The protest against conscription of yeshiva students was a mass rally held in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
on March 2, 2014. Its organizers called for a "million-man protest" against a proposed law overturning the exemption from military service for
Haredi talmudical students and criminalizing those who refused to enlist in the
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
. From 300,000 to 600,000 people gathered in one of the largest protests in Israeli history.
History
The protest opposed Israeli military and civil conscription of Orthodox
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
students, who have been exempted from military conscription or national service since 1977. A petition led to a 1998 high-court ruling that the Minister of Defense Act was not intended to exempt the Orthodox community on such a large scale, and it was decided that the issue required new legislation from the
Knesset
The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...
.
A public committee, headed by Justice Zvi Tal, was appointed after the 1999
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decision. Its findings led to the 2002 deferment for yeshiva students (known as the
Tal Ruling), regulating the deferral of yeshiva students with the rationale that their religious studies constitute national service. The ruling, which provided a timeline of five years, was extended an additional five years in 2007. During the summer of 2012, the court ruled that the law was unjust and must expire. With its expiration
IDF
IDF or idf may refer to:
Defence forces
* Irish Defence Forces
* Israel Defense Forces
*Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006
* Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917
Organizations
* Israeli Diving Federation
* Interac ...
service is mandatory for all members of the Haredi community, with a penalty (imprisonment for up to five years) for those who refuse to enlist. However, the law is not enforced against members of the Haredi community by authority of the Defense Minister.
After several unsuccessful attempts to draft a new law (such as the
Plesner Committee The Plesner Committee (Hebrew: ועדת פלסנר), also known as the Commission for Equality in the Burden (Hebrew: הוועדה לקידום השוויון בנטל), was a committee established by the Government of Israel with the aim of formula ...
), the Special Committee for the Equal Sharing of the Burden Bill (also known as the Shaked Committee after its chairwoman,
Bayit Yehudi MK
Ayelet Shaked) was formed. During its deliberations (ongoing at the time of the protest) the committee proposed a law establishing annual quotas for the drafting of yeshiva students for military or national service and calling for criminal sanctions against draft evaders if the quotas are not met by mid-2017. The bill would mandate a gradual increase in recruitment levels of yeshiva students. Each year 1,800 promising students would be granted exemptions to continue their studies, and yeshiva students beyond draft age would be allowed to enter the workforce.
Smaller protests against the conscription of Yeshvia students began around 2012 with the meeting of the
Plesner committee The Plesner Committee (Hebrew: ועדת פלסנר), also known as the Commission for Equality in the Burden (Hebrew: הוועדה לקידום השוויון בנטל), was a committee established by the Government of Israel with the aim of formula ...
. The first of such protests was held in
Kikar HaShabbat
Kikar HaShabbat ( he, כיכר השבת, lit., "Sabbath Square"), known in the Haredi community as Kikar HaShabbos, is a major intersection joining five streets in Jerusalem, Israel, between Mea Shearim and Geula: Yehezkel Street from the north, ...
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
with thousands in attendance.
Preparation
On February 24, 2014, the leaders of
Agudath Israel,
Degel HaTorah and
Shas including Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, Rav Shmuel Auerbach, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, and Rav Shalom Cohen gathered for a conference in
Bnei Brak
Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an are ...
and decided on a demonstration a week after the conference. All haredi boys and men over age nine were summoned to attend. Rav Shteinman publicly encouraged attendance at the protest. He said that in the IDF there is Gilui Arayos (sexual immorality) Shfichus Damim (bloodshed), and Avodah Zarah (idolatry), but greater than these 3 cardinal sins is the Chilul Hashem that a country calling itself the Jewish State should put quotas on Torah learning.
Leading rabbis from the conservative wing of the
national religious
Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...
community (including
Shmuel Eliyahu
Shmuel Eliyahu ( he, שמואל אליהו; born 29 November 1956) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi. He is the Chief Rabbi of Safed and a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council.
Some of Eliyahu's statements regarding Arabs and Palestinians have been ...
