HaRav Shlomo Aviner is Head of Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim and author of 300 books covering all aspects of Torah.
According to the Torah:
A. It is a mitzvah for every Jew to serve in the IDF. This includes Jews who live in the Diaspora whose requirement stems from their Torah obligation to make Aliyah and live in the Land of Israel.
B. This mitzvah has three aspects:
- “Do not stand idly by the blood of your fellow" - saving Jewish lives.
- The mitzvah of conquering and safeguarding the Land of Israel.
- Sanctification of God's Name, for if non-Jews strike us, kill us, and rob us, this is a desecration of God's Name (see the treatise by Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, For the Mitzvah of the Land, Le-Netivot Yisrael I, p. 118).
C. Yeshiva students and Torah scholars are also obligated in this mitzvah, but they may receive a deferment, and this is appropriate.
D. The mitzvah applies even when a soldier places himself in danger, for such is the way of the world (Minchat Chinuch 425, 604; Responsa Mishpat Kohen, p. 327).
E. One must go out to a mandatory war (milchemet mitzvah) even if it is not clear that victory will be achieved. However, if it is absolutely certain that victory is impossible, one should not go out to war (Rabbi Shlomo Goren, article “The Hasmonean War in Light of Halakhah," Torat HaMo'adim, pp. 178-179).
F. If a soldier's parents oppose his serving in a combat unit because they fear for his safety, he should not obey them (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 240:15).
G. In whatever unit a soldier serves, he fulfills the mitzvah of military service, whether in a combat unit or a support unit (as King David established: “As is the share of the one who goes down to battle, so shall be the share of the one who remains with the baggage; they shall share alike" (I Samuel 30:24; and “Each man in his camp and each man by his banner" - Numbers 1:52).
H. Becoming a career soldier by signing on for permanent service is an especially praiseworthy fulfillment of the mitzvah, and an act of piety.
I. It is forbidden for women to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, in any unit, and all the more so in a combat unit.
J. A soldier is obligated to serve in a unit that does not include women.
K. A soldier should not serve in a unit where there is a possibility he might fall into immoral behavior.
[Recorded by Rabbi Mordechai Tzion]