In a remarkable and unprecedented development in the relationship between the Israeli government and the strict Orthodox Orthodox Movement, the spiritual leadership of Haridim, led by Rabbi Dove Lando, issued public directives to adhere to the instructions of the internal front, including the evacuation of shelters that turned into housing, and the suspension of educational activities when necessary.
This directive was published in the newspaper “Yatid Nayman”, the tongue of the case Haridim Lithuanian, in a prominent location, is usually dedicated to opposing the recruitment of students of religious institutes or defending the sanctity of Saturday, which reflects the volume of the transformation in the pure religious discourse.
In an article published by the Israeli newspaper “The Marker”, the Israeli writer, Nati Toukir, considered that this position cannot be considered merely an intuitive response to the security conditions, but rather represents a deep religious and social turning point. Al -Haraidim, who have long dealt with the state and its institutions as a secular and religious entity, are now recognized – even if implicitly – the authority of the state, and even justify their obedience from a religious standpoint.
Acknowledgment of “war men”
The transformation was not limited to adhering to the security instructions, but extended to the same theological discourse. Israeli occupation army. It is a term that religious leaders have always avoided using it, as she saw that the “army men” represent a secular institution that contradicts the urban ideological system that attributes divine protection to the study of the Torah exclusively.
But in the last statement of the council, a remarkable phrase “the power of the Torah also protects the men of war,” a new formula that introduces the soldiers within the narrative of divine protection, and links them to the fighters of biblical battles such as the battle of King Hezekiah against Sennacherib, King of Assyria, as stated in the Book of the Second Kings and Isaiah’s travel. In that narration, Ezekra did not win the power of arms, but by supplication, and the Lord responded by sending an angel who killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night, according to their texts.
This comparison, according to Tuker, gives a religious dimension to the modern state, and a convergence in its content, the thought of Rabbi Ibrahim Yitzhak Cook, one of the most prominent theorists Zionism Religious.
This theological transformation not only reflects a change in the discourse, but also in collective awareness, as the Haridi youth, which arose on the idea of complete separation from state institutions, began to realize that partial engagement in the Israeli reality has become a necessity, especially in light of the increasing security threats, such as the recent Iranian bombing.
Internal division
Tawker believes that this transformation did not come from a vacuum, but rather a direct result of the political and financial pressures practiced by the government, as the financing of religious institutes has been reduced, the custody allocations were stopped, restrictions on the travel of those who are backward from military service, and the delivery of actual recruitment orders for every young man of service age, and although these orders have not yet been implemented collectively, they created a general feeling among young people. Religious is no longer enough.
However, there is still a division within the Harid society, and a wide stream inside it still rejects this transformation, and continues the struggle for a “law of clowning” that ensures that they are exempt from recruitment. Some sects, such as the Hasidian sect, (one of the sects of the Aguds of Israel party, which with Dahal Hatura, is a Judaism of the unified Torah. KnessetIt refuses to adhere to the instructions of the internal front, and continue to organize marriage occasions in light of the bombing, despite the police intervention in some of them.
Some religious institutes also continue to teach as usual, despite the lack of sufficient shelters for students, and areas such as Bani Brak and Shamwil’s Blings witnessed protests against the decisions of the Supreme Court regarding compulsory recruitment, which indicates that the change is still partial, and that the division within the Harid street is still between the new realism and the traditional isolationist approach.
However, it is noteworthy that these protests were not accompanied by a direct escalation against the recruitment centers or the judiciary, which indicates an implicit acceptance of the new rules. It appears that the religious leadership, which has long tried to reconcile refusal to recruit and maintain government financing, has become aware that preserving privileges requires at least symbolic concessions.
At the end of his article, Tawker confirms that government sanctions have proven their effectiveness, and that rabbis do not change their positions in a vacuum, but rather in response to political and financial pressures, and although the transformation is still fragile and partly, it represents a strategic opportunity to reshape the relationship between the state and the Haridim, and to integrate them into the system of Israeli rights and duties, for the first time since the establishment of the state.