, Mordechai Sternberg, Micha Halevi and
Shlomo Aviner) supported the rally,
and a group of nationalist haredi rabbis issued a proclamation calling on the public to participate in the religious, Zionist rally. Other groups, such as the
Tzohar
Tzohar ( he, צֹחַר) is a community settlement and regional center in southern Israel. Located in Hevel Eshkol, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
The settlement was founded in 19 ...
and Beit Hillel rabbinical associations,
and rabbis from the
religious Zionist
Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...
community (including
Haim Druckman
Haim Meir Drukman ( he, חיים דרוקמן), born 15 November 1932) is an Israeli Orthodox Rabbi and former politician. He serves as Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Etzion Yeshiva, and head of the Center for Bnei Akiva Yeshivot.
Biography
Drukman w ...
)
opposed the protest. After harsh commentary by a haredi newspaper about Religious Zionist leader Haim Druckman, Yehoshua Shapira (rabbi of the Ramat Gan yeshiva) and the Association of Community Rabbis (led by Chief Rabbi of Tzfat Shmuel Eliyahu) canceled plans to attend the "million-man march".
Roads in the capital around the protest area were blocked in the early afternoon and Route 1, the main highway between the capital and the coast, was closed to private vehicles from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Demonstrations
Hundreds of thousands of protesters lined the streets surrounding the area, with Jaffa Road designated for women, despite unfavorable weather. Many leaders of the Haredi community, including the rabbis of
Gur,
Belz
Belz ( uk, Белз; pl, Bełz; yi, בעלז ') is a small city in Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, located between the Solokiya river (a tributary of the Bug River) and the Richytsia stream. Belz hosts the administ ...
and
Vizhnitz
Vizhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager. Vizhnitz (ויז׳ניץ or וויזשניץ) is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a town in present-day Ukraine (then, a village in Austrian Bukovina).
Followers of ...
, Lithuanian rabbis
Aharon Leib Shteinman
Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman ( he, אהרן יהודה לייב שטינמן), also Shtainman or Steinman (November 3, 1914 – December 12, 2017), was a Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. Following the death of Yosef Shalom Elyashiv in 2012 ...
,
Chaim Kanievsky and
Shmuel Auerbach
Shmuel Auerbach ( he, שמואל אורבך) (September 21, 1931 – February 24, 2018) was a Haredi rabbi in Jerusalem. Rav Auerbach led a large portion of more radical elements of the non-Hasidic Haredi community. His followers formed a political ...
, Sephardic rabbis
Shalom Cohen and Shimon Desserts and other members of the Great Council of Torah and the
Council of Torah Sages
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
attended the rally. Members of the orthodox rabbinical community (including Yitzhak Tuvia Weiss, chief Rabbis David Lowe and Isaac Joseph, and Hasidic leaders, rabbis and public figures) were also in attendance. Small groups and religious Zionist rabbis, including Shmuel Eliyahu and Yaakov Shapira, were present.
The organizers, who called for a "million-man protest"
[Hundreds of thousands protest Haredi draft in Jerusalem](_blank)
''The Times of Israel'' (March 2, 2014) by men and boys aged nine and older, estimated attendance at 500,000; police estimated a crowd at 300,000.
Some believed that 600,000 were present, which led to a public recitation of the ''Chacham HaRazim'' blessing. All three major Jewish streams (Lithuanian, Hasidic and Sephardic) were represented. The peaceful protest was one of the largest in Israel's history, with loudspeaker noise heard across Jerusalem. It was secured by about 3,500 police and other security personnel.
No speeches were made at the rally, but at its end statements received by the Council of Torah Sages were read opposing the conscription of yeshiva and
kolel students. A simultaneous protest in London drew 4,000 demonstrators, and on March 9 (a week later) 50,000 Orthodox Jews demonstrated in New York City.
