A few weeks ago, my brother passed away. It is an extremely difficult time, but I took some comfort in the Jewish laws and traditions of mourning. These, and all of our laws and traditions are what kept the Jewish people during a difficult Diaspora.
They were and are central to our religious and national life.
Unfortunately, now that we have returned to our indigenous and ancestral homeland, there are some who would like to rid us of some of our most important laws and traditions.
Ironically and unashamedly, it is those who cloak themselves in the garb of religiosity who appear most ready to ignore our central precepts.
This is no truer than in two issues central to our national debate and even our future in our land: whether the ultra-Orthodox should be enlisted into the IDF and whether they should continue receiving money and benefits for learning Torah.
Firstly, it should be remembered that all our greatest Biblical heroes were warriors.
Avraham, Moshe, David and Yehoshua, and many others, all knew that there was a time for battle, and they never flinched in going to war if necessary.
Fighting in battle is an honorable act in the bible
Between the Exodus from Egypt and the entry into the Land of Israel, the Torah itself details all the men of fighting age who can be relied on to defend the People of Israel against enemies.
Surviving in the wilderness and conquering our homeland were not a given; our ancestors had to literally fight and do battle to achieve these objectives.
It is these examples which ensured that the rabbis of the Mishnah provided the dictum that all must fight in Israel’s wars. While there are many exemptions listed in great detail, this is only for wars of expansion and not wars of obligation.
THE RAMBAM (Maimonides) codifies this in law in his unique and unprecedented compendium of laws, the Mishneh Torah.
In Hilchot Melachim (Laws of Kings 5:1-2), the Rambam explains that a defensive war is an obligatory one, stating that it is “a war to deliver Israel from the enemy attacking him.”
In fact, the Keren Orah (Tractate Sotah 44b) writes explicitly, “Everyone must participate in an obligatory war – even talmud scholars must interrupt their studies.”
Historically, the more religious among our people would be the greatest warriors, including those mentioned above. The great Bible commentator Rashi points out that during the wars against Amalek and Midian, it was those with the greatest piety who were chosen to lead in battle.
While some point to the exclusion of the priestly tribe in going to war, this rests on highly debatable ground, as many commentators like the Radak and the Lubavitcher Rebbe claim that even they fought in Israel’s wars.
The record demonstrates that they did indeed fight, and there are laws about what they can and can’t do in war and with bounty. Just one example of a biblical priestly figure who fought is the greatest warrior of King David and his son King Solomon: Benayahu ben Yehoyada, a member of the priestly tribe.
The Rambam was the first and sadly last codifier of all the laws from the Talmud, as subsequent codifications did not deal with issues of sovereignty, governance and warfare, because these concepts were foreign to Jews living in the Diaspora and even in the Land of Israel under foreign rule.
So, evasion from military service, even to learn Torah, has no precedent in our history or our writings and codified laws.
The fact that those who argue against enlistment claim to follow Jewish law, just makes their willful ignorance even more devastating.
REGARDING TAKING money or benefiting from learning Torah, our laws are just as relevant.In fact, we know that the rabbis of the Talmud, through antiquity and the Medieval period, would work.
They did not just work to live, but many were at the height of their profession or skill, whether medicine, statesmanship, warfare, astronomy, logic, grammar or philosophy.
They did not rely on charity or handouts, because they knew this to be forbidden.
The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) 4:5 and the Talmud in Tractate Nedarim 62a, state that one “may not use Torah as a spade with which to dig.” Berachot 8a establishes the hierarchy of working for a living: “And Rabbi Chiyya bar Ami said in the name of Ulla: One who benefits from his hard labor is greater than a God-fearing person.”
The strongest statement on this issue comes again from the Rambam, who worked long hours during the day and studied at night.
In his opening to the Mishneh Torah, the Rambam explicitly wrote: “Anyone who believes in his heart that one ought occupy oneself with Torah and not work, but support oneself with charity, behold, this one desecrates the Divine name, dishonors the Torah, extinguishes the light of faith, brings evil to oneself and forfeits life in the World to Come, because it is forbidden to benefit from the words of Torah in this world.”
This might seem quite radical considering what has happened during the last 76 years in the State of Israel, but it is unfortunately prescient.
The Rambam explained his thinking: “This is a desecration of God’s name for the masses, for they will think of the Torah as a profession like any of the professions, and he will thus render it “the despised word of God.”
This prediction is as true today as when the Rambam wrote it almost a millennia ago.
THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX, who profess a devotion to Judaism, while ignoring many of its central precepts, have ensured that many Israelis feel uncomfortable with this form of Judaism.
It is important that we all understand that Judaism is not represented properly by those who evade its laws and traditions. And it is not represented by those who feel no national solidarity to help in the national and military effort against enemies on seven fronts.
What the State of Israel currently faces is an existential war.
While many commentators focused on the issue of “baseless hatred” for the fall of the Second Temple and Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel in 70 AD, the Rambam claims that it was because our ancestors “did not study warfare.”
The beauty of Judaism is that it has something to say on all matters, both the personal, as in the mourning process, and the national, as in the laws of enlistment and the focus on how to run a functioning country with a healthy military and economy.
The Jewish people just suffered the greatest single loss of life in a day since the end of the Holocaust. We are fighting enemies who are counting down to our destruction, while racing to achieve the means to do so.
This is our greatest challenge, and we all need to contribute equally. This is not just a democratic and social challenge, but a national and existential one.
Thankfully, our beautiful Jewish tradition and sages who understood these issues provide us with the answers.
It is time we listened.
The writer is an MK from the Yisrael Beytenu Party and chairman of the Knesset Committee for Aliyah, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs.