Despicable

Am I missing something? Is there an obvious distinction between their sons and ours? Are they somehow righteous and moral in their positions? Is there something I simply cannot see or understand? Could they be correct after all, more entitled, more deserving, more worthy? Am I being blinded to their clear and obvious merit? Am I just a bitter and jealous old woman, resenting their benefits, jealously striving to deprive those young men of a valuable gift, the gift of lifelong study with no military obligation at all?

On our recent visit to Jerusalem a demonstration took place that impacted on our plans and the plans of tens of thousands of Israelis. It shut down the major Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, Route 1, as well as other subsidiary roads, disrupting traffic throughout a huge swath of the country, and yielding many complicated scenarios necessitating people to stay away from their jobs, schools, shopping and the manifold chores and responsibilities that make up typical daily lives. Our niece, for example, worked until midnight the previous night so she could avoid her regular working hours, which would have embedded her in traffic for hours upon end.

We had intended to spend the day with our great-grandson and his parents, who live in a sparkling new yishuv as yet unserved by public transportation, and for which we had rented a car, a car that sat costly and unused on the streets of Jerusalem.

Occurring on October 30, Americans would have called it “Mischief Night,” but there were two descriptive words that would have rendered that phrase non-applicable. It did not take place at night and it was clearly, dramatically, more than simple mischief. It was called by its organizers “The Million Man March,” although there were certainly substantially fewer than a million participants. The many thousands who attended were all men and all charedi, ultra Orthodox. They rose up to protest recent laws that targeted their communities to finally assume the duties of citizenship, which include military service.

Already their benefits as Israelis, including many financial subsidies, are huge. They have a negative impact on the government, always voting as a bloc and resisting all attempts to integrate them into mainstream Israeli life. Is it at all reasonable that this ever-growing population has a God-given entitlement to protect their young men from becoming chayalim, soldiers?

As the grandmother of two chayalim, and very close relative of others, as well as friend of innumerable giborai yisrael, heroes of Israel, I cannot overstate the ferocity of my anger. I have questioned religious scholars as to whether learning in a yeshiva or being part of a charedi community is somehow inherently equivalent to avoiding the draft. I have never received a positive answer defending this status. Simply put, there is no possible reasonable excuse beyond arrogance and incredible chutzpah, of regarding their lives as somehow being more important than those of my family and friends. I wonder, in their most private moments, when they commune with our Maker, how they explain placing others as human shields in front of themselves by hiding in yeshivot, instead of donning IDF uniforms.

The simplest answer is that there is no defense and no honor. There is simply cowardice and selfishness.

The problem is exacerbated by the truly enormous birth rate among this segment of the Israeli population. They are a time bomb, growing fast and costing the government sweeping and expensive outlays of money as they are considered to be an economically depressed group. Each year their birth rate exceeds 4 percent with the average woman bearing more than seven children. With this ongoing growth rate it is expected that the charedim will be 16 percent of the Israeli population by 2030.

And yet they mostly refuse to undertake defense of the nation! At what percentage will they finally need to yield in order to save their land and families?

There have been arguments that their lifestyles prevent them from active military service. This is rhetoric, not truth! Now it’s time to remove the talking points and don the uniforms. Our precious people in Israel are building a nation, a well needed escape hatch for world Jewry which is now facing ever increasing threats to our survival. The charedi community is now required to join the battle, take it, or leave the land!

Rosanne Skopp of West Orange is a wife, mother of four, grandmother of 14, and great-grandmother of nine. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and a dual citizen of the United States and Israel. She is a lifelong blogger, writing blogs before anyone knew what a blog was! She welcomes email at rosanne.skopp@gmail.com

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