I am a reservist in a combat medical extraction unit – Palmar – on the Gaza front. I have served hundreds of days of reserve duty over the past 21 months since the Israel-Hamas War started. And yet, there are tens of thousands of people in this country who do not serve. They don’t serve compulsory service, and they don’t serve in the reserves.
I am talking about the haredim, the ultra-orthodox Jews in this country. It’s no secret that there is a shortfall of about 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers every year just to fulfill the current demands of the IDF that are on the table today. Never mind what will be in the future.
This bothers me and many serving soldiers and their families. It is a frequent topic of discussion in my IDF unit. One issue everybody is united on as we sit around the proverbial bonfire and talk about things is that there is consensus about the issue of unequal burden of service. It is becoming increasingly divisive.
Haredi refusal to work or draft does not reflect Judaism
How do you explain the haredi claim that they do not work and do not draft to the IDF because they are too busy learning Torah? As a scholar of Jewish history, it does not reflect Judaism then or now. Abraham, Joshua, Deborah, and David were all fighters in the Biblical period. The Maccabees and Bar Kochba fought for our beliefs and land. Jews worked the land. The rabbis of the Talmud and post-Talmud period (Rashi, Rambam, etc.) all had professions.
How is it now in our modern Jewish state acceptable that an entire community claims that they do not need to work, serve, or share in the national service in the name of religion? All this is happening even as their brothers are going for the fourth or fifth time to reserve duty in Gaza, and they sit on the side and do nothing.
That is not my religion. It is not Judaism. Where is the empathy for their co-religionists? Genesis 4:10 states: “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out!”
The government is complicit
The same government that is finding loopholes to keep soldiers serving is also trying to fast-forward laws against any ultra-orthodox Jews serving any type of service, including civilian service (Sherut Leumi), purely for political expediency.
One of the most significant problems in this country is the uneven burden of service. It doesn’t just affect soldiers who are serving; it impacts the entire family unit. My commanding officer has a three-month-old baby at home, in addition to another child. His wife has basically been a single mom for almost two years now. He has barely been at work. It is affecting the entire society.
It appears that in today’s Israel, there are those who do and give and those who don’t and just take.
The writer is currently serving as an IDF combat medic on the Gaza front, on his seventh deployment since October 7. His latest book, Jewish Journeys: The First Temple Period (Koren/Maggid: 2025), is now available.