Who loved the IDF more than Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda, of saintly blessed memory? Who loved the State more than he? Yet, it was precisely out of his love for the IDF and the State that he published his famous "Don't be Afraid" call, in which he wrote, "There is no facet of leniency at all regarding the Torah prohibition of giving our lands to non-Jews, Heaven forbid, forever. Therefore, it is an obligation upon every Torah leader in Israel, and on every military man in Israel, to prevent and impede this with supreme effort and strength, and from the Heavens we will be aided."
Rabbi Kook determined that we must stand with total dedication against being forced to violate the commandment of settling the Land, which is as weighty a matter as the entire Torah. He wrote, "Regarding Judea and Samaria, it won't go without war... over our bodies and body parts."
As his student, who merited studying with him and being with him for 25 years, I know with total confidence that if Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda would have been with us now, he would have called on every soldier, policeman and officer to refuse these orders. And this stems from his love for the State and the IDF, and from the knowledge that the more people there are who will refuse these orders, the more it will strengthen the IDF and the State. His love for the State and the IDF stemmed from the love of G-d and the love of the Torah, the People and the Land, because the obligation to adhere to army orders stems from the commandments of the Torah, and the laws of the State receive their validity from the Torah; and when they negate the Torah, they are void and have no value.
In our rabbi's teachings, the Torah and the State were not separate values that clash with each other, but rather one value: the Torah. From the Torah, the State receives its worth and importance.
The government is not the State. A government rises and falls, and afterwards another one rises to take its place. The State is holiness, but the government is not holiness - unless it acts according to the Torah.
The IDF's fortitude is built on the strong motivation of the soldiers, who have a deep recognition of the value of the People of Israel and of the Land of Israel and its holiness. The deeper this recognition is, the greater is the quality of the soldiers. This is why the religious soldiers excel, because of their faith in the holiness of the nation and the Land. And it is this greatness of belief that requires them to refuse to participate in the uprooting of Jews from their inheritance in the Land of Israel.
The army will not be harmed by this refusal, even if most of the army refuses - but will rather become stronger. Whoever says that the army will be hurt is using a demagogic claim with no substance. Just like this claim cannot be used to obligate a soldier to desecrate the Sabbath and to eat non-kosher food, so too it can't be used to force a soldier to violate the commandment of settling the Land of Israel.
There is no more democratic call than the call to refuse these orders. If the call is adhered to, and most of the army refuses to fulfill the orders, then this proves that the people are against the uprooting, and we must accept the opinion of the people. And even if only a minority refuses the orders, it is one's democratic right to be loyal to one's faith and no one must be forced to violate that faith.
On the contrary, forcing blind discipline on such a matter of principle is that which endangers the army, and any logical person can see this.
Forcing blind discipline will impair the quality of the soldiers' motivation to serve in the army and to continue on to become officers.
I therefore call upon the public to adhere to the call of our teacher, Rabbi Avraham Shapira, who continues in the path of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda, z.tz.l., to take action that reveals the fact that most of the nation is against the uprooting of Jews from their communities. This should be done by means of the campaigns to sign people on to petitions stating their objection to the Disengagement Plan and their refusal to take part in this forbidden act.
There is no need to say that my words include no permission to actively harm any soldier, policeman or public figure. In addition to being forbidden, whoever does so will do harm to the struggle against the uprooting.
And with G-d's help, we will continue along the path of redemption, until our complete Redemption, which we pray will happen speedily.
Rabbi Kook determined that we must stand with total dedication against being forced to violate the commandment of settling the Land, which is as weighty a matter as the entire Torah. He wrote, "Regarding Judea and Samaria, it won't go without war... over our bodies and body parts."
As his student, who merited studying with him and being with him for 25 years, I know with total confidence that if Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda would have been with us now, he would have called on every soldier, policeman and officer to refuse these orders. And this stems from his love for the State and the IDF, and from the knowledge that the more people there are who will refuse these orders, the more it will strengthen the IDF and the State. His love for the State and the IDF stemmed from the love of G-d and the love of the Torah, the People and the Land, because the obligation to adhere to army orders stems from the commandments of the Torah, and the laws of the State receive their validity from the Torah; and when they negate the Torah, they are void and have no value.
In our rabbi's teachings, the Torah and the State were not separate values that clash with each other, but rather one value: the Torah. From the Torah, the State receives its worth and importance.
The government is not the State. A government rises and falls, and afterwards another one rises to take its place. The State is holiness, but the government is not holiness - unless it acts according to the Torah.
The IDF's fortitude is built on the strong motivation of the soldiers, who have a deep recognition of the value of the People of Israel and of the Land of Israel and its holiness. The deeper this recognition is, the greater is the quality of the soldiers. This is why the religious soldiers excel, because of their faith in the holiness of the nation and the Land. And it is this greatness of belief that requires them to refuse to participate in the uprooting of Jews from their inheritance in the Land of Israel.
The army will not be harmed by this refusal, even if most of the army refuses - but will rather become stronger. Whoever says that the army will be hurt is using a demagogic claim with no substance. Just like this claim cannot be used to obligate a soldier to desecrate the Sabbath and to eat non-kosher food, so too it can't be used to force a soldier to violate the commandment of settling the Land of Israel.
There is no more democratic call than the call to refuse these orders. If the call is adhered to, and most of the army refuses to fulfill the orders, then this proves that the people are against the uprooting, and we must accept the opinion of the people. And even if only a minority refuses the orders, it is one's democratic right to be loyal to one's faith and no one must be forced to violate that faith.
On the contrary, forcing blind discipline on such a matter of principle is that which endangers the army, and any logical person can see this.
Forcing blind discipline will impair the quality of the soldiers' motivation to serve in the army and to continue on to become officers.
I therefore call upon the public to adhere to the call of our teacher, Rabbi Avraham Shapira, who continues in the path of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda, z.tz.l., to take action that reveals the fact that most of the nation is against the uprooting of Jews from their communities. This should be done by means of the campaigns to sign people on to petitions stating their objection to the Disengagement Plan and their refusal to take part in this forbidden act.
There is no need to say that my words include no permission to actively harm any soldier, policeman or public figure. In addition to being forbidden, whoever does so will do harm to the struggle against the uprooting.
And with G-d's help, we will continue along the path of redemption, until our complete Redemption, which we pray will happen speedily.