Protests outside of Israel
Similar protests by Haredi Jews held around the world
America
On June 9, 2013 a rally was held in
Foley Square
Foley Square, also called Federal Plaza, is a street intersection in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City, which contains a small triangular park named Thomas Paine Park. The space is bordered by Worth Street to the ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, NY to protest the conscription of Orthodox Jews into the
Israeli Defense Forces
Israeli may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel
* Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel
* Modern Hebrew, a language
* ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008
* Guni Israeli ...
. Between 20,000 and 30,000 Haredim attended. Among the speakers was Rabbi Elya Ber Wachtfogel, the
rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
of
Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe
Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe, also known as Yeshiva of South Fallsburg, is a private yeshiva in South Fallsburg, New York. It is considered one of the leading ''beit midrash'' (undergraduate-level) programs in the United States, maintaining a "st ...
in
South Fallsburg
South Fallsburg is a hamlet and census-designated place in Sullivan County, New York, United States. South Fallsburg is located within the Town of Fallsburg at (41.716489, -74.630279).
History
South Fallsburg is located in the one-time resort ...
, NY.
On June 11, 2017 a similar rally was held to protest plans to conscript Orthodox Jews in Israel at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Close to 20,000 Haredim attended. The speakers included Rabbi
Aaron Schechter, rosh yeshiva of
Yeshivas Chaim Berlin, Rabbi Leibish Leiser of
Pshevorsk
Pshevorsk is a small Hasidic movement based in Antwerp, Belgium, led by the Leiser rabbinical dynasty, originating in the Polish town of Przeworsk.
History
The first Rebbe, Moshe Yitzchak, was a son of Rabbi Naftoli Elimelech, son of Rabbi Avr ...
, known as The Pshevorsker Rebbe, one of the most prominent leaders of the Haredi community of Antwerp, Belgium, and Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, author of ''The Empty Wagon: Zionism’s Journey from Identity Crisis to Identity Theft''. A letter was read from
Rabbi Aharon Feldman, the rosh yeshiva of
Yeshivas Ner Yisroel
Ner Israel Rabbinical College (ישיבת נר ישראל), also known as NIRC and Ner Yisroel, is a Haredi yeshiva (Jewish educational institution) in Pikesville (Baltimore County), Maryland. It was founded in 1933 by Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ru ...
in Baltimore, MD, who wasn’t able to attend in person. Rabbi Schechter lambasted the attempt to draft Orthodox Jews as an assault on the essential characteristics of religious Jews.
Europe
On June 27, 2013 Haredim protested in front of the EU headquarters in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, Belgium against Israel attempting to draft Orthodox ''
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
'' students. The protest was attended by Rabbi
Ephraim Padwa
Rabbi Ephraim Padwa (born 1940) is a senior Haredi rabbi in London. He is rabbinical head of the Stamford Hill-based Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, succeeding his father Chanoch Dov Padwa, who died in August 2000. Padwa is an internation ...
, head of The
Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations in London,
Rabbi Elyakim Schlesinger, a prominent English ''
rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...
'' and internationally recognized ''
halachic'' authority, and Rabbi Leibish Leiser of
Pshevorsk
Pshevorsk is a small Hasidic movement based in Antwerp, Belgium, led by the Leiser rabbinical dynasty, originating in the Polish town of Przeworsk.
History
The first Rebbe, Moshe Yitzchak, was a son of Rabbi Naftoli Elimelech, son of Rabbi Avr ...
from Antwerp, Belgium.
See also
*
2013 Israeli protests
In 2013, two independent protests occurred in Israel. In May, an attempt to change the Tal Law, which excluded ultra-Orthodox Jewish men for doing military service, led to protests by Haredi against military conscription. Again in November, Bedou ...
*
July 2019 Ethiopian Jews protest in Israel
The July 2019 Ethiopian Jews protest in Israel was a period of unrest initiated by Ethiopian Jews in Israel, Ethiopian Jews in response to the shooting death of 18-year-old Solomon Teka at the hands of an Israeli police officer in Kiryat Haim, Hai ...
References
{{Reflist
2014 in Israel
2014 protests
Haredi anti-Zionism
Haredi Judaism in Israel
Human rights in Israel
Jewish education in Israel
Protests in Israel