In the previous two columns, I explained that in time of war for the defense of the Nation and the Land, members of the tribe of Levi enlisted and fought more than the other tribes. First, the Kohanim (priests) led the army in the special roles that the Torah assigned them in strengthening the spirit of the fighters. The Levites were the officers responsible for the fulfillment of the commandments of war; they would release those eligible for exemption, and punish those who evaded the obligation to fight.
Beyond that, the other Kohanim and Levites would enlist as regular fighters, to the point that there were even army commanders among them. The war for the conquest of the Land was the only war in which they did not serve as regular fighters, since they did not receive a portion of Land, like the other tribes.
From here we learn that yeshiva students may not be exempted from army service by claiming that they are like Levites, for if they are like Levites, they must volunteer as pioneers at the head of the army, both spiritually and militarily, like the Hasmoneans who led the war against the Greeks.
A Serious Question
There were those who argued that indeed, the Levites and Torah scholars were obligated to enlist in the army of Israel - but that was in the past, when the army conducted itself with holiness, and all its actions were in accordance with the Torah, and the guidance of the Sanhedrin. Nowadays, however, the army is led by a secular government and secular commanders, and therefore there is no holiness in the army. Consequently, there is no place for Torah students to participate in the activity of such an army.
The Sanctity of the Commandment of Enlistment in the Army
The answer is that the sanctity of the Israel Defense Forces derives from the fact that through it, we fulfill two great commandments from the Torah: saving Israel from the hands of their enemies, and settling the Land. Consequently, anyone engaged in fulfilling these two great commandments becomes sanctified.
Regarding the saving of lives, our Sages said in the Mishnah: “Whoever sustains one Jewish soul, is considered by Scripture as though he has sustained an entire world” (Sanhedrin 4:5). Andpikuach nefesh(saving life) overrides all the commandments (Yoma 85b). There is even a commandment to endanger oneself to save lives, as our Sages said: From where do we know that one who sees his fellow drowning in a river, or a wild animal dragging him and about to devour him, or bandits coming upon him to kill him - from where do we know that he is obligated to save him? As it is stated: “Do not stand idly by the blood of your fellow” (Sanhedrin 73a). All the more so, when it concerns saving all of Israel (Mishpat Kohen 143; Tzitz Eliezer 13:100; Peninei Halakha: The Nation and the Land 4:1:1).
Regarding the commandment of Yishuv Ha’Aretz (settling the Land), our Sages said (Sifrei, Re’eh, sec. 53) that it is equivalent to all the commandments, and the essence of the commandment is that the Land be under Israel’s sovereignty, as it is said: “You shall dispossess the Land and settle in it, for to you have I given the Land to possess it…” (Numbers 33:53-54).
“You shall dispossess” means sovereignty. And this commandment is valid in all generations, as explained by the Ramban (Supplement to Positive Commandments 4; Devar Yehoshua vol. 2 O.C. 48; Peninei Halakha: The Nation and the Land 4:2). And all the more so, when non-Jews seek to uproot us from our Land, that there is a commandment to fight them also because of saving lives, for even to save straw and hay, one must go to war against them, even on Shabbat (Eruvin 45a; Rambam, Laws of Shabbat 2:23; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 329:6).
The Commandment Stands When the Leaders Sin
In everything we have earned regarding amilchemet mitzvah (obligatory war), we have not found any exemption from the commandment of war when the king is wicked, and does not heed the Sanhedrin and the prophets. As is known, unfortunately, many of the kings of Judah and Israel committed idolatry, and the prophets defined them as wicked. Nevertheless, the righteous and the prophets did not refrain from participating with them in wars to save the Nation and the Land.
The logic is clear: the aim of the commandment is to defend the Nation and the Land, and it is impossible to fulfill it without a national organization. Therefore, as long as the leaders conduct the war for that purpose, even if in various areas they are wicked, there is a commandment to enlist in order to save the Nation and the Land. This is just as in saving a sick person we desecrate Shabbat even when the doctor transgresses many sins, as long as he is capable of saving the patient.
Similarly, our Sages said: “Scripture weighed (I Samuel 12) three less distinguished figures like three significant ones, to teach you: Jerubaal (Gideon) in his generation, is like Moshe in his generation; Bedan (Samson) in his generation, is like Aaron in his generation; Yiftach in his generation, is like Samuel in his generation. To teach you that even the least distinguished individual who is appointed leader over the public, is like the greatest of the great.
And it says (Deuteronomy 17:9): ‘And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge who will be in those days’ - would you think a person goes to a judge who was not in his days? You have none but the judge in your days. And it says (Ecclesiastes 7:10): ‘Do not say, “How was it that former days were better than these?”’” (Rosh Hashanah 25b).
It is obvious that the more Israel observed the Torah and commandments, the more they merited the help of God; however, the great commandment to defend the Nation and the Land, was not nullified when the kings and many of the people sinned grievous sins.
