What is the Charedi View on Protecting Their Cities — Including Carrying Guns or Doing Guard Duty Outside the Army?
When it comes to pikuach nefesh, the Charedi world — like all Torah Jews — takes it with the utmost seriousness. Chazal teach: “חמירא סכנתא מאיסורא” — danger is even more severe than prohibition (Chullin 10a). If there is a real threat to Jewish life, not only is it permitted to protect oneself — it is a mitzvah.
So yes, the Charedi world absolutely believes in the importance of protection and security. But how that protection is carried out matters just as much as whether it happens. And here is where the difference lies.
Neighborhood Protection: A Torah-Based Hishtadlus
In many Charedi neighborhoods — from Bnei Brak to Beitar, Elad to Meah Shearim — there are civilian patrol groups, known as mishmar ezrachi, made up of volunteers who guard their communities at night or during heightened threats.
These are often organized independently or in cooperation with local authorities — but on the community’s terms, maintaining standards of modesty, decorum, and Torah values.
If needed, some patrol members carry legally permitted weapons, trained by vetted instructors. This is not a military operation. It is a targeted, Torah-guided hishtadlus to protect Jewish lives without entering frameworks that threaten the neshamos of our youth.
Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein shlita, quoting his father-in-law Rav Elyashiv zt”l, was asked whether a yeshiva bochur could participate in nightly patrol shifts. He answered:
“If it is a time of sakana and there is no one else, and he is not shirking learning but stepping in where needed — this is a mitzvah. But it should not become habitual or cause bittul Torah beyond what is strictly necessary.” (Chashukei Chemed, Berachos 8a)
What About Carrying Weapons?
The Torah doesn’t glorify weapons — but it doesn’t deny their need either. The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 529:6) permits carrying weapons on Shabbos in dangerous times. The Mishnah Berurah (ibid.) clarifies: if there’s danger, protection overrides even Shabbos restrictions.
That said, owning or carrying a gun is not a Torah ideal. It is a necessary tool when real threats exist. But it should be accompanied by humility and yiras Shamayim, not bravado or nationalism. As the Steipler Gaon, Rav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky zt”l, once said:
“If guarding is done discreetly, with oversight and in line with Torah, it is a mitzvah. But don’t forget — protection is from Hashem. The gun is a kli, not the source.”【1】
But Does the State of Israel Support Charedi Security Needs?
And here lies a deep point of friction.
While the Charedi world has shown that it is willing to guard itself when necessary — especially during times of terror or war — the State often does not make it easy.
- Gun permits for self-defense are routinely delayed or denied to Charedim, even when they meet the criteria.
- Training programs are scarce, or embedded with secular cultural elements that Charedim find inappropriate.
- Funding and coordination for neighborhood patrols is inconsistent, and often withheld unless the group aligns with broader security or ideological frameworks.
In other words, the State demands security “participation” through its own ideological lens — namely, the IDF — and is often unwilling to support alternative, Torah-compatible structures of defense.
This leads to a painful paradox:
Charedim are willing to protect themselves — but the government doesn’t fully empower them to do so, unless they agree to spiritual compromise.
And yet, despite this, the Charedi community finds ways — because Jewish life is precious. With mesiras nefesh, they organize patrols, undergo limited training, and stand watch — all without compromising on their hashkafah.
Why Not Join the Army If You’re Willing to Carry a Gun?
A fair question — but one with a clear Torah answer.
The army is not just about carrying a gun. It's a total framework — ideological, cultural, and social. It involves long years of separation from the yeshiva. It places young Jews under secular commanders who may disregard or actively oppose Torah values. It demands silence in the face of immoral commands, and total obedience to flawed human systems.
Even if a Charedi cannot learn full-time, joining such a framework is often a greater spiritual danger than any material gain.
Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman zt”l once said:
“You don’t save someone drowning in physical poverty by throwing them into spiritual drowning.”
Local guard duty? Yes — when done properly. State-mandated ideological frameworks? No — not if they threaten the soul.
Final Thoughts: Torah First, Always
There is nothing irresponsible about the Charedi approach. Quite the opposite — it’s a responsible, Torah-rooted model of self-defense.
- Realistic when there’s danger.
- Proactive when there’s threat.
- And always careful never to let physical safety come at the cost of spiritual collapse.
“If Hashem does not guard the city — the watchman wakes in vain.” (Tehillim 127:1) But the watchman must still stand. With Torah. With emunah. And without compromise.
A Story: The Shoemaker Who Stood Watch
During the Second Intifada in the early 2000s, the city of Beitar Illit — a predominantly Charedi yishuv — was under near-nightly threat. Arab villages surrounded the city. There were infiltrations. People were scared. The IDF did its part, but it didn’t fully station inside the city, and residents felt exposed.
In response, local askanim created a mishmar ezrachi, a civilian patrol. Volunteers would stay up in rotating shifts, sometimes from midnight to 4:00 a.m., just walking the perimeter with flashlights, radios — and when authorized — legally registered firearms.
One of the regular volunteers was an elderly shoemaker — R’ Tzvi D., a Yid in his mid-60s who had lived through wars and pogroms in Europe.
Someone once asked him, “R’ Tzvi, why are you walking around with a radio at 3 a.m.? Aren’t there younger people for this?”
He smiled and replied:
“My Rebbe taught me: when you watch over Jews, Hashem watches over you. This is my seder now. Others learn Tosafos — I walk with Tehillim.”
Indeed, he carried a sefer Tehillim in his pocket and whispered it between patrol points.
He once stopped an infiltrator. He didn’t shoot. He didn’t panic. He simply stood there, pointed his light, and yelled in a voice louder than a siren, “Hashem hu haElokim! You’re not getting into this city tonight!”
The man fled.
When local papers wrote about it, they called him a “simple shoemaker.”
But in Heaven?
A guardian of Am Yisrael.
Sources & Footnotes
- Chullin 10a – “חמירא סכנתא מאיסורא”
- Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 529:6
- Mishnah Berurah ibid.
- Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, Chashukei Chemed on Berachos 8a
- Rav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (Steipler Gaon), cited in Pe’er Hador
- Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, from Ayelet HaShachar interviews (5771)
- Tehillim 127