5,000 Haredim Protest Army Service

5,000 haredim crowded the streets of Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood at 5:00 a.m. this morning to participate in a mass prayer rally against government plans to draft haredim into the army or compel them to do a period of national service. Haredim wore sackcloth, smeared ash on their heads, and recited penitential prayers known as shlichot – all signs of mourning and repentance.

5,000 Haredim Protest Army Service
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

5,000 haredim crowded the streets of Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood at 5:00 a.m. this morning to participate in a mass prayer rally against government plans to draft haredim into the army or compel them to do a period of national service. Haredim wore sackcloth, smeared ash on their heads, and recited penitential prayers known as shlichot – all signs of mourning and repentance.

The Tal Law, which provided a legal out for haredi men to dodge the draft, was ruled unconstitutional by the High Court of Justice earlier this year and expires July 31.

Although the demonstration was primarily a project of Edah Haredit, the Mea-Shearim-based anti-Zionist haredi umbrella group, leading non-Edah haredi rabbis endorsed the rally and some, including Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, attended.

Even a so-called moderate like the new haredi leader Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman opposes any change to the blanket exemptions from IDF and national service haredim currently receive.

Steinman argued yesterday that Torah study protects the Land of Israel, and any decrease in Torah study – even to serve in the army – is forbidden.

Eda Haredit Chief Rabbi Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss spoke at the rally and condemned the government.

"We will not allow yeshiva students to be taken to the army or police and will not be fazed by their seductions.…[which are meant to] destroy the Torah world."

Immediately after the protest two female journalists were stoned by haredim, Ynet reported. No arrests were made because police had already left the area.

A commission appointed by the government to find a replacement for Tal Law is expected to announce its findings soon.

Comments

[Yochanan Lavie]

If only they could put all that energy into fighting our common enemies.

[Jon Blum]

The best solution is to cut-off ALL funding to Charedim, both Litvish and Chasidishe,

That means no funds to Yeshivas, Kollels, and individuals.

If they want to leave Eretz Yisrael for Lakewood or Switzerland, so be it.

Baruch HaShem, we have many Torah-learning National Religious and CHARDAL talmidim and talmidot who will stay.

[seymour]

the self importance is amazing. In addition history has proven, that Torah learning protects nothing, might did

in addition they are full of it.

are they saying that every frum bocher is learning and none of them can do even a little for the country they live in. why in the past did people find time to learn and still work and so on.

They have distorted the whole religion to new low

[Barry]

Here is the haredi power. The seculars are like an army without leaders. Imagine an army where the highest rank among them are privates. They could never get together on a moment's notice with this sort of numbers. Without leadership there is very little power.

[seymour]

I do not understand why are they protesting, they could be learning Torah.

and if learning Torah cannot protect them from being drafted how could learning Torah protect the country from missiles.

[P. Almonius]

They should try holding their Shabbat demonstrations at 5AM, too.

[phillip]

Put them on a plane to Iran and be done with
these parasites

[Rocky]

Jon Blum: Why do you think any other country would want these parasites? But educated secular Israeli Jews should think about opportunities abroad. Let the Haredi live with the Palestinians and see how they like that.

[5th Avenue]

What does Seymour know about Jewish history? Nothing obviously

And talk about channeling energy. It's in Shmarya's genes and he hates the Jewish people more than his ancestor loved to murder & pilfer

[seymour]

Posted by: 5th Avenue | June 25, 2012 at 08:06 AM

I know plenty that is why i can make that statement. History has shown as recently as WWII
that Torah study did not protect you any better than any other Jews.
And if you read the Torah and tanach it seems they always talk about the army the generals when they went into battle and won the war.

Interestingly it never mention we won because some fat ass sat at learned Torah. If that is the main reason we won all those battle one would think that somewhere the Torah would mention it

[Alter Kocker]

The simplest change to the Tal law: Refusal of service in the IDF carries with it a penalty of refusal of further civil privileges such as removal from the welfare rolls and consequential removal of that individual's share of support for his yeshiva or kollel. In that manner, the pressure is slowly applied until there are no more publicly funded yeshivas and kollels and the Haredim are faced with either committing to public service or moving elsewhere.

