Uh...many many non-chareidim disagree with your assessment. They don't see the Supreme Court as "eminently reasonable" in the slightest. They see the current campaign as a cynical strategy of the anti-religious leftists and liberals to topple the current government. For example, Yedidyah Meir, who is Dati: https://www.inn.co.il/news/652036
I don't see how those articles demonstrate anything at all. Let's say that we accept that this was an attempt by the Supreme Court to topple the current government (which would be surprising, since the decision was unanimous); let's say that other aspects of this issue are a campaign against the current government, as you suggest. That is a far cry from "schemes and hostilities directed at Torah learners." Toppling the Netanyahu government and even demanding that yeshiva students not get deferments is very different from some sort of war against Torah. (The Hebrew term used in the kol koreh was "harrasment" - also completely untrue.) Even given the most negative interpretation of the SC decision or the government's actions, calling this harrasment or hostilities against Torah learners (rather than against the government) is a canard.
My point was just that they strongly disagree with your assessment of the situation. They do not agree that these are "...the typical maneuvers that take place in a democracy, along with eminently reasonable decisions by Israel’s Supreme Court." They do not agree that "there is nothing nefarious or anti-Torah taking place." Do they characterize it the same way chareidim do, as a specifically anti Torah-study or anti-yeshiva campaign? No. But to them, it's even more nefarious- an attack of progressive leftists against the Jewish character of the country. Personally, I think it's the same thing. From the chareidi perspective, an attempt to draft yeshiva students is an attack on the yeshiva system, which is an attack on the Jewish religion. But even many Religious Zionists, who believe yeshiva and Zionism and army can go hand in hand, see this as a cynical, nefarious campaign against Judaism.
Excellent article. The only real question remaining is, if a Chareidi chooses to follow his Gedolim while having knowledge that indicates the Gedolim are wildly wrong, do we forgive that Chareidi because he did the right thing under his own view, or do we hold him responsible?
I don't know much about the Torah aspect. However, from a demographic standpoint this is suicidal.
The root of the Palestinian crisis is demographics (this is basic and any source will only downplay its significance but to spice things up I am posting one link https://nonzionism.com/p/the-basic-problem-with-zionism) which prevents Israel from annexing Gaza. In 2021 there were 119.8 thousand livebirths in Palestine, not much lower than the number of Jewish livebirths in Israel. If not for Charedism there may have been less births (including Arab births) in Israel than in Palestine in 2021 and the Palestinian fertility rate would be significantly higher than that of Israel https://nonzionism.com/p/why-is-israel-fertile. Instead, due to unceasing Charedi hard work for many decades, we may have finally reached the point that the Israeli fertility rate is higher than Palestinian fertility rate https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00550-6/fulltext (2.9 vs 2.88. To get a sense of how unique this is: Only 1 other OECD country has a fertility rate over 1.75 (Peru-1.97). Only 1 BRICS country has a fertility rate over 1.91 (South Africa 2.07) And only 1 emerging economy has a fertility rate over 1.93 (Peru- 2.3).
And yet the secular elite demonizes the Charedim and wishes to kill the goose that lays their golden eggs. They were blessed with the only urban society in the world with a significant growth rate and they seek to sabotage it. Let's assume all they want is that they should be similar to the DL community. Well, according to this study https://chotam.org.il/media/37347/demography-of-religiosity.pdf Charedim almost quadrupled from 1990-2015; the DL community barely grew. If we push Charedim to copy the DL community, we may be stuck forever without the option of annexing Gaza.
Why is Israel acting suicidal in the midst of a war rooted in demographics, posing sanctions on all Charedim, including daycares of children, most of whom have not even had a צו גיוס sent to their father's home?
For the secular elite I do believe this is a war on Torah. They are truly terrified of a future where the secular will be outnumbered 10-1. However, I agree with you that for the general DL community) this is not the case. I can only assume that they are blinded by the fog of war. And I can't blame them. They have suffered tremendously in the war, considering that close to 60% of the casualties were from their community and the Charedi community has not done enough to show gratitude and be משתתף בצערם. (Though it is still hard for me to process why someone would request that 100% of the casualties should come from religious people. But I guess it is just hard for me to fathom the great importance which the DL community attaches to this mitzvah.)
Uh...many many non-chareidim disagree with your assessment. They don't see the Supreme Court as "eminently reasonable" in the slightest. They see the current campaign as a cynical strategy of the anti-religious leftists and liberals to topple the current government. For example, Yedidyah Meir, who is Dati: https://www.inn.co.il/news/652036
The soldier who has posted on my blog on several occasions has also made this point https://irrationalistmodoxism.substack.com/p/a-sobering-perspective
It's possible that you are just unaware of this view, but surprising.
