Rav Chaim Kanievsky: It's a Torah commandment to make aliya now
This is for all of you who sit abroad and say that you don't have to move to Israel because we are not commanded to do so today.
Rav Chaim Kanievsky, possibly the pre-eminent Lithuanian scholar of this generation, says that it's a Torah obligation to make aliya (immigrate to Israel) today.
Let's go to the videotape.
I didn't hear him say anything about parnassa (making a living) either.
I suppose this was inevitable. A report indicates that the Shaked Committee, which is dealing with the new law to draft Haredim, has agreed to impose criminal sanctions on Haredim who don't go to the army. But only after six months....
According to the new compromise, the sanctions against draft-dodgers
will be criminal, not economic - but only for a six-month period after
the Equal Burden of Service bill becomes law.
If the hareidi community does not meet the draft quota during a
shorter transition period after the law is enacted, the six-month
waiting period will take effect; the waiting period will, in turn, give
lawmakers time to gauge the effectiveness of the law and whether or not
there are other ways to solve the draft problem.
According to the framework reached within the Quartet of the Shaked
Committee - which consists of Chairman Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home), MK
Ofir Shelah (Yesh Atid), MK Elazar Stern (HaTnua), and MK Amar Bar-Lev
(Labor) - the compromise is meant to bridge the gap between Yesh Atid,
which has been demanding criminal sanctions, and Jewish Home, which has been pushing for economic sanctions.
The compromise, as drafted by Bar-Lev,
sees both needs being met. On the one hand, the hareidi community has
been given a shorter interim period to respond to the draft notice; on
the other hand, the waiting period allows for the implementation of
economic sanctions to return to the committee agenda.
According to a "senior source," several members of the committee are
still pushing for economic sanctions to be enacted, as a preliminary
measure before the criminal sanctions take effect; however, the
likelihood of the proposal being accepted is minimal.
And for those of you who think that the Haredim will run to join the IDF once this bill is passed... that seems unlikely.
Tuesday's announcement surfaces amid concerns that the prospect of
criminal sanctions have already alienated the hareidi community even
more from the idea of a draft, after the Shas party quit the Shaked Committee over the move. Hareidi
leaders have expressed strong opposition to criminal sanctions for
yeshiva students, and some pro-enlistment leaders have warned that
strong sanctions could create a backlash that would mean fewer hareidi men in the army, not more.
For what it's worth, there is a split with the Haredi community over how to respond to this issue. All of those who have been arrested for being AWOL have been followers of Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, who have been told not to appear at IDF headquarters at all in response to induction notices. Meanwhile the followers of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Steinman have been told to appear but not to sign at the final stage.
Last week's demonstration was organized by the followers of Rabbi Auerbach through their daily newspaper, HaPeles. Last night, someone showed me a letter signed by Rabbi Steinman and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, condemning HaPeles, and urging that it not be read. Where the split will lead if criminal sanctions come into effect is still up in the air. But there is apparently some division among the rabbis about how provocative the Haredim should be, and for now, at least, the authorities are only responding to those they deem most provocative.
Two prominent Haredi rabbis told their followers on Thursday that there is no need for gas masks. Rav Chaim Kanievsky urged followers to fear only the day of judgment on Rosh HaShanna (which is next week), and Rav Aaron Yehuda Leib Steinman urged followers to strengthen themselves in Torah study (link in Hebrew). I have translated part of the article below.
In the last 24 hours, Rav Steinman was asked how to act, and whether this time was different from previous times when Israelis tried to obtain gas masks (at which times Rav Steinman also said they were unnecessary). Rav Steinman calmed those who asked, and said that in this period, we must strengthen ourselves with Torah study and fear of Heaven, and to seek merits for the oncoming day of judgment (Rosh HaShanna).
The Torah protects the people of Israel, Rav Steinman said. There is no need for masks.
A group of married students at the Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem sent a question to Rav Chaim Kanievsky asking how they must prepare for the expected war, and whether they should go to the distribution points to obtain masks.