[jancsibacsi]

5th Avenue-Youre a mindless moron ,who cant think straight, saying the things that are obviously rediculous and stupid.

[jancsibacsi]

5th Avenue-DI KENST OISVISHEN DAYNEM TOHES MIT DAYN TOIREH

[David]

How dare they!

[5th Avenue]

Jancibitchy aka Bilaam

Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov mishkenosecha Yisroel

[5th Avenue]

Seymour, have you ever heard of "Andralemusya"? Thanks to sins of the
non religious the religious also suffer sometimes

Communism and other isms crept into Jewish communities in Europe that even in Slabodka yeshiva a bochur forced everyone at gunpoint to listen to a pep talk on Communist "Utopia"

[Reb Chaim]

You're darn tootin right - the haredim don't want to serve in tzahal. Why should they give up their nice comfortable benches in the bet midrash in exchange for those miserable tents and foxholes that the army provides? Why should they want to serve their country when they vehemently disapprove of its government and institutions? Except of course for all those wonderful allowances and stipends that the government supplies that make their lives so much more enjoyable.

[jancsibacsi]

5th Avenue-first get youre own house in order with all the molestations going on with the rebbes molesting their own this is infinitly more important then any toireh learning all the learning is meaningless without backing it up with work or defending the land in which you live.

[Skepticalyid]

Posted by: 5th Avenue | June 25, 2012 at 08:33 AM

A far higher percentage of the "religious" Jews in Eastern Europe died compared to the secular Jews of France, Denmark or Holland. Maybe the real lesson is that you all had it wrong.

[5th Avenue]

Corrupt Rebbes are not any better than Shmarya. Tell us something we don't know.

[Rocky]

5th Avenue: You are are a fool. Torah study did not help my father's Polish relatives. Their Yad Vashem certificates filled out by the 2 surviving relatives that made it to Palestine/Israel noted that they all perished in 1942, which is consistent with Martin Gilbert's research.

In the case of one of his cousins, there were no certificates for his young children, but I learned of their existence and their early deaths from the memoirs of one of the cousin's friends who was able to sneak out of the ghetto before its liquidation and find refuge with a Catholic farm family, who risked death for helping a Jew.

5th Avenue: You need to read more history and less Torah.

[jancsibacsi]

5th Avenue-Youre immature childish hate against shmarya says everything about who you are,an immature tantem thrower infantile.

[Yochanan Lavie]

5th Ave: You are just bringing the same tired arguments that other trolls have mentioned. You bring nothing new to the table. And who gives a fuck about Shmarya's grandpappy- that's the lamest argument of all.

[David]

Why was the protest at 5am and was it before or after they went to the mikvah?

[Adam Neira]

See my comments on this issue here at FM re. Minister Eli Yishai.

[5th Avenue]

It says a lot about someone whose grandpappy is a murderer & extortionist if the grandson is using those genes to engage in other unproductive, destructive endeavors

Has the grandson paid back the debt he was sued over btw before he criticizes everyone else's financial improprieties?

All of his followers pretend to be evenhanded while maintaining a double standard against orthodox Jews

What's the most tiring is the constant throwing out of "troll" whenever someone protests the dishonesty

[Yochanan Lavie]

You have no understanding of genetics.

Furthermore, there is nothing unproductive or destructive about exposing chareidi corruption, which costs taxpayers in Israel and USA millions of dollars and causes a chillul Hashem.

And you ARE a fucking troll because you bring the same tired arguments that we've all heard before. Meanwhile, you try to deflect attention from chareidi misbehavior by attacking the messenger. As if that hasn't been done before many times by other trolls who are brighter than you.

[5th Avenue]

So you have an advanced degree in genetics do you?

Shmarya uses many dishonest tactics despite whatever good he might do and your foul mouthed shouting as his sycophant does nothing to change that

Now answer the question, is Shmarya still a deadbeat or has he made good on his debts?

[ah-pee-chorus]

5th Avenue aka archie bunker-

your inability to counter facts reason and logic with anything other than ad hominems is evident no matter which alias you troll under.

