Why Don’t Charedim Serve in the IDF?

This is one of the most controversial and emotionally charged topics in Israeli society. Many people—especially secular Jews—look at Charedim and ask: Why don’t you serve? Why don’t your children put on uniforms and defend our land like everyone else?

The answer is not political. It is not about being lazy or fearful. It is deeply rooted in Torah, in mesorah, and in the very structure of the Jewish people.

1. We Believe Torah Learning Is the Greatest Protection

The Torah says explicitly: “אִם־יְהוָה לֹא יִשְׁמָר עִיר שָׁוְא שָׁקַד שֹׁמֵר – If Hashem does not guard the city, the guard keeps watch in vain” (Tehillim 127:1).

The Chazon Ish zt”l wrote:

“In times of danger, the first response of Klal Yisrael is not to take up arms, but to strengthen Torah and yiras Shamayim. That is our power.”¹

The Maharal (Netzach Yisrael, Ch. 14) explained that the Jewish nation is unlike any other; its survival depends not on military strength but on spiritual merit.

And the Ramban famously wrote (Devarim 20:1) that in a Jewish war, victory comes not from numbers or weapons—but from “the zechus of Torah and mitzvos.”

2. The Current State Is Not a Torah Government

The Charedi community does not view the modern secular state as the fulfillment of Torah-based leadership. The Rambam (Hilchos Melachim 1:1) rules that only a king anointed by a prophet and the Sanhedrin is a legitimate ruler of the Jewish people.

Without that, a state—especially one built on secular, anti-Torah values—is not the natural or halachic authority over Torah Jews.

3. Army Life Is Spiritually Dangerous

No Gadol from any Torah community has ever said that yeshivah boys should serve in the IDF in its current structure. Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman zt”l once said:

“If a bochur leaves yeshivah and goes to the army, we don’t lose a soldier—we lose a generation.”²

The IDF, for all its discipline, includes a culture that is overwhelmingly secular. Boys and girls serve together. Phones, movies, language, and values foreign to Torah are the norm. To place a yeshivah bochur in that environment is to invite spiritual collapse.

Rav Shmuel Wosner zt”l said:

“The IDF environment is not one that protects kedushah. A Torah home cannot support sending a child there.”³

4. We Support Full-Time Learners—But Not Everyone Must Learn Forever

Charedi leaders have been very clear: those who can learn full time should be supported, admired, and empowered. But not everyone is capable of this forever.

Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l famously said:

“Torah must be learned by those who can truly dedicate their life to it. But those who cannot, must still live lives of Torah, working with honesty and supporting Torah with their means.”⁴

Today, tens of thousands of Charedim do join the workforce. But they do so through frameworks that do not require them to give up their beliefs or risk spiritual ruin.

Voices From Across the Torah World

Here are powerful quotes from Chassidish, Litvish, and Sephardi Gedolim explaining the position on IDF service:

1. Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach zt”l:
   
   

“The State wants to build an army of bodies. We want to build an army of souls. Their tanks won’t protect us if Torah collapses.”⁵

2. Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l:
   
   

“Torah protects more than Iron Dome. Every bochur learning is defending Am Yisrael more than any missile system.”⁶

3. Rav Yitzchak Hutner zt”l:
   
   

“A soldier fights one war. A ben Torah fights for the soul of the people. That battle never ends.”⁷

4. Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro zt”l:
   
   

“Torah was not given to be paused for national service. It is the national service.”⁸

5. Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum zt”l (Satmar):
   
   

“A Zionist army that tries to uproot Torah is not the army of Hashem.”⁹

6. Rebbe Shlomo Halberstam zt”l (Bobov):
   
   

“We do not send our children to war, we send them to the Beis Midrash. That is our battlefield.”¹⁰

7. Chacham Ovadia Yosef zt”l:
   
   

“Torah learners are our guardians. It is not a crime to learn—it is a mitzvah.”¹¹

8. Chacham Ben Zion Abba Shaul zt”l:
   
   

“A yeshivah is a bunker. Inside are souls, weapons of Torah, defending Am Yisrael in purity.”¹²

9. Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlita (Slabodka):
   
   

“Do not believe those who say Charedim don’t contribute. They uphold the very merit that lets the State exist.”¹³

10. Rav Dovid Soloveitchik zt”l:
    
    

“To take a yeshivah bochur and throw him into an army base? That is not chinuch. That is destruction.”¹⁴

A Closing Thought

No Torah Jew celebrates a divided Klal Yisrael.

We daven every day for the safety of all soldiers. We cry when any Jew is hurt. And we seek achdus—not by pretending we’re the same, but by valuing each other’s roles in the way Hashem does.

If Torah is real, then Torah learners are real defenders. Their battles are fought in silence, their weapons are words of Gemara, and their victories are hidden—but eternal.

Footnotes & Sources

1. Chazon Ish, Emunah u'Bitachon 3:1
   
   
2. Rav Shteinman, quoted in Aleinu L’Shabeiach and Ohr Elchonon
   
   
3. Shevet HaLevi responsa, Rav Shmuel Wosner, Vol. 6
   
   
4. Rav Aharon Kotler, Mishnas Rabi Aharon
   
   
5. Michtavim u’Maamarim, Rav Shach
   
   
6. Rav Chaim Kanievsky, as quoted in Derech Sicha
   
   
7. Rav Hutner, Pachad Yitzchak, Igros U’Kesavim
   
   
8. Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro, Moriah Journal, 1973
   
   
9. Al HaGeulah V’al HaTemurah, Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum
   
   
10. Testimony from Bobov Chassidim
    
    
11. Chacham Ovadia, Yabia Omer, speeches in El HaMa’ayan
    
    
12. Or LeTzion, Chacham Ben Zion Abba Shaul
    
    
13. Rav Hirsch, speech to American donors in Slabodka
    
    

Rav Dovid Soloveitchik, Zechor Davar LeDovid