Sins Between Man and Fellow are More Severe than Idolatry
Moreover, our Sages said that among the various commandments, those between man and his fellow are more important than idolatry. As stated in the Jerusalem Talmud (Pe’ah 1:1), even if Israel practiced idolatry, if they were united, they would win their wars against their enemies, as it is said (Hosea 4:17): “Ephraim is joined to idols - let him be.” Therefore, in the days of Ahab, although he was the king who sinned and caused Israel to sin in idolatry more than all the kings, and even killed prophets, since they were united and were not baalei lashon ha-ra (talebearers), “they would go down to war, and be victorious.”
In contrast, regarding the days of Saul and David they said: “All of them were righteous” (in commandments between man and God), but since “there were informers among them,” “namely Doeg and Ahithophel who were eager for slander” - “they would go out to war, and fall.”
The Hasmonean Dynasty
During the Hasmonean kingdom, there were wicked kings, such as King Yannai who killed many Torah scholars (Kiddushin 66a), and Herod who also killed many Torah scholars (Bava Batra 3b). And nonetheless, when our Sages dealt with the commandment of war and ruled that “everyone goes out, even a groom from his chamber, and a bride from her canopy” (Mishnah Sotah 8:7), we do not find any restriction stating that if the leaders are wicked, there is no commandment to go out under their leadership to war for the defense of the Nation and the Land.
On the contrary, the very Hasmonean kingdom was considered a great achievement for the Jewish people, for which we celebrate the days of Hanukkah. As the Rambam wrote, by virtue of the victories of the Hasmoneans in the days of Hanukkah “sovereignty returned to Israel for more than two hundred years” (Laws of Hanukkah 3:1). Included within these two hundred years are also the many years of wicked kings.
And so explained Rabbi Simcha Meir of Dvinsk, based on the Rambam’s words: “Behold, the main miracle was the victory over the kingdom of Antiochus, and Israel received kingship for two hundred years, and in remembrance, one must light candles” (Meshech Chochmah, Genesis 37:24).
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky likewise wrote that Israel being under its own authority is considered kingship, and therefore, even though the Hasmonean kings ruled not in accordance with the guidance of the Torah, the Sanhedrin, and the prophets, their leadership was considered the kingship of Israel for which our Sages instituted the recitation of Hallel (Emet LeYaakov, Vayechi).
So too wrote the Kolbo (45), that this kingdom was like a “complete redemption” over which Hallel is recited like the Exodus from Egypt. That is, from a national-commandment perspective, the victories were a “complete redemption,” and therefore, Hallel is recited over them, even though many of the Hasmonean kings were wicked. This is because it is clear to all that even a Jewish kingdom whose kings are wicked like Yannai and Herod, is preferable to foreign rule in the Land, and therefore, our Sages ruled to recite Hallel over it, for all generations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, even when there are severe problems in the leadership of the kingdom or the state, and even when there are justified complaints about various commanders and security policy, the commandment to enlist in the army in order to defend the Nation and the Land, remains in place. The reason is simple: after all the criticisms, without an army, our enemies would rise against us to destroy us, as happened to us throughout all the days of our exile.
The Danger of Secularization
Q: Is it a commandment to enlist even when army service might cause secularization?
A: Just as if it were claimed that Shabbat observance might cause people to leave Judaism (as the Reform claim), we would not be lenient and permit desecration of Shabbat - so too, and even more so, one must not nullify the commandment of enlistment, since this concerns saving life. We must prepare the recruits as much as possible to cope with the service, and at the same time, work to create good conditions for observing the commandments in the army. If the representatives of the Haredi public were to contribute to this, the situation would far better.
The Commandment to Criticize in Order to Repair
Included within the commandment to serve in the army is also the commandment to criticize the heads of the security establishment with constructive criticism, both regarding security policy, and regarding the attitude toward Jewish values, and observance of the commandments.
In this context, it must be mentioned that despite the immense budgets and high-quality manpower available to the security system, it failed to understand the enemy who surprised us on Simchat Torah 5784, and did not succeed in defeating Hamas. Instead of conducting deep soul-searching, they brush it off as they did in the past, and even demand approval of pension additions that were granted illegally to those who served as career soldiers until age 45. Even without these additions, their pension is five times higher than the parallel pension in the civil service, while only 20 percent of them served as combat soldiers (since most combat officers retire before age 45).
Beyond the fact that these additions were done illegally and therefore must be canceled, they express a corrupt concept of nurturing the mechanism that failed. We hope that our public representatives in the Knesset, such as MK Amit Halevi, succeed in fulfilling their role, cancel these unnecessary additions, and demand the heads of the security establishment direct the immense budgets toward increasing the salaries of combat officers and other officers who are needed so that they continue their military service, and of course, use it toward providing the equipment missing in the combat units.
This article appears in the ‘Besheva’ newspaper, and was translated from Hebrew.