BS"D
Chareidi Women Working at an Israeli Air Force Base: Breakthrough or Breakdown?
-- And the Imperative to Fight End the Military Draft for ALL Girls, Including Secular
Iyyar 16, 5781 / Tiferes She'Be'Hod, Parshas "Emor el HaCohanim" / Apr. 27, '21
By Binyomin Feinberg
It
was recently widely reported in Israeli media (e.g. TV News12, Ynet
April 8, '21) that the Israeli Air Force has, over the course of several
years, developed a group of Chareidi women who perform very sensitive
high-tech military work as paid employees of the military, at a military
base. Secular Israeli media understandably hailed this as refreshingly
positive development, enabling Chareidi women to secure careers that (a)
purportedly accommodate their religious lifestyle while also (b)
providing financial independence and (c) reportedly making a significant
contribution to the physical security of the State of Israel. This
unusual initiative was spearheaded by an ostensibly Chareidi woman,
Ester Solomon, who received a Yom Ha'Atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day)
award from the Israeli military for her "trailblazing" work in
recruiting over a dozen ostensibly Chareidi women to work
in this group. Solomon is officially involved with organizational work
aimed at providing Chareidi women the "benefits" they're missing out on
by not serving either in the Army or Sheirut Leumi (National Service),
both of which Chareidi girls generally avoid - in compliance with the
Chareidi Rabbinic leaders who have declared both as prohibited.*
On
closer observation, however, not everything is as rosy as it may appear
to many casual observers, as we explain in brief below.
(*
P.S.: Recent events have revealed the foresight of the Rabbinic
pronouncements against the Israeli drafting of girls. Every step towards
breaking the taboos of the Israeli government drafting girls into the
Army leads the government to advance more of the same, inexorably
leading towards mainstreaming the notion of religious, even ostensibly
Chareidi women serving in the morally corrosive Army environment.)
At the very least, a few warnings are in order:
1)
ANY initiative aimed at drawing Jews (either the recruits or others)
away from Torah - in this case, towards accepting the Israeli
government drafting girls - involves a prohibition of the highest
magnitude.*
(* For a sample of Torah sources
addressing prohibitions of that which leads one astray from Judaism, see
Shabbos 116a: Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Yishmoel; GR"A Orach Chaim 334:
26-28; Teshuvas HaRosh 19:17; Tosofos Pesachim 25a, Avoda Zorah 27b,
Tosofos Shayni; Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Daiyoh 155:1; Teshuvas Maharam Shik
O.C. 304; Sefer "MiYemini Michael" on Pesachim 58:12,13; cf. "S'dei
Eliyahu" on Shabbos 116. To illustrate the severity of the prohibition
against that which potentially could lead to apostasy, the world
renowned "Chassam Sofer," in his responsa on Yoreh Daiyah, 76 (quoted
by the Pischei Teshuva on Y.D., siman 155) prohibited healing remedies
employed with intent to draw the recipient away from Torah, even for
those facing life-threatening conditions.)
A
review of the publicly available information on some of the operative
organizations, ATIDA and Atid Yisroel, as well as a letter on
"Shalhevet" stationary, apparently signed by Mrs. Solomon, indicate that
there is a concrete effort to integrate Chareidi women into the Israeli
military, incrementally. Any accomplishment in that regard, however
seemingly harmless, and even seemingly beneficial, leads to the next,
more ominous steps.
How specifically would this celebrated Air Force development lead to the latter?
2)
This ostensibly Chareidi Air Force program will most likely be cited by
the Israeli Supreme Court as evidence of their bizarre pronouncement in
early 2019 that serving in the military does not conflict with the
lifestyle of religious girls. The fact that these women are ostensibly
being paid may be easily dismissed.*
[*
as in the expression attributed to a famous WWII era British statesman,
"Madam, what you ARE has already been established, we're now just
quibbling about the price." (The full context of his remarks is not
appropriate for publication for this readership.)]
This
legal landmine could explode in the Supreme Court in the course of any
legal case involving a religious girl being drafted that makes its way
up to the Bagatz (Israeli Supreme Court). We ought expect the
unexpected. Advocacy organizations be warned: your planned forays into
the notoriously leftist Israeli Supreme Court may harm tens of thousands
of religious girls.