In response to their question, Rav Kanievsky laughed and said that masks are for Purim (the holiday on which people get dressed up in costume). Rav Kanievsky urged his questioners to continue to be absorbed in their Torah study without any suspicion or fear regarding what may follow.
Last night, additional people came to Rav Kanievsky's Bnei Brak home to ask if there is anything to fear. He said that we must only fear Rosh HaShanna and to worry about our merits in God's judgment.
If you're so worried about Israelis being able to learn Torah, why not come to Israel and learn Torah?
From what I could tell from this heavily biased piece from JTA and the Jerusalem Post, Sunday's demonstration in New York against drafting Haredim was largely the doing of the anti-Zionist Satmar Hasidim.
Sunday’s gathering was promoted with banners in strongholds of the Satmar hasidic community. According to a Forward report
last week, the protest was deemed so important it brought about a rare
rapprochement between the group’s two warring factions, which split
after the 2006 death of the Satmar rebbe, Moshe Teitelbaum. Organizers
said they expected 20,000 people. One guy with a placard told me there
were 100,000 there, which was certainly not the case. But they came by
the busload. Hours after the event began, groups of hasidic men in
Brooklyn were still streaming toward Manhattan.
A report in one of the freebie Haredi handouts we get on our doorstep said this morning that there were 100,000 people there. However many people were there, it's less than could have been: The Litvaks (non-Hasidim) stayed away because Rav Aryeh Yehuda Leib Steinman and Rav Chaim Kanievsky - both in Israel - said not to go. Their word was backed up by Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky and Rav Malkiel Kotler in the US. Better they should learn Torah and pray for the decree to be reversed.
But this is kind of rich:
The immediate issue which brought thousands to Foley Square Sunday is
the attempt to conscript haredi Orthodox Israelis into the army. A
parliamentary committee advanced a bill last month that would do just
that. But the banner under which the protestors gathered in Foley Square
on Sunday surprised me a little, as it’s one that has been largely the
domain of religious liberals: freedom of religion.
As one sign
carrier told me today, his religion requires him to sit and study Torah.
Any attempt to draft those like him into the military would be a
violation of his religious rights.
I don't think that anyone is trying to draft Satmar Hasidim in New York. Moreover, most of the Satmar Hasidim that I know in New York work for a living. Does the sign carrier sit and learn Torah all day long? I don't know. But if the sign carrier wants to come to Israel and sit and learn Torah all day long, we would be happy to have him.
In the meantime, I don't see the decree being reversed. On the other hand, I don't see it really being enforced either.
In the meantime, I have to go learn some Torah....
I received this by email (Hat Tip: Leah P). I realize it's probably too late for many of my readers, but next month....
Dear Fellow Jewish Woman,
I am requesting your help in an urgent project for Klal Yisrael.
You may have heard of a group calling themselves the "Women of the Wall," led by someone representing the American Reform movement. Their members go down to the Kotel HaMa'aravi on Rosh Chodesh wearing Tallis and Tefillin, read loudly from a Sefer Torah, and otherwise "go through the motions" of men's davening in order to make their feminist point. Through their confrontations with others at the Kotel and with police, and the group's enlistment of media'" the Women of the Wall have fostered strife and created a tremendous Chilul HaShem, especially in the United States, where they have successfully cast their political theater as a "women's rights" issue. Most recently, their leader, Anat Hoffman, called for the mechiza to removed daily from the Kotel at 9 AM and that the Kotel be redsignated from a religious site to a National Monument. Clearly, the sanctity of the Kotel is at risk.
HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, the Gerrer Rebbe and the Belzer Rebbe have all said that the groups efforts must be opposed. R' Chaim and Rav Berkovitch in particular have already given his blessing to our approach specifically.
You are exemplars of what a true Bas Yisrael is supposed to be- a very different image from that of the women seeking to change the character of the Kotel. Sivan is the month when we got the Torah and were mekabel ol malchus shamayim as a nation- K'ish Echad Bilev Echad- all in unity.
