Can the State of Israel Really Force Charedim to Serve in the Army?
From a purely legal or governmental standpoint, the State of Israel can attempt to draft Charedim. It can write laws, issue orders, and even arrest individuals who refuse to comply. But the more important question is not whether it can—but whether it will succeed. And to that, the answer is: no.
Trying to force bnei Torah into the army is not just a policy dispute. It is a direct assault on the deepest identity of Torah Jewry. It will not unify the nation—it will tear it further apart. It will not create stronger soldiers—it will destroy families and yeshivos, deepen division, and light fires of resentment that will be hard to extinguish.
The State can jail tens of thousands. It can cut funding. It can try to isolate and punish. But it cannot—and will not—win a war against Torah.
Israel: The Only Country That Would Jail Torah Learners
If this policy is carried out, Israel will carry a shameful distinction: it will become the only country in the world where a Jew can be imprisoned for choosing to sit and learn Torah.
That is not an exaggeration. In America, Europe, South America—even in regimes hostile to religion—there is no law that actively jails Jews for wanting to dedicate their lives to Torah. And yet, in a so-called "Jewish state," that may become a legal reality.
This is not merely a chilul Hashem—it is the very definition of it. As Chazal say, when Jews publicly desecrate Hashem’s name, “אין לך חילול השם גדול מזה” — there is no greater chilul Hashem than the trampling of Torah by those who should uphold it (Yoma 86a) .
What the Gedolim Say
Gedolei Yisrael from every Eidah and generation have spoken out with unwavering clarity:
Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach zt”l:
“The very demand to take a ben Torah out of the beis medrash is a gzeirah shmad—a decree against Torah itself.” (Letter to Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, 1992)
Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman zt”l:
“If the State wants to jail yeshiva bochurim, let them. But they should know: for every one they jail, ten more will rise in his place.” (Vaad HaRoshei Yeshivos Address, 2013)
Rav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz zt”l:
“We must teach our youth that we are not afraid of jail—we only fear Hashem. This is not the first time in our history that Torah was threatened. And it never worked then either.” (Shmuess to Ponevezh LeTze’irim, 2010)
Chacham Ovadia Yosef zt”l:
“No Torah learner should be forced to leave his sefer. Anyone who does so is destroying the soul of the nation.” (Yabia Omer, Vol. 10, Responsa on Draft Laws)
Rav Dovid Soloveitchik zt”l:
“They may threaten, they may scream. But our answer is the same as the Maccabim: Mi LaHashem Eilai! We will not budge.” (Speech before a protest rally, 2012)
We Only Fear Hashem
The secular government may act as if they hold the reins of power. But Torah Jews know the truth:
“אין לנו על מי להישען אלא על אבינו שבשמים.” “We have no one to rely on except our Father in Heaven.” (Sotah 49b)
Our strength is not in lobbyists or coalitions. Our shield is not in ministers. Our power is not in protests or press releases. It is in Torah, tefillah, and emunah.
If we must go to jail, we will. If we must live with less, we will. If they try to shame us—we will answer with silence and steadfastness. We have faced Babylon, Greece, Rome, the Inquisition, the Czar, Communism, and the Shoah.
This new battle is not stronger than any of those. And like those, this one too shall pass. The Torah will remain. The yeshivos will survive. And Klal Yisrael will emerge stronger, just as we always have.
A Battle the State Cannot Win
The secular government believes it is fighting a political war. But it has entered a spiritual one—and it is waging war not against a group of citizens, but against the Ribono Shel Olam.
“If not for My covenant [Torah], day and night, I would not have set the laws of heaven and earth.” (Yirmiyahu 33:25)
This is a war they cannot win.
Because if the State truly believes in the survival of the Jewish people, it must realize that our only future is in Torah and those who learn it.
And if they don’t… then they are not fighting for Israel. They are fighting against it.
A Story: The Singers in the Cell
In 2013, a group of yeshiva bochurim from Yerushalayim were arrested for refusing to report to the IDF draft office. The government had begun tightening rules, sending military police to arrest “deserters” who had never enlisted.
These bochurim were taken to Tzrifin Military Prison and placed in a single holding cell. The media gleefully covered the arrests, calling them a “symbol of law and equality.”
But what happened inside the prison shocked the guards.
That Friday night, the bochurim gathered near the corner of their cell and began singing Lecha Dodi in harmony. They danced. They made kiddush on grape juice that someone had sent through a package. Their faces glowed with joy.
One guard whispered to another:
“What kind of prisoners are these?”
On Motzei Shabbos, a prison officer approached one of the boys and asked:
“Aren’t you afraid? You’ve been arrested by the government!”
The boy smiled and replied:
“We’re not afraid of governments. We fear only Hashem. And we thank Him for the zechus to sit here for His Torah.”
The officer, moved and confused, later confided to a journalist:
“I’ve seen criminals cry in these cells. These yeshiva boys sing.”
The story was reported quietly in several frum newspapers, but the message echoed loudly in batei midrash across the country:
The Jewish soul cannot be broken.
And certainly not the soul of one who clings to the Torah.
Footnotes and Sources
- Talmud Bavli, Yoma 86a – Discusses the magnitude of chillul Hashem, especially when Torah is desecrated.
- Rav Shach’s Letter to Rabin, 1992 – Published and distributed by Degel HaTorah leadership.
- Vaad HaRoshei Yeshivos, 2013 – Rav Shteinman’s words quoted in multiple publications, including Yated Neeman and Mishpacha.
- Shmuess by Rav Lefkowitz zt”l – Recorded in Ponevezh Yeshiva bulletins, 2010.
- Yabia Omer, Vol. 10, by Chacham Ovadia Yosef – Responsa addressing the forced draft.
- Speech by Rav Dovid Soloveitchik, 2012 – At anti-draft rally, documented in HaMevaser and Der Yid.
- Sotah 49b – Classic Gemara reference cited often in difficult times.
- Yirmiyahu 33:25 – Source for the eternal merit of Torah learning.