3) Additionally, the "wonderful" and truly
historic precedent set here - over which Ms. Solomon waxed eloquent at
her timely Yom HaAztma'ut award - will be leveraged not only to offer an
OPTION to Chareidi women, but also to eventually establish a MANDATORY
alternative to Army and Sheirut Leumi. Once there's a "religiously
acceptable" manner of making a contribution to the military, it will
become required of all religious girls. Of course, politically connected
families may initially evade the obligation. But everyone else will
suffer - just because these ladies opted to secure hefty salaries "to
support their husbands in Kollel".*
(* as if the continuity of Torah requires the financing of this camouflaged concoction of the Army Draft Office.)
4)
Consider the emotional and psychological impact that this female
Chareidi taboo-breaker has on all of the courageous refusenik girls -
often isolated and abandoned by the Chareidi estsblishment - enduring
harassment, persecution, terrorism, incarceration in military prison,
abuse by the military police, prison and justice systems. These
courageous souls, often with no family or community support, are putting
everything on the line to stand on principle. Now, enter some
comfortable, well-paid Chareidi women - whose community connection to
political parties provided them the leisure of avoiding both Army and
Sheirut Leumi easily, sans mesiras nefesh - and THEY volunteer to work
for the Army proper - on an Army base. Thereby they are pouring cold
water on the stigma of religious girls in the Army. How do those two
pictures combine?
If
they would feel the pain of all of the girls and women being persecuted
by the human-trafficking professionals operating out of the Army Draft
Office, would they indeed wax so eloquent about the wonders of working
for the Army? Would they pontificate about their contribution to a cause
"greater than themselves" while being paid hefty salaries (shochad or
es'nan) to serve as useful idiots to advance the forcible draft of
untold numbers of other girls - and to advance the doomed Army attempt
to decimate the remnant of authentically devout girls risking all to
avoid compromising with Army dictates to appear for a Rayon Dat
[religiosity interrogation (see http://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/02/creep-state.html )]?
°
In addition, on careful observation, Solomon's public statements,
organizational work and associations strike one as infused with
self-focused ambition, and unbecoming of a genuinely Chareidi woman. In
fact, it's hard to imagine many non-Chareidi women taking such
revolutionary [or subsversive] steps, as described above, in part. Are
we being played?
° Now that
we see how extensive the inroads made by the female military draft
crusade into the Chareidi community are, we have the wherewithal to
challenge those who until now have remained blind to the spiritual
devastation being perpetrated under their noses. The question is: what
is the most effective response. One central element of that response is
described below: pushing for an end to the female military draft
altogether, for non-religious girls as well, and, as per the Brisker Rov
OB"M, even more so for them.
###
Part Two: A Real Solution
Not One Girl Left Behind:
Straight Shooting from the Brisker Rov, in the Jewish War Against the Israeli Army's Female Draft
"Let them close all the Yeshivos - rather than (allow the Israeli Army to) draft even one girl!"
This
encapsulates the reaction of Rav Yitzchak Z'ev Soloveichik, OB"M, the
world revered sage.of Torah Jewry, known deferentially as the "the
Brisker Rov" to the objection raised to his refusal to
sacrifice any girl to the draft - including non-religious girls. In
fact, the Torah giant (quoted by Rav Aharon Soloveichik OBM (d. 2001), quoting Rav Michel Feinstein OBM, cited in Sefer "Yeled Sha'ashuim," p.348-50) was
even more vociferously opposed to drafting non-religious girls than
religious ones. The reasoning is simple: the nonreligious girls would
fall further and faster in the notoriously immoral, exploitive Army
environment than religious girls would. [Even if one would argue that
that situation has somewhat changed nowadays, his sage observation
clearly still applies to many "Mesorati" girls (traditional girls, who
tend to be more "religious," rather than particularly "observant" of
Torah precepts). His observation likely applies to a significant swath
of "non-religious" girls as well.]
