With moves afoot in the government to institute obligatory national service for
haredi yeshiva students, Rabbi Simcha Avraham Halevi, the rebbe of the Ashlag
hassidim, declared on Saturday night that in order to achieve an equal share in
the burden of national defense, all secular youth should have to undertake
religious studies.
“The Jewish people survived it’s entire cruel history not
through the might of arms, not through airplanes or tanks, not through the
deterrent effect of the IDF and not through the power of the State of Israel,
but through the merit of Torah study and the fulfillment of its commandments,”
proclaimed the rebbe during his weekly Torah lesson.
“Therefore, we are
obligated to bring about equality in the burden among our brothers of the
Children of Israel, so that all secular youth bear the yoke of preserving and
defending the inheritance of the Jewish people and fulfill his national duty
through Torah study and the fulfillment of the commandments.”
Speaking
about Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s decision to establish a working group
to implement the principles of the Plesner recommendations on achieving national
service for all citizens, the Rebbe of Ashlag said that “malicious programs” are
being plotted by the heads of government “to stick their paws” into the yeshiva
system “with their empty claims about equality and responsibility.”
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