Religious Exemption Without Religious Capitulation

BS"D

Encouraging News for Religious Girls in Israel: Another Religious Exemption Without Religious Capitulation

10 Shvat, 5780 °° Wed., Feb. 5, '20

By Binyomin Feinberg

feinbergbinyomin@gmail.com

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1. B"H, this Sunday, sources involved in the case of a female Refusenik seeking to avoid the Israeli military draft received notification of the approval of her religious exemption. This success occurred despite - rather, probably precisely because of - her refusal to submit to a Rayon Dat, despite complications of her case. (Details of her identity are not being published at this time, to protect her privacy.)

2. One organization that had been involved in discussions about the case initially suggested that, in her specific situation - in which her previous religious certification was disqualified - she may need to opt to submit to a Rayon Dat. However, another organization, Irgun Shomrei Torah, was insistent that a Rayon Dat is not an option. As per the advice of the latter organization, this young lady, from a Chareidi family, persued her religious exemption without submitting to a Rayon Dat. BE"H, she prevailed.

3. She is just one of many female Refuseniks who, despite clearly disadvantaged situations, persist in fighting for their exemptions without sacrificing Halacha by submitting to a Rayon Dat.

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Rayon Dat Interviews:

4. Religious girls who learn in nonreligious schools are generally told by the Army, and even by some Chareidi askonim - that they must (or should) submit to a Rayon Dat. A Rayon Dat is an interview, or interrogation, to determine eligibility for a religious exemption.

5. However, in reality, even if a girls studied in a non-religious school, she not only need not do so - a clear understanding of what's involved leads to the inescapable conclusion that a girl definitely should not submit to any such meeting - or even enter the Draft Offices.

6. Merely entering the Draft Office is prohibited on more than one basis. Firstly, most people don't grasp the extent to which the entire setup in those offices is geared towards drafting the girls into the military (see further, and Talmud Avoda Zorah 17a, 27b).

7. Secondly, the girls enter into a serious Yichud situation there, another reality which similarly evades public scrutiny (for some odd reason).

8. Practically speaking, entering the Draft Offices is downright dangerous. Professional, seasoned draft officers confine the girls or women in intimidating isolation (sometimes disabling even phone communication), sometimes for hours on end. They meticulously analyze each religious girl. They seek out and identify any susceptibilities to pressure, threats, deception, or incentives. The draft officials then exploit those weaknesses to their fullest, often employing a blended "Carrot-and-Stick" strategy. Their aim is to ensure that no (targeted) girl is "left out" of the Army, the societal melting pot.

9. In addition, the draft officers possess both the authority and the ability to have the girls on premises arrested on the spot, almost at whim. These officers also have ample opportunity to exploit their positions to pressure these females (often teenagers) into illicit conduct. For that reason alone, there is a formidable "Yichud" (seclusion between the genders, prohibited by Jewish Law) objection to merely entering the premises.

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"New Halacha:" (sic)

"Going where no man dare go..."

10. Somewhat surprisingly, there are some activists who actually encourage ostensibly "weaker" girls to enter the Draft Offices. They argue that if the girls don't cooperate with Army directives to submit to a Rayon Dat, then the Army will play "hardball," denying the girl the legal right to apply for a religious exemption. Then the girl will need to employ diligent resistance, perhaps even civil disobedience in ignoring Army directives to enlist. These activists express the pronounced, perhaps hyperinflated fear that girls whom they somehow deem to be "weaker" will be unable to withstand the challenge over time, and may eventually succumb to enlist in the military.

11. To avoid the possibility (clearly not a certainty) of a few girls eventually breaking and enlisting, these activists propose waiving the long-standing prohibition against entering the Draft Offices, a prohibition stridently articulated by world renowned Torah Sages of the previous and current generations, and articulated without the aforementioned suggested exceptions of "weaker girls." And some activists advocate doing so en masse, for many girls, all ostensibly to save to the individual girls who may not withstand the standoff with the Draft Office, "Maitav."

12. Moreover, some activists have been known to ACTIVELY DIRECT girls into the Draft Offices, and to submit to a Rayon Dat, or even to submit to worse procedures, e.g. military draft "Hearings" and promiscuous military "medical exams" "supervised" by male "staff*."

13. (*Note: In many countries, the latter immodest "medical procedures" would be criminal offences punishable by law, on account of illicit and unnecessary exposure of females to male spectators. However, in the secularist-run Israeli Army, unfortunately, the hedonistic "Mizron Tzahali" male-female military paradigm appears to prevail over basic human decency. Yes, "Equality" is indeed invoked by the Army - but that's to integrate women collectively - while simultaneously denigrating and mistreating women as individuals, individuals who truly deserve protection, privacy, dignity and respect.)

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A Partial Response:

There are multiple arguments against the aforementioned novel Halachic "innovation." Suffice it to present a few points for now.

14. In reality, the LAST girls to send into the Draft Offices are girls that may be susceptible to their deception, pressure, and other conscription techniques, as explained above (#8). Said weaknesses of girls should militate towards strengthening them, over time, enabling them to resist Army intimidation and harassment - not submitting them to those trained and empowered to most efficiently exploit the girls and their weaknesses.

15. Moreover, Gedolim and poskim of the stature to override the decisions of Torah giants like Rav Bengis, the Brisker Rov, the Chazon Ish, Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank, OB"M, etc. are hard to find nowadays, to grandly understate. (Furthermore, we are not aware of one single Gadol or posaik who has posited such a Halachic dispensation for sending girls into the Draft Offices, or to any such military interviews, and by all indications there are none.)

16. There are other arguments against allowing girls into Draft Offices, even "le'shitosom" of those who argue it should be permitted when there is ostensibly "no alternative." One argument was exemplified by Lital bas Miriam, now imprisoned over three weeks in Military Prison Four. In her case, as reported here, she was directed to submit to a Rayon Dat, years ago. Apparently, due to the pervasive ignorance about the prohibition and danger of such interviews, she agreed. This provided the interviewing draft officer an opportunity to trip Lital up on something she had no obligation to know, as we reported last week. Thereby, draft officers fraudulently manufactured a "legal" basis to rob Lital of her entitlement to a Religious Exemption, something they would have been unable to legally perpetrate without subjecting her to a Rayon Dat.

In the wake of succumbing to that Army subterfuge many years ago, she's been languishing in jail for about three weeks now.

17. Speaking of Equality:

A Tale of Two Tyrannies:

As reported last week, a religious girl from France, Rivka Noa bas Yehudis (note correction of name) has been incarcerated for over TWO MONTHS in Military Prison Six, all for a technicality -- allegedly submitting her religiosity cerification late.

But the Draft Office has no such concern over their OWN responsibility to comply with the law, specifically their obligation to RESPOND to girls about their draft exemption status, in wake of their filling for religious exemptions.

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Recent Posts:

(Parshas Bo)

http://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/01/righteous-outrage-goes-international.html

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http://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/01/from-behind-israeli-iron-curtain.html *

* correction: Rivka No'ah bas Yehudis is the name of the religious girl who came from France, imprisoned over two MONTHS in Military Prison Six, in the North.

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https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/01/spiritual-auschwitz.html

Demo Photos:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nTJT9255QwfrfYLMJ3_NaE8woQPF70MC