[Yochanan Lavie]

1. I know that his grandfather contributed only 1/4 of his genes, and that behavior is a complicated interaction of nature and nurture. You don't "use your grandfather's genes" to persecute people.

2. I know nothing of Shmarya's finances, nor do I care. You are using two classical logical fallacies: the ad hominem attack and the tu quoque argument. Possible a third as well, the "poisoned well." Oh, and maybe a fourth, the red herring tactic.

3. I may be a foul mouthed sycophant, but you're still a stupid troll. You are rehashing the same arguments, with the same lack of logic, they we've all heard countless times before. There is absolutely nothing you've said that hasn't been said already on this blog. You are not only stupid, you are boring.

[mojo]

to rocky: 5th avenue is an a - hole and gets pleasure from any reply even if its insulting. he should just mumble and be ignored by all who have the ability to think for themselves.

[Mike]

Reminds me of the megillah- how the Jews wore sackcloth and ashes to repent to prevent the destruction of the Jewish people. Now, in today's day and age, they are repenting to prevent the protection of the Jewish people.

I've said it a million times already; this is NOT what Judaism is about and it never has been. This unbelievable distortion of what Torah Judaism has become is absolutely pathetic. Oh and Yochanan, nice use of the word "sycophant." :-)

[ah-pee-chorus]

torah learning is completely ineffective as a means of defense. if it were protective of the nation it surely would protect yeshivas and their buchrim. and yet there was the hebron massacre which included the yeshiva. recently we saw the killings at mercaz harav.

on a macro level israels greatest and clearest victories of 1948 and '67 took place when there were less than one thousand full-time kollel guys. there are now more than 50,000 and israel struggled in lebanon and gaza and faces a nuclear iran. its time for this dangerous lie to be laid to rest.

[5th Avenue]

Yeah, the cost to taxpayers. How much of Minnesota's GDP was lost thanks to the thieving & tax evasion of grandpappy Leon, the head of the local mob? How much of that dirty money was inherited that finances the run down room where Shmarya rests his tuchess in front of the computer?

[Alexander]

The simplest change to the Tal law: Refusal of service in the IDF carries with it a penalty of refusal of further civil privileges such as removal from the welfare rolls and consequential removal of that individual's share of support for his yeshiva or kollel. In that manner, the pressure is slowly applied until there are no more publicly funded yeshivas and kollels and the Haredim are faced with either committing to public service or moving elsewhere.

Posted by: Alter Kocker | June 25, 2012 at 08:19 AM

Lets keep the same way , working Chareidim and residents should be exempt of taxes, and arnonas, give back institutions and hospital build by chareidim, send back chareidim related companies in israel, and suddenly you will a collapsed state of israel, stop the charities going to israel and you will see the collapse of the country.

[Barry]

The simplest change to the Tal law: Refusal of service in the IDF carries with it a penalty of refusal of further civil privileges such as removal from the welfare rolls and consequential removal of that individual's share of support for his yeshiva or kollel. In that manner, the pressure is slowly applied until there are no more publicly funded yeshivas and kollels and the Haredim are faced with either committing to public service or moving elsewhere.

Posted by: Alter Kocker | June 25, 2012 at 08:19 AM

Tricky because there is usually a wife and a gaggle full of children. Can't take food and shelter away from them. There must be a way to punish him without devastating the family. So it looks like it boils down to forcing him to serve or jailing him - you simply cannot punish the children.

[A. Nuran]

Let's see if regurgitating toyreh works. The next time there's a terrorist attack shove a whole kollel full of "learners" in front of the guns. If their baraka is really that strong the bullets will just bounce off.

[A. Nuran]

I agree, Barry. But that just turns little children into human shields and forces Israel to negotiate with terrorists

[PrettyBoyFloyd]

To 5th ave, however much I dislike Shmarya for his blanket hatred toward anything "Haredi", the 'arguments' you present are foolish and off topic.

[Alexander]

Yeah, the cost to taxpayers. How much of Minnesota's GDP was lost thanks to the thieving & tax evasion of grandpappy Leon, the head of the local mob? How much of that dirty money was inherited that finances the run down room where Shmarya rests his tuchess in front of the computer?

