If Your Brothers Go To War

Graves of fallen I.D.F. soldiers on Mount Herzl

While the Jewish people in Israel and worldwide have benefitted from a level of unity since the despicable events of October 7th and throughout the ongoing traumas of the war, after nearly half a year, regrettable, unnecessary, and painful cracks are emerging. Among the most divisive issues perennially facing the State is the question of the blanket exemption of Haredim from military or national service. At a time of great sacrifice and loss and mourning throughout the nation, talk of reexamining this exemption seems more urgent to many who serve and is seen as a looming threat by those who do not.

The recent remarks by Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef concerning this issue generated much angry response in the country. “If they force us to join the army, we will all move abroad,” said the Rishon LeZion, who went on to describe the military success since October 7th as being to the credit of the yeshiva students who remain at their posts in the beit midrash. “The yeshivot and kollelim are what sustain the world. The State exists on Torah study, and without the Torah, there would have been no success for the army.” Right now, whether or not this is theologically or politically sound may be less important than how it was received across the nation, and its regrettably deleterious effect on the crucial national unity.

הרב הראשי יצחק יוסף: “יכריחו אותנו ללכת לצבא? ניסע לחו”ל”. pic.twitter.com/PeiNKpiECp

— almog boker (@bokeralmog) March 9, 2024

In response, Rabbi Tamir Granot, father of Amitai z”l, who was killed in the early days of the war, issued a heartfelt message in which he addresses both R. Yosef and the Haredi world on the right, as well as liberal secularists on his left (watch the Hebrew video here with English subtitles). R. Granot is Rosh Yeshivat Orot Shaul, a Hesder Yeshiva in Tel Aviv (read more about him in this TraditionOnline column by R. Yitzchak Blau).

A transcript of the talk, provided to TRADITION by R. Granot, appears below in an adapted translation that aims to retain the original oral quality. We present it here not, God forbid, to fan the flames of division, but to allow our readers the opportunity to encounter the powerful words, sentiments, and Torah perspective of a bereaved father speaking to the burning issues facing the Jewish people in Zion today. It is also an exemplar of “divrei hakhamim be-nahat nishma’im” (Ecclesiastes 9:17), adding illuminating light but not destructive flame.

R. Jeffrey Saks, Editor, TRADITION

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אמיתי גרנות הי”ד

My brothers and friends: Following the remarks of Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef on March 9 about drafting yeshiva students to the Israeli army, I was very hesitant whether to respond—whether due to respect for Torah, or simply in the thought that silence increases peace. I decided to speak for the sake of Torah and because of my wife’s tears. Honorable Rabbi Yosef: Your words about drafting yeshiva students caused my wife to cry for 24 hours straight. I wish to open my remarks with her tears—the tears of the mother of my son, Capt. Amitai Granot z”l, who was killed five months ago in the battle against Hezbollah on 30 Tishrei (October 15). Amitai was a 24-year-old yeshiva student, he learned for three years in yeshiva, he enlisted and was an officer; he deeply wished to return to his learning in yeshiva. He loved the Torah to the very depths of his soul. No one forced Amitai to enlist. No decree was passed against him. He went to the army to fulfill the mitzva of Israel in its struggle against its enemy, milhemet mitzva, and to fulfill the verse “You shall not stand idly by as your brother’s blood is shed” (Leviticus 19:16). He occupied himself with the mitzva of saving lives, and to bear the burden of this battle alongside his comrades. And for these very same reasons, eighteen boys from the Eli Yeshiva have been killed Al Kiddush Hashem, for the sanctification of God and Heaven; and nine boys from the Hesder Yeshiva in Yeruham; and students of many other yeshivot throughout the country, all taking responsibility and fulfilling these mitzvot. Many fell in battle, Al Kiddush Hashem, others were wounded and remain alive, and with God’s help they will live a long life. They went to serve in the army out of a desire to truly study the Torah and observe its mitzvot—Torah which leads to fulfillment in action (Kiddushin 40b). Theirs is a Torah that bears responsibility, not one that contains recklessness or fear.