If religious parties would
conform their actual policy stances to these positions articulated by
the Brisker Rov, and act on the ideals of the Torah - they would
sincerely push for exemptions for all girls from the military draft. If
they would actually do that - we'd all benefit in multiple ways. It
would attain a win-win-win scenario, for values- voters of all stripes,
as well as for all religious communities (including Chareidi, religious
Zionist, Mesorati), as well as for Chiloni (secular) residents. It would
also advance core defense, national security, economic, social, and
demographic interests. This is all the more true inasmuch as the Israeli
Army does NOT need women.
1) In
addition to being true to Torah, and making a true Kiddush HaShem,
a sincere campaign to exempt all girls from the Army would undoubtedly
yield a marked decrease in antireligious sentiment.
2)
That antireligious animus has been serving as much of the fuel
impelling the antireligious edicts across the board. Once the
nonreligious and traditional Jews would see that we religious Jews are
sincerely following the aforementioned approach of the Brisker Rov, and
thus prioritize exemptions for their girls even more than exemptions for
"our" girls - much of the drive would be taken out the ongoing,
escalating antireligious campaigning. Thus, even self-interest should
dictate that the religious communities urge those who operate under the
mantle of being representative of our views and interests to actually do
so.
3) Furthermore, such a female military
exemption campaign would very likely prove successful, if properly
pursued. That's because most Chiloni (secular) girls most probably
would not mind, or definitively prefer a military service exemption.
This is one positive legislative initiative that should enjoy
broad-based support. Most Israelis would much prefer the bona fide
"Equality" between religious and nonreligious girls getting military
exemptions - over the false "Equality" of women and men BOTH being
drafted into the exploitive Army environment.
4)
If passed, ending (mandatory) the female military draft altogether
would likely remain law, inasmuch as it would be extremely difficult for
any subsequent government to convince those girls who just obtained
freedom to volunteer to give it up.* Anyone who (Chas VeShalom) feels
compelled to enlist in the immoral Army environment would still be
allowed to. But how many female Israeli voters (other than hard core
"Equality" advocates and their dupes) would actually want to impose an
obligation on all girls to give away that part of their life in the
Israeli military?
5) Some people may be more
effectively moved by the argument when articulated thus: By removing
religiosity as a criteria for girls being exempt from military service,
they would eliminate the core problem behind the ongoing escalation of
the female military draft. The main factor empowering the Army to make
increasingly intrusive inroads and harass, persecute, incarcerate, draft
and abuse more and more religious girls is their ability to - in effect
- decide who is "genuinely" religious - and "religious enough" - to
meet the standard of the law that exempts "religious" girls. The
aforementioned proposal takes that ability off the table altogether.
°
Ending the female military draft in toto would perhaps be the most
effective strategy to address the horrific statistic of about 40,000
Israeli abortions a year, totalling over two million babies killed by
other Jews in the State of Israel. The State of Israel was founded on
the rhetorical backdrop of the Nazi Holocaust, whose abortion legacy has
continued till today. Most other pro-life legislation would be in
constant danger of being undone by subsequent governments. Elimination
of the female draft would most likely not. Thereby, the Jewish People
would benefit from untold additional families being started, and started
earlier, and growing larger than is currently the case. Now, due to the
mandatory female draft of 18-year-old girls, tens of thousands of
potential mothers fail to get married, do so late, and / or otherwise
have smaller families.
° Such a law would save
tens of thousands [and eventually hundreds of thousands] of girls from
the Israeli government military-draft strategy known as the "melting
pot:" using the antireligious-dominated Army to form a "new Jew," which
bears little resemblance to what the Torah requires of us.
°
Another windfall of such a campaign is that fighting the female
military draft in toto is a perfect way to stand with all of those all
of those resolute refusenik girls enduring persecution by the Israeli
Army Draft Office. If they suffer so much, in refusing to bow to Army
Draft Office dictates, bullying - and even terrorist tactics - then we
must demonstrate that we'll turn over the world to save them. One of the
best ways to do that is by fighting for the elimination of the female
draft altogether. Then, even if we don't succeed immediately, we still
make important gains in the war against the Army crusade against future
Jewish mothers.
The opportunity is ours now,
perhaps only for a very short time. The future of tens of thousands of
potential Jewish mothers lays in the balance.