I don't see how those articles demonstrate anything at all. Let's say that we accept that this was an attempt by the Supreme Court to topple the current government (which would be surprising, since the decision was unanimous); let's say that other aspects of this issue are a campaign against the current government, as you suggest. That is a far cry from "schemes and hostilities directed at Torah learners." Toppling the Netanyahu government and even demanding that yeshiva students not get deferments is very different from some sort of war against Torah. (The Hebrew term used in the kol koreh was "harrasment" - also completely untrue.) Even given the most negative interpretation of the SC decision or the government's actions, calling this harrasment or hostilities against Torah learners (rather than against the government) is a canard.
My point was just that they strongly disagree with your assessment of the situation. They do not agree that these are "...the typical maneuvers that take place in a democracy, along with eminently reasonable decisions by Israel’s Supreme Court." They do not agree that "there is nothing nefarious or anti-Torah taking place." Do they characterize it the same way chareidim do, as a specifically anti Torah-study or anti-yeshiva campaign? No. But to them, it's even more nefarious- an attack of progressive leftists against the Jewish character of the country. Personally, I think it's the same thing. From the chareidi perspective, an attempt to draft yeshiva students is an attack on the yeshiva system, which is an attack on the Jewish religion. But even many Religious Zionists, who believe yeshiva and Zionism and army can go hand in hand, see this as a cynical, nefarious campaign against Judaism.
Excellent article. The only real question remaining is, if a Chareidi chooses to follow his Gedolim while having knowledge that indicates the Gedolim are wildly wrong, do we forgive that Chareidi because he did the right thing under his own view, or do we hold him responsible?
absolutely spot on!
I don't know much about the Torah aspect. However, from a demographic standpoint this is suicidal.
The root of the Palestinian crisis is demographics (this is basic and any source will only downplay its significance but to spice things up I am posting one link https://nonzionism.com/p/the-basic-problem-with-zionism) which prevents Israel from annexing Gaza. In 2021 there were 119.8 thousand livebirths in Palestine, not much lower than the number of Jewish livebirths in Israel. If not for Charedism there may have been less births (including Arab births) in Israel than in Palestine in 2021 and the Palestinian fertility rate would be significantly higher than that of Israel https://nonzionism.com/p/why-is-israel-fertile. Instead, due to unceasing Charedi hard work for many decades, we may have finally reached the point that the Israeli fertility rate is higher than Palestinian fertility rate https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00550-6/fulltext (2.9 vs 2.88. To get a sense of how unique this is: Only 1 other OECD country has a fertility rate over 1.75 (Peru-1.97). Only 1 BRICS country has a fertility rate over 1.91 (South Africa 2.07) And only 1 emerging economy has a fertility rate over 1.93 (Peru- 2.3).
And yet the secular elite demonizes the Charedim and wishes to kill the goose that lays their golden eggs. They were blessed with the only urban society in the world with a significant growth rate and they seek to sabotage it. Let's assume all they want is that they should be similar to the DL community. Well, according to this study https://chotam.org.il/media/37347/demography-of-religiosity.pdf Charedim almost quadrupled from 1990-2015; the DL community barely grew. If we push Charedim to copy the DL community, we may be stuck forever without the option of annexing Gaza.
Why is Israel acting suicidal in the midst of a war rooted in demographics, posing sanctions on all Charedim, including daycares of children, most of whom have not even had a צו גיוס sent to their father's home?
For the secular elite I do believe this is a war on Torah. They are truly terrified of a future where the secular will be outnumbered 10-1. However, I agree with you that for the general DL community) this is not the case. I can only assume that they are blinded by the fog of war. And I can't blame them. They have suffered tremendously in the war, considering that close to 60% of the casualties were from their community and the Charedi community has not done enough to show gratitude and be משתתף בצערם. (Though it is still hard for me to process why someone would request that 100% of the casualties should come from religious people. But I guess it is just hard for me to fathom the great importance which the DL community attaches to this mitzvah.)
I can only add that if Ben Gurion would be alive he may have had the courage to admit that Charedim are clearly sharing the burden fully, as is evidenced from this study https://www.academia.edu/12088627/David_Ben_Gurion_and_the_demographic_threat_His_Dualistic_Approach_to_Natalism_1936_1963 Though he probably would have been deeply bothered at the failure of Israel to remain dominantly secular.