Rabbi Dov Lando must explain his opposition to haredi IDF service - opinion

Rabbi Dov Lando urges haredi young men to prioritize Torah study over military service, raising questions about ethics, Jewish law, and responsibility.

Someone should take Rabbi Dov Lando to a Din Torah – a court of Jewish Law for violating one of the most important of all the laws in Judaism. According to Halacha, the compilation of Jewish law, almost every law can be broken to save or prolong a life. It is permitted to drive a woman in labor to hospital on Shabbat, and even on Yom Kippur. The same goes for someone who is seriously ill, or who has been critically injured. Similarly there are certain conditions under which it is permitted to eat non kosher food, or to break a fast on Yom Kippur. In Hebrew, it’s called pikuach nefesh.

Israel is a country which constantly faces an existential threat, This means that there are approximately 10 million lives in danger yet Lando keeps issuing rulings against conscription into the IDF.

According to media reports, some haredi young men who want to serve the country and their fellow beings, have to contend with both their parents and with Lando. In their attempts to dissuade their sons from exchanging their black suits and kapotes for army uniforms, many parents insist that their sons visit Lando. For the sake of family harmony, many acquiesce, and get an earful from Lando as to why they should stick to studying Torah.

Soldiers who identify as religious Zionist have no problem in combining Torah study with military service, nor do those haredi young men who follow their conscience rather than the dictates of a nonagenarian rabbi with a fire and brimstone temperament.

Dov Lando is the co-chair of the Slobodke Yeshiva in Bnei Brak.

The original Slobodka Yeshiva was founded in Lithuania almost 145 years ago, and functioned until the Second World War. A Land of Israel branch was established in Hebron in the early part of the 20th century, but lasted only five years. The Slobodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, has been operating since 1947. Its central focus in addition to Torah study is ethics.

That being the case, is Lando going against the doctrines of the institution of which he is the co-chair?

Ignoring call-up notices

Is it ethical to tell religious young men to ignore their call-up notices? Surely people should obey the laws of the countries in which they live. To do otherwise is unethical, and to promote evasion of army service in a country which sits beneath a cloud of pikuach nefesh is not only unethical, but in violation of Halacha.

In ultra-Orthodox circles, the head rabbi of a movement or synagogue or a school is treated like old-world royalty. His wisdom is unquestioned; his orders are executed.

But what would happen if Lando suddenly told the whole ultra-Orthodox community that they can no longer use mobile phones or personal computers because these are no longer morally safe given all the technological advances that enable unbidden and unwelcome data to enter mobile phones and personal computers? Would he be obeyed? Perhaps a few hundred people would comply, but on the whole they would rebel. In fact they have already rebelled. Not everyone has what is known as a kosher phone. Many people have television sets hidden in bedroom closets with sliding doors. Some people watch movies through a laptop or a tablet.

Which is worse – watching blue movies in secret or serving in the IDF in the open?