Another 125 young men - the largest group yet - started basic training last week in the 10th recruitment of the Israel Defense Forces' Nachal Hareidi battalion. Officially named Netzach Yehuda, the battalion came into being two years ago as the army's first-ever hareidi religious battalion. It was formed to meet the growing need of hareidi youth who, for various reasons, did not wish to continue their yeshiva studies and thus lost their military-exempt status.
Controversy over the battalion's formation was rampant in the hareidi world at first, but it has gradually become more and more accepted. "Some do not agree with me," the mother of a new recruit told Arutz-7 today, "but I take it as a given that if one does not study in yeshiva, he must serve in the army - and the Nachal Hareidi framework, which is geared to meet the needs of religious boys, is the best way to do that."
Netzach Yehuda is in fact one of the well-known Battalion 90's - an elite combat battalion known as Combat Infantry Battalion 97. Stationed in the Jordan Valley, it has scored several notable successes in the war against Palestinian terrorism and has received many commendations from IDF generals.
The newest Netzach Yehuda soldiers were treated last week to a guest lecture by Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Rosh Yeshiva of The Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) of Yeshiva University. Rabbi Schachter spoke warmly of various halakhic [Jewish legal] issues relating to army service for religious young men. He stressed that the obligation of defending the Land of Israel is actually incumbent on all Jews around the world, but that those living in the Diaspora are forced to rely on the IDF soldiers to serve as their agents in fulfilling this task. The lecture was capped by a session of singing and dancing with the new soldiers in their new synagogue at the Adam Combat Infantry Training Base.
Controversy over the battalion's formation was rampant in the hareidi world at first, but it has gradually become more and more accepted. "Some do not agree with me," the mother of a new recruit told Arutz-7 today, "but I take it as a given that if one does not study in yeshiva, he must serve in the army - and the Nachal Hareidi framework, which is geared to meet the needs of religious boys, is the best way to do that."
Netzach Yehuda is in fact one of the well-known Battalion 90's - an elite combat battalion known as Combat Infantry Battalion 97. Stationed in the Jordan Valley, it has scored several notable successes in the war against Palestinian terrorism and has received many commendations from IDF generals.
The newest Netzach Yehuda soldiers were treated last week to a guest lecture by Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Rosh Yeshiva of The Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) of Yeshiva University. Rabbi Schachter spoke warmly of various halakhic [Jewish legal] issues relating to army service for religious young men. He stressed that the obligation of defending the Land of Israel is actually incumbent on all Jews around the world, but that those living in the Diaspora are forced to rely on the IDF soldiers to serve as their agents in fulfilling this task. The lecture was capped by a session of singing and dancing with the new soldiers in their new synagogue at the Adam Combat Infantry Training Base.