege and save them from the gentiles [although it is the] Shabbat. It is forbidden to wait until Saturday night.
The Shulchan Oruch (the Code of Jewish Law) states:
After they have saved their brethren, they may return home with their weapons on the Shabbat, so that a dangerous situation will not be created in the future.
Rambam, Mishna Torah, Hilchot Shabbat, 2:23.
Comment in moderation.
@ Aryeh Zelasko:
@ Shy Guy:
Milchemet Mitzvah and Milchemet Reshut
Obligatory War and Authorized War
1. Rambam Laws of Kings 5:1,2
The king may first wage only a Milchemet Mitzva . Which is a Milchemet Mitzva? This is a war to save Israel from an enemy that has attacked them. Afterwards he may wage a Milchemet Reshut, which is a war with other nations to widen the borders of Israel, or to enhance his greatness and prestige. A Milchemet Mitzvah doesn’t need permission of the court… but a Milchemet Reshut needs the permission of the High Court (Sanhedrin) of 71 judges.
2. Samuel I 15. 1-3
And Samuel said unto Saul: ‘The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over Israel; now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. Does this fit in with your perception of Jewish ethics?
3. Jewish ethics clearly distinguishes between the different categories of war. An obligatory war (Milchemet
Mitzvah)
Requires a different mode of ethical conduct than all other types of war. Particularly when discussing the obligation in the time of Joshua to conquer the land of Israel for the first time and the generic biblical obligation to destroy Amalek, Jewish law mandates a different set of ethical norms for these historical obligations. Thus Rambam states: It is a positive commandment to vanquish the seven nations [that used to occupy the land of Israel] since it says “you shall vanquish them.” Anyone who has one of the members of that nation subservient tohim and does not kill him violates the negative commandment, since it says “no life shall survive [from the seven nations].” Their identity has since disappeared.
If we no longer have a Divine commandment to vanquish any remaining people or nation, how do we justify killing?
4. The Talmud additionally recounts that there are three ritual requirements for an Authorized war (Milchemet
Reshut) to commence.
The first is the consent of the Sanhedrin (Parliament); see Sanhedrin 29b. The second is The presence of a king or ruler; see Sanhedrin 20a. The third is consultation with the Urim Vetumim, a mystical ornament worn by the High Priest (not in existence for more than 3000 years); see Sanhedrin 16b.
A number of commentators significantly limit each of these three Talmudic requirements. Rambam does not list the requirement of Urim Vetumim at all in his code. He does, however, state elsewhere (see Book of Commandments, chapter 14) that the Urim Vetumim are needed. So too, Aruch HaShulchan HeAtid, Melachim 74:7 states that the Urim are not needed and this is agreed to by R. Zevin, L`Or Hahalacha, p. 12. Ramban states (see Addendum to Rambam Book of Commandments, positive commandment 4) that a king is not actually needed. Rather war may be undertaken by “a king, judge, or whoever exercises jurisdiction over the people.” The Meiri argues that approval of the Sanhedrin is only needed if a significant minority of the nation does not approve of the war. However, he states that no approval is needed for popularly supported wars; see Sanhedrin 16a.
http://www.jewishagency.org/NR/rdonlyres/40E0D000-73B1-431A-997C-ED279F3290FF/28602/AppendixI.pdf
Aryeh Zelasko Said:
Ve’al ta’assah atarah lehitgadel bah!
@ drjb:
You are mistaken if you think Bibi doesn’t like Bennett. Unfortunately, Bennett is just “Bibi lite”. After all he worked for Bibi for years, and even headed Bibi’s campaign against Moshe Feiglin. The banter going on between Bibi and Bennett right now is just election fluff. When all is said and done and the election is over, Bennett will take his place at Bibi’s feet and support anything Bibi wants him to support. I’m sure he will make some good speeches and rally the nationalist public (when Bibi needs him to) and that is as far as his influence will go.