This Rosh Chodesh, Rosh Chodesh Sivan, we are assembling a large group of frum women to go to the Kotel and daven together, limaan am Yisrael, limaan Kdushas am Yisrael, Limaan the Torah, and Limaan Achdus Am Yisrael. We will simply be at the Kotel, being mispallel and reciting Tehillim - before the "Women of the Wall" show up with their media circus at 7:00 AM. The Women of the Wall have no more than 100 members in all, and we know that many, many more women who go to the Kotel strongly object to what they are doing.
Those who join us to daven to Hashem will NOT be requested or encouraged to interrupt their davening, confront the other women, or address the media. On the contrary, that would all be counterproductive. Simply by being present and standing apart, we will be sending the silent but powerful message that the attack the Women of the Wall have launched is not at all about "women's rights" but rather about trying to change traditional Jewish practice.
We urge you to please come join us on Erev Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh Sivan, May 10, at 6:30 AM. Please let us know if count upon you to encourage their participation.
If you want any further information about our group, our intentions, and the wide Rabbinic support that we already have "behind the scenes," don't hesitate to contact me directly. 050-710-1791 or 02-997-2261
MK (Yahadut Hatorah) Yaakov Litzman stated “He is violating the
traditional and legal status of the bnei yeshivos who have declared
Torah study as their profession”. Litzman added that despite efforts to
set quotas and limit the number of talmidim who may continue learning,
“The Torah world of the yeshivos will continue flourishing
quantitatively and qualitatively and there is no power that will succeed
to harm those who are committed to a life of Torah.”
MK (Yahadut Hatorah) Meir Porush added “Anyone with a hand or a role
in the new arrangement that intends to harm bnei yeshivos and the
current arrangement, the arrangement that existed to date will be
remembered for eternal disgrace.”
“The eternal Jewish People have stood firm throughout history in the
face of many trials and tribulations. There is no doubt that we will
succeed in the face of these gezeiros as well,” he concluded.
Shas MK Nissim Ze’ev called Bennett’s plan “utter nonsense”,
confident it will not be implemented as Bennett plans. Ze’ev feels it is
impossible to limit of number of lomdei Torah to 1,800 annually,
questioning how such a regulation will be enforced. “There is no way the
Torah world and roshei yeshiva will agree to permit implementation of
the program. The idea of a quota system is undemocratic and reminiscent
of regimes of the past. There is a historical relevance to these
decisions.”
Indeed, the problems with this system are entirely foreseeable. Which yeshivas will have the right to designate how many of their students? What criteria will be used? Based on past experience in this country, it is likely that many of the slots will go to students in non-Haredi yeshivas, that the slots will be handed out based on protectzia (connections), and possibly that the Haredi yeshivas will all be told by someone on the level of R. Aaron Leib Steinman or R. Chaimn Kanievsky not to participate.
But what's worst of all is that this system is not the answer to the country's problems except for those who seek to destroy the yeshivas. Reader Aryeh Z, whose sent me the link to this article, had some very pertinent comments about it, which I am reproducing below.
Twenty-five or is it already thirty years after the IDF professionals requested that the draft be ended and that it be made into a professional army, we still have the draft. Let it be clear, there is no military need for a draft. The draft exists as a means of political and social control. It wastes Billions of Shekels and tens of thousands of people every year.
There is constant bantering about how the Hareidi community needs to change due to changing circumstances. Nothing is said about the need for the Secular elites changing due to changing circumstances. And that is the real problem. Israel’s elites have yet to abandon their dream of creating a Communist utopia in Israel. A utopia populated with a docile and obedient proletariat that will work their fields and factories. For the most part, they do not have any theological or philosophical problems with Torah. It is just that it gets in the way of their plans. That is why they are willing to throw a bone or two to the Torah community in the hope it will help keep them docile.
So let us focus on the real issues. It is not the draft, it is not the Hareidim, it is not the economy, it is tyranny. It is on the desire of the few thousand “aristocrats” desperate to maintain their privileges and high standard of living. This is not all that different from what is happening in Syria, Egypt, Iran and North Korea. We are fortunate that, so far, our “aristocrats” have not resorted to mass murder to retain power.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
