ONLINE EVENT: The Ideology of Hesder Revisited
Join TRADITION and our publisher the Rabbinical Council of America for an online conversation with R. Mosheh Lichtenstein, Rosh Yeshivat Har Etzion, revisiting a classic essay from the archives: R. Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l, “The Ideology of Hesder” (TRADITION, Fall 1981), using it as a lens to explore contemporary issues in Israeli religious and civilian life and society and the particular challenges of the current war.
Sunday, September 15 (12 Elul) at 11:00am (ET) / 6:00pm (Israel).
ADVANCE REGISTRATION for the Zoom event required at this link.
Introduction: R. Menachem Penner, Executive Vice-President, RCA
Moderator: R. Jeffrey Saks, Editor, TRADITION
Together we will consider the complex relationship between yeshiva study and army service embodied by the Hesder movement; how has the 40 years since the original essay’s publication strengthened or weakened its message; what is the ideal role for Religious Zionism to play in Israel’s contentious present moment and how has to grown simultaneously closer and further from those on its left and it right; how do we assess trends on the scene such as the rise of the Mekhinot, religious women and army service; and the ongoing and current strife surrounding the Haredi military exemption and draft.
Yeshivot Hesder are a conspectus of our collective anomaly: a nation with outstretched palm and mailed fist, striving for peace and yet training for war. For the foreseeable future, this is our situation. While, as previously noted, our position appears more promising than in the past, we are far from being genuinely secure and can hardly afford to weaken our defenses complacently. Hence, within the context of our “station and its duties” (to use F. H. Bradley’s term) Hesder is, for b’nei Torah, the imperative of the moment. May God grant us a better station. In the meantime, however, if it is to become no worse, we must keep both our spirits and our guard up. Animated by vision and yet chary of danger, we, of yeshivot Hesder, pray that He may grant us the wisdom and the courage to cope with the challenges of the time. Fully appreciative of both the price we pay and the value of that which we safeguard in return, we approach our task with responsibility and humility; and, impelled by both commitment to Torah and compassion for our people, we strive to fulfill it with a sense of broader spiritual and historical vision. Standing in tears atop Har Hazeitim, the bleak sight of kol hamekudash mehavero harev yoter mehavero stretching before him, what would the Ramban have given to head a yeshivat Hesder?
– R. Aharon Lichtenstein, “The Ideology of Hesder” (1981)