The only place we are going to see real leadership and opposition to Bibi’s leftist policies is inside the Likud itself led by Moshe Feiglin. Moshe is not a flash in the pan like Bennett will be. Moshe represents a revolution in Jewish/Israeli leadership. As far as the draft is concerned, Feiglin has been very clear that the IDF needs to be transitioned into a volunteer professional army. Check out this article (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153138) from March of 2012 and you can watch the following video of Moshe (http://www.jewishisrael.org/eng_contents/video/video206.html) on Israeli television discussing the draft issue (The English transcript is below the video).
Aryeh Zelasko Said:
Titbayesh Lechah. I hope you can find me to ask for forgiveness before next Yom Kippur.
Aryeh Zelasko Said:
True. Now look up Rambam, Hilchot Shabbat 2:23. What do you see? I see the obvious.
The term Milchemet Mitzvah has been used by a number of people. This is a technical term of the Halachah and just as with the terminology in any other system, it must be use within the context of the system of Halachah. Only the Sanhedrin can declare a situation that of Milchemet Mitzvah. Those who have bothered to learn the relevant sources know that. Milchemet Mitzvah is not a philosophical, social or political concept it is a Halachic concept. Since we do not have a Sanhedrin today, there can not be a Milchemet Mitzvah. End of the matter.
Returning to the matter of learning Torah, again I ask: How much time, every day, do you spend to fulfill your mandatory obligation to learn Torah? If you can not give an answer to that, please stop pretending that you know anything about Torah. Would any of you trust your life to a “doctor” whose entire medical education consisted of reading a few articles in the Reader’s Digest?
If you have a political, social or philosophical position as to compulsory military service, fine. Just don’t wrap it up in a Torah scroll.
Aryeh Zelasko Said:
The Torah does not exclude Talmidei Chachamim from a Milchemet Mitzvah. Where did you find otherwise?
@ Aryeh Zelasko:
Excellent question, aryeh, but it is a rhetorical one.
We KNOW the answer.
Hopefully there will be no more need for such questions after the 22nd.
The draft in Israel is a disaster. The IDF is overflowing with militarily useless people. All of whom must be trained, housed, clothed, feed and generally taken care of. This is a waste of Billions of Shekels every year. All those people could be productive member of the job force instead of a drain on the economy.
Not everyone can be a solider, yet we insist, like some Third World militarists, that military service is the highest value, the true mark of patriotism and what really show that you are a MAN. This is pure Goyish rot. We have an army because we have deadly enemies. These enemies must be at the very least, held at bay but preferably destroyed. The Torah does not teach anywhere that military service has any intrinsic value in and of itself. It is a temporary necessity due to the existence of un-destroyed enemies. This is not the case with the study of Torah which is held as the highest value. Unlike military service, which the Torah allow for exceptions, no one is exempt from the study of Torah. Unlike the idolaters, we do not want our people to be ignorant and “just accept.” The Torah want every Jew to be a Talmid Chacham.
So I ask those who quote Torah to justify forcing Talmidey Chachamim into the army, how many hours a day do you spend on your mandatory obligation to learn Torah? Any part of it. Also, please explain to my why, instead of neutralizing or destroying our enemies, the IDF is aiding them and neutralizing and destroying Jewish properties, livelihoods and lives? Where in the Torah do you find the permission to do such a thing?
Shmuel HaLevi Said:
Stand on what? Thanks for your service. Congrats on your patents and overall, bully, bully, I say.
Shmuel HaLevi Said:
The Israeli equivalent of US JINOs.Shmuel HaLevi Said:
I did not bring up the subject of Bennet. You did. I disagree with you assessment to like him. I am very suspicious of him, not just from lately but going back to his job in the PM’s office.
On the other hand, I have much praise for Eldad and Ben Ari, even though I am not going to vote for them. Frankly, I wish all the BY voters would switch to Otzmah and leave LY with not a single Knesset seat. But that’s just wishful thinking.
@ Shy Guy:
I am religious, Chabbadnik, decorated soldier Shlom HaGalil War. Former Senior-Fellow Engineer US Department of Defense Military Avionics Programs, (Patents holder), I was ranked during the Golf War. Invited Consultant to the Israli Ministry of Defense.
