The Conscription Law: Shas has established a committee to discuss the status of yeshiva students • Who are the members?

May 15, 2024   

Attempts to formulate a conscription law: In a letter published on the cover of the newspaper 'Haderech' - the Shas newspaper - the Council of Torah Scholars announces the establishment of a committee headed by a member of the Council of Torah Scholars, the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Bezalel, Rosh Yeshiva of Porat Yosef. The committee, which includes yeshiva heads and rabbis, will deal with the issue of the status of yeshiva students and the conscription law, and will decide on the status of yeshiva students vis-à-vis the IDF - in preparation for the upcoming decision. The members of the committee are: Rabbi Shlomo Yedidiya Zafarani, Gab"d of Amlei Torah; Rabbi Shalom Bitan, Rosh Yeshiva Da'at Chaim; Rabbi Yaakov Sharbani, one of the Rosh Yeshiva Maor HaTorah, and Rabbi Hanoch Cohen, Rosh Yeshiva Be'er Talmud. The letter begins by stating: "As is well known to all, in recent times attempts have been increasing to hinder the steps of the precious and highly valued sons of Torah, and to harm, God forbid, the world of Torah, which is the foundation for the existence and preservation of the Jewish people, whose nation is not a nation except through its Torah." In their letter, the members of the council emphasize: "The issue of preserving the world of Torah and the status of yeshiva students is not new, and for many years our rabbis and rabbis, the sages and great men of Israel, ztuk"l, led by Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef ztuk"l and Maran Rosh Yeshiva Chacham Shalom Cohen ztuk"l, have outlined the path to follow and the principles for how to proceed in this matter, and according to these attempts, "The ones who are renewed in every generation." In the letter, the members of the 'Council' clarify that the members of the committee "will discuss all the details with seriousness and discretion under the guidance of the faithful representatives who stand guard with all might, headed by the chairman of the movement, Rabbi Aryeh Deri, and by his side Rabbi Ariel Atias, who was appointed by the Marnan ztzu"l for this matter. And may God's will be fulfilled in their hands, to increase Torah and glorify it." The members of the 'council' then called on the yeshiva students and kollel elders "with a call of affection, that they should not engage in subjects other than study, and certainly not in this subject, and that they should devote their heads and most of them solely to studying Torah and work, not sitting day or night. And this right will stand us in good stead for salvation in the eternal salvation of the B.A." A few days ago, the head of the Porat Yosef yeshiva, the Gaon Rabbi Moshe Tzedakah, sent a letter to Shas chairman Aryeh Deri in which he called on him not to compromise on the provisions of the conscription law. According to him, "Even young men who do not engage in Torah all day, who are a little weak in Torah, we are forbidden, God forbid, to take them into the army. Because they both pray and study, and there, in that place, if they go to the army, there are many temptations that they will not be able to withstand." Will the committee's decisions curb the opposition of Shas rabbis and yeshiva heads to the looming conscription law? That is at least the goal of establishing the committee.