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Posted By admin on March 30, 2024

Ultra-Orthodox Jews who do not study Torah all day should not be drafted into the military, Moshe Tzedaka, Rabbi of Porat Yosef Yeshiva, said this week to an audience of Shas representatives, according to Israeli media.

"We must not, God forbid, take them [the haredi Yeshiva students] to the army because they also pray and they also study, the Rabbi said.

If they go to the army, there are many trials that they will not be able to withstand," he added.

The Rabbi also stated the soldiers protection depended on yeshiva students.

"We have to believe with complete faith that the yeshiva students who study the Torah are the ones who protect the soldiers, they are the ones who protect the wounded, and they are the ones who protect the hostages," the Rabbi noted.

No yeshiva student will go there, he said, referring to the military.

Yisrael Beytenu Chairman, MK Avigdor Liberman, wrote on X in response to Rabbi Tzedaka's comments: "Maimonides ruled as follows, 'anyone who puts it on his heart that he should study the Torah and not do any work and make a living from charity, is dishonoring the name of God.'

"Maimonides also adds and writes, 'in Milkhemet Mitzvah [war of obligation], everyone goes into battle, even a groom from his room and a bride from her wedding canopy.'"

"You, Rabbi, are engaged in a desecration of God's name," Liberman concluded.

Rabbi Tzedakas comments come amid tensions in Israels government regarding the draft law.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bill proposed extending the exemption from the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Israel's High Court of Justice granted the government a deadline for Wednesday to explain why it had not recruited the ultra-Orthodox to serve in the military.

Read the original here:

Israeli rabbi: Torah students cannot serve in IDF, they are protecting soldiers - The Jerusalem Post

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