Rabbi Tuvia Novick, the mashgiach ruchani (dean of students) of the haredi yeshiva in Hadera, told his students that tying ritual fringes for IDF soldiers is wrong because it is “the work of Satan.”
Tying Tzitzit For IDF Soldiers “Work Of The Devil,” Haredi Rabbi Says
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Students of the haredi Mirrer Yeshiva in Jerusalem have been tying tztzit (ritual fringes) on the corners of drab olive green arba kanfot (small four-cornered garments worn by Orthodox Jewish males) so IDF soldiers fighting in Gaza can have combat-ready tzitzit to wear.
Like much else haredim have done during the war, this is in part a PR stunt and in part a genuine attempt to help IDF soldiers (in this case, Orthodox ones).
But Rabbi Tuvia Novick, the mashgiach ruchani (dean of students) of the haredi yeshiva in Hadera, told his students that what the Mirrer Yeshiva students was doing was wrong. Not only that, he said it was “the work of Satan,” the haredi news website Behadrei Haredim reported.
Novick also claimed that the evil IDF would even start a new war just to get haredi yeshiva students to make more olive green arba kanfot for the troops.
Why would the IDF do this?
Because, Novick says, the IDF knows that the haredi yeshiva students will get used to looking at the drab olive green color that matches soldiers' uniforms, and this will stop them from being alienated from the IDF and from army service, and will cause some to enlist and many to stop dodging the draft.