As for my wife, Avivit, Amitai’s mother, I ask you, Honorable Rabbi, in the name of her tears: Am I wrong? Is it in vain that our son now rests in a grave on Mount Herzl? Should he, and all his friends buried alongside him, have remained in their yeshivot, delegating to secular citizens the duty of mesirut nefesh, ultimate sacrifice? Perhaps they should have gone abroad to study Torah and to avoid enlisting? Honorable Rabbi, you should seek forgiveness from my wife, from her tears, and you should go up to Mount Herzl and ask forgiveness from Amitai z”l, a yeshiva student and warrior, and from all the righteous and holy and pure Torah students who choose to fight, as well as from the soldiers who do not study Torah—all of whom gave their lives in defense of our nation and those who dwell in it. Is it reasonable to leave the Holy Land to avoid defending it in a milhemet mitzva for the salvation of the entire nation? Are we in the Russian Empire? Is this the Czar’s army? Are Jewish boys being dragged off as cantonists? You are the Rishon LeZion—for Zion, not the Chief Rabbi of Brooklyn or Baghdad. You have responsibility for the entire People of Israel.

[Read about Rabbanit Avivit Granot in this week’s Makor Rishon newspaper.]

The Honorable Rabbi spoke against forced conscription. I want to assure him and all my brothers in the yeshivot—do not fear. There will be no forced army draft. Perhaps this fact is what truly concerns you. As if the idea of a forced draft has to be manufactured as a threat to motivate a political base and position one’s own community as the sole proprietors and protectors of Torat Yisrael. This leads to avoiding an equally great responsibility for the People and its Torah and causes you to imagine that the threat of recruitment is tantamount to one of those evil decrees of old, a gezerat shemad. One can fight against a gezerat shemad, one can shout and protest and make demonstrations. But there is no such decree about to be promulgated against you, nor will there be. This is the Land of Israel, the army is our own, it belongs to all of us, and we love each other. The problem, the challenge, is not a destructive gezerat shemad, but the army’s simple reaching out a hand for assistance, from all of us, secular and religious alike. A plea for partnership and assistance. The People of Israel need you, yeshiva students, as partners for the very real necessity of maintaining a fighting force that protects us all. Why? Because there are already nearly 600 who have fallen in battle, alongside many thousands of wounded (and this aside from those slaughtered or taken hostage on Simhat Torah). The army must fill its ranks to protect our homeland, to protect us all. Can you seriously advise your students to flee abroad or to stay in yeshiva hiding beneath a shtender? Is this the answer given to one who reaches out for help in saving lives?

R. Tamir Granot (screengrab)

I want to say something about the argument that Yair Lapid, Avigdor Lieberman, and other secular politicians are once again manipulating the issue of recruiting yeshiva students for their own political gain. The truth, even when spoken by the likes of Lapid and Lieberman, remains true. Torah, even when Lapid and Lieberman speak it, remains Torah. If they were to say, “Observe Shabbat,” would you break Shabbat in order not to do what Lapid and Lieberman say? If they say, “Give charity,” will you stop your donations to counter their advice? Drafting yeshiva students is not a decree of Lapid and Lieberman, but of the Holy One, blessed be He and of His Holy Torah! It is the cry of your fellow Jews asking, “Will your brothers go to war will you just sit here” (Numbers 32:6)? Can we imagine such a thing?

