It was a period of euphoria. About a month after October 7, reports of Haredim seeking to enlist in the army increased. Haredi recruiters were flooded with applications. The atmosphere was that something was moving, the army decided to establish two additional companies in the Haredi stream, and even Aryeh Deri's son, Yanki, enlisted in a well-publicized manner.
Lapid was in a hurry. The commentators were carried away. Euphoria.
Yehuda Schlesinger, the political correspondent for Israel Hayom, tells in a special commentary column what happened when they tried to take it one step further:
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Rabbi Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, head of the 'Ateret Shlomo' institutions, a very well-known figure in the heart of the Haredi mainstream, who caused a stir this week when he danced at his son's wedding to the song "We Do Not Believe in the Rule of the Infidels," was invited to a media-free discussion at the INSS Institute, with the participation of Prof. Manuel Trachtenberg and retired senior officers such as Tamir Heyman and Meir Elran from the Military Intelligence Service.
The idea was to understand how to continue to give a boost to the Haredi draft. Rabbi Sorotsky is a very likable person, easy to connect with, charismatic and welcoming, those present thought he would even try to please them thanks to the joint discussion. But something went wrong, the discussion took a different direction, Rabbi Sorotsky not only did not participate in the euphoria - on the contrary, he was sharp, clear and categorically against draft into the army.
The rabbi felt that those present were trying to educate him, to "beat" him with morals, and he lashed out in front of the reserve officers from the Military Intelligence Department: "You, who were wrong about everything, are you going to give me morals?! If I were you, I wouldn't stick my nose out of the house. Just as you didn't understand the Arabs, you don't understand the Haredim.".
When Prof. Trachtenberg began speaking, Sorotzkin asked who the man was - and those present were surprised: "You don't know him?" A well-known professor, a former member of Knesset.
Sorotzkin replied to them: "Do you know who Rabbi Akiva Eiger is? Who is Rabbi Gershon Edelstein? You have no idea. We speak different languages.".
Schlesinger writes in the commentary column: The storm this week, when they sang at the wedding of Rabbi Sorotzkin's son, "We do not believe in the rule of the infidels and we do not stand in their chambers," surprised many because of two common mistakes, which stem from speaking "different languages," as Sorotzkin said:
• ""The Haredi mainstream"" - The fact that they are not Satmar extremists does not make them an integral part of Israeli society. The separation is required in order to preserve the way of life. The 'mainstream Haredi' is also against the recruitment of its members into the IDF. Those who did enlist are considered to have failed the yeshiva, a second-class citizen.
Rabbi Sorotzkin did not express a new position. It was just a poem that was difficult to digest. The 'transparent', a way of life concept as it is called in classical Haredi parlance, was just sharpened a little more.
The use of the extremist song is intended to strengthen and fortify that 'transparent'. "You don't understand us," they say in the yeshiva, "the song is intended to strengthen the pride of the unit, to stand as a wall against what the yeshiva students are going through and will continue to go through. They are about to go through difficult trials - desertions, a ban on leaving the country, warrants, imprisonment. You are pointing a gun at the yeshiva students. Take the money. An ultra-Orthodox person who studies 12 hours a day is sacrificing himself, luxury, pleasure and money are not of interest to us.".
• ""Closing the budgets will change the picture"" - Yes, but. 26 million shekels for a yeshiva is nothing. Peanuts. The budget of Rabbi Sorotzkin's institutions, eighty about 12 thousand students, is about 800 million shekels a year. In the opinion of the yeshiva people, they bring into the state no less and perhaps even more than what the state gives them.
When Rabbi Surtzokin returns from a fundraising trip and pays 18% VAT, he brings in more to the state than the state gives him. Cutting off budgets will not change the situation.
Schlesinger states: There was no Haredi conscription, there will be no Haredi conscription. Neither a law, nor a 'dialogue' that has been going on for decades, nor coercion will bring Rabbi Sorotzkin's students into the army. Coercion does not make fighters - the most important commodity right now for the Israel Defense Forces. The event is less sticks and more carrots.
Correcting the order of priorities, first of all for those who serve. When the serviceman receives the reward he deserves and the evader - the ultra-Orthodox, the secular, the Arab - receives nothing, justice will be served and some of the ultra-Orthodox will be drawn into the army.
""Mainstream Haredi"? Forget it. It won't change.