Posted by: 5th Avenue | June 25, 2012 at 11:42 AM

How do ya know where Shmarya is seating? The 5th Ave could a potz living off uncle sam or a wealthhy, with greater possibilities a welfare recipient.

We need a new system, dont learn all day go and serve, but enough of being a parasite. Eem ain kemach ain torah.

[danny]

sackloth and ashes? sounds pretty goyish.

& stoning women? sounds pretty ZER0-th Century.

[just saying]

HAS ANYONE QUESTIONED SOME OF THE PICS FROM THIS EVENT...
I thought they distributed 1500 burlap sacks?
But if there were 5000 people there there should be a lot more burlap, in some pictures on other sites its just a sea of black!

[yipicai]

5th Avenue -VER GEHARGET DI SHAYGATZ.

[zionist goy]

sackcloth and ashes? sounds pretty goyish? Could you condescend and give this goy guy a reference? I'm committed to lifelong learning.

[Litvish]

Torah learning will get you absolutely no where when it comes to those who wish to destroy us.

Did these amei haaretzim learn anything from WWII?

Obviously not.

Hopefully, they can pray, schrei and recite thillim all they want.

In the end, they will end up as they began; stupid, pathetic excuses for human beings, running through the streets in the 18th century Polish clothing, lost in the 21st century, hating the world and the only nation that protects them.

Hashem hates them and their treyfe ways.

That is why he would never lift a finger to help these scum.

[haredi should work in the army kitchen .]

send them to the army kitchen to cut potatoes and cook for the soldiers , and
do the dishwashing and the cleaning .

bathroom cleaning , too .

make them work like slaves .

[Abracadabra]

Unless they are disabled, they need to work. If they can't find a job, the gov't will find them a job. If they refuse to work, or get fired too many times (presumably on purpose) then they get arrested and are sent to special prisons with "Chain Gangs". They can build and repair roads, build army housing, and other chain-gang manual labor that needs to be done around the country. The money they earn at these minimum wage chain-gang jobs will get sent to their children and wives after taxes are withheld.

It's a win-win situation because right now the government is paying their way and not getting any work out of them. Housing and feeding them in prisons will not cost any more.

The solution for the next generation would be that Chareidi (or any schools) will not be funded by ANY government money without standard government tests being passed by the Chareidi students, tests which are administered by Non-Chareidi teachers.

Schools in which a certain minimum percentage of Chareidi students do not pass the government tests will not only not receive money from the govt to run the school, but will be shut down by the government and the school's assets seized if they fail to voluntarily shut down after a govt order to do so.

And if the Chareidim do not like it in Israel with having to get educated enough to function in society and having to work for a living, they are free to Opt Out and get fully paid one way tickets for themselves and their children to any country that will accept them as immigrants. No one is enslaving them in those "terrible situations," they are free to leave Israel at their will if they don't like it.

I guarantee you that no country in the world other than the USA would accept these parasites. Of course they can always go to Mexico, and then cross the border to Arizona, and settle in the USA that way. I hear they are real nice to illegal immigrants in Arizona as of a few hours ago.

Secular Israelis need to have themselves an "Israeli Spring" and take control of the country if they want to survive "the Chareidi agenda."

[vids]

VIDEOS: Protest Against IDF Draft: http://youtu.be/iJE_XWzJzKM http://youtu.be/sjMqyRmr4YU http://youtu.be/N2W1U5KwD60 http://youtu.be/Ff5MvusyYFk

[Sheketz Aroiss]

Litvish, it says Hashem hates abomination. As someone often says: process that.

[Brian]

There's an easy way to sort this out once and for all.

Round up the 5,000 protesters, put them in the middle of the west bank, remove all the security provided to them by the tzahal (including personel, military vehicles, border fences, etc) and see how they survive against the arabs.

[JK2]

The Arabs might treat them better than they, themselves, treat other Jews.

[Bob Guthrie]

"5,000 haredim crowded the streets of Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood at 5:00 a.m. this morning to participate in a mass prayer rally against government plans to draft haredim into the army or compel them to do a period of national service."

Immediately after the protest two female journalists were stoned by haredim.

Or in extremist hared parlance, a Shabbat Dinner with dessert afterwards.