And for the yeshiva students themselves I will add: You are told repeatedly that you make up the “Tribe of Levi” (in which you are excused from certain civic duties in light of your spiritual role and contribution to the nation). Yet, if you have not yet studied Rambam’s Hilkhot Shemitta ve-Yovel, do so, and you will see that he never exempted the Tribe of Levi from milhemet mitzva. And in all cases, you are not the actual Tribe of Levi, but those about whom Rambam writes:

Not only the tribe of Levi, but any one of the inhabitants of the world whose spirit motivates him and he understands with his wisdom to set himself aside and stand before God to serve Him and minister to Him and to know God, proceeding justly as God made him, removing from his neck the yoke of the many reckonings which people seek, he is sanctified as holy of holies. God will be His portion and heritage forever and will provide what is sufficient for him in this world like He provides for the priests and the Levites (Shemitta ve-Yovel 13:13).

What in Rambam’s words makes you presume he exempts one from this war? In Hilkhot Melakhim (7:5-15), when he lists military exemptions for certain people, does he give a pass to Torah students? Even a groom from the bridal chamber and a bride from underneath her wedding canopy go out in defense! Where is there an exemption for Torah students in King David’s army? Were the Torah students exempt? At least be honest and say it’s a matter of hashkafa, your religious worldview and sensitivities, that because you are Haredim you fear the danger of encountering the outside world. This is true. There is such a danger. And we all bear a responsibility for Yirat Shamayim and Yiddishkeit. So tell your rabbis, “Let’s not act like little, frightened children claiming that the army cannot accommodate us.” Rather, say: “We wish to fulfill the mitzvot of the Torah and to be partners with the People of Israel. We want to serve in the army. Let us see how it can be done, how we can find proper and correct arrangements, according to our specific needs, as was done for the students of the Yeshivot Hesder who combine study and service.” And if that does not work, the army will find better ways to accommodate. This is because it will be better for all involved—soldiers, commanders, and the army alike—to have God-fearing soldiers serving in the army and emerging even stronger. Your Torah will be even more complete, not a Torah cloistered in its own four cubits but one that fortifies the Land of Israel and the hearts of the People of Israel. How does the Torah connect with the people? It can be done. You tell the army what you need and the army will say what is possible. Don’t speak like children, “The army doesn’t want us or refuses to accommodate us.” The army wants you and is ready for you. Take responsibility, my friends, it’s a responsibility for the entire Jewish people.

Finally, I want to say something to our secular brothers. It is impossible to deal with this issue of the army and yeshiva students without speaking honestly. Here we must address two issues. Those of you, obviously not all of you, who during the recent national strife around the judicial reform called for an end to volunteering, for refusing calls to reserve duty, or for not conscripting, need to mend your ways and admit your error. Only then can you talk about drafting yeshiva students. If for any number of ideological, liberal, or secular reasons one can stop enlisting or volunteering, then the Haredim are justified for making a similar claim on the right. But none of these reasons legitimately exempt a person from enlistment in the army or national service. To speak of drafting Haredi yeshiva students fairly and with love, and for it to actually succeed, we must be honest and admit that there are also secular Israelis who dodge enlistment. And a second matter: As far as Haredi enlistment and the Torah study exemption goes, it is important to understand what Torah learning is, to value it, and to talk about it with respect and appreciation. Without Torah study the Jewish People would not be here today. Without two thousand years of Torah study we would not have returned to the Land of Israel, and the people of Israel would not be what we are morally, spiritually, or intellectually. There can be no nation of Israel without Torah study and yeshivot, of all varieties. And you, our secular brothers, should tell the yeshivot, “We want yeshivot and we will never harm them. We also wish to learn Torah, in our own way, and we will defend and support yeshivot—if you will be our partners.” That’s what you should clearly and loudly tell the Haredim. “We will help you, we will uphold the yeshivot, we will accommodate your Torah study and Yirat Shamayim—but be partners with us.” In this way, by extending a hand, through appreciation, by understanding the respect due to Torah and its value, change can really occur. Our situation is dire, but this crisis can give rise to a great transformation in the relationship between the Torah and the People of Israel. The entire nation can draw closer to the Torah, and the people of the Torah can be much closer to the nation of Israel.

I hope and pray that my words will be received with love.