Shy, I wonder if you can tell us where you stand on that and while at it why is it that we never saw a Tel Avivian coming North to help during the Lebanaon War. Coming to think about it, I cannot remember how many soldiers from there had the ill fate of being hurt in action at that time. We lost several soldiers from a town of about 50000.
It is about time to stop baiting “the religious” and look into the reasons why some sectors derive pleasure from demeaning and even physically attacking other Jews.
drjb Said:
FIFY. Now, do you still like that?
Although I like Bennett, he talks too much, the man has got to shut up!!!!!!
He should restrict his comments to his policy. Stop pandering to every single group in Israel. He’s starting to sound like Bibi II.
I’m starting to get a bad feeling about his chances now. He has maneuvered himself into a corner for trying to appeal to everybody, at times supporting groups with opposing interests. Bibi doesn’t like him, and will almost certainly leave him out of a coalition, unless he does extremely well (ie. 16 or more mandates). Once outside of the coalition, he will be ignored and irrelevant.
Unless he changes his tune, I fear he may be on the decline. He’s coming across as a rookie.
yamit82 Said:
Save us! Save us!
@ Shy Guy:
He’s on the way watch out!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5smr8M1VlE
@ Shy Guy:
Did you get your snow shoes out of the closet? Frosty is heading in your direction.
Ted my comment in in moderation.
@ Shy Guy:
The Torah makes clear that serving to protect and defend the people of Israel is equated with loyalty to G-d. For example, when the tribes of Gad, Reuven and half the tribe of Menashe wanted to settle east of the Jordan River, Moshe rebukes them because he thinks they are trying to avoid military service: “Moshe answered the descendants of Gad and Reuven saying: shall your brothers go to war while you remain here?” (Numbers 32:6)
Shall your brothers go to war while you stay here?
It came to pass that when Moses would raise his hand, Israel would prevail, and when he would lay down his hand, Amalek would prevail. Exodus-Shemot 17
At the center of that blessing is the idea that no war may be fought without two types of “soldiers” in the fight: those who fight with weapons and those who fight with prayer. He goes on to equate the possible avoidance of military service with turning against G-d. He accuses them of being no better than the spies who forced the people to wander for 40 years in the desert:
“Now behold you have risen up in the place of your fathers, a brood of transgressors, to bring even more of God’s wrath upon Israel. If you turn away from Him, He will leave us in the wilderness and you will have destroyed this whole people.” (Numbers 32:15)
Moshe is not satisfied until he extracts a promise from the tribes of Gad, Reuven and half of Menashe that they will serve in war against Israel’s enemies.
Unfortunately, many of our current scholars have remembered the lesson that Israel needs scholars, and have forgotten the lesson that failing to defend our nation is equal to the sin of the spies.
Question:
***Only in Melchemet mitzvah does everyone serve, not milhemet rishute.
Are we in a milchemet mitzvah today?
I suggest that only the top 10% of Yeshiva students be deferred the rest must serve. Enter the work force and become productive citizens. That’s a win win for everyone.
NormanF Said:
I’m a big Nahal Haredi supporter. That doesn’t excuse the Haredi camp, which at large remains a disgraceful example of Jews wiggling out of their obligations, using the Torah as their excuse. And I don’t expect the same from the left because their values are the opposite of Torah values. And I don’t expect bankrupt Haredi values being spewed by the head of Bayit Yehudi or any other loyal Israeli politician.
Shy Guy Said:
It should be noted that even in the wake of Israel’s inability to agree to a replacement for the Tal Law, lots of haredi men have volunteered for service. They did not do so because they were forced to do it, they did it because it was the right thing to do! I want to see this spirit from every one in Israel. Torah observant Jews have already set a prideful example for the country. Now leftist draft dodgers should follow suit.
NormanF Said:
I am not against a volunteer IDF. However, that does not exonerate Torah observant Jews from carrying out their Torah obligations in wartime.
Shy Guy Said:
My friend – the draft should be abolished in Israel. Those who love their country will always gladly defend it. Free countries do not need coercion to defend themselves.
The Torah itself forbids the shirking of military duty.
Why is Bennet parroting Hareidi Torah transgressors?!