furlough. He came home covered in dirt, covered in sores and thin as a rail. His mother runs to do his laundry before shabbos, cooks him his favorite food, tells him to rest so he can attend the friday night prayers. He eats closes his eyes and sleeps like a bear. He is tired and needs rest. You see, he also happens to be very frum. I keep writing about him, because he is my hero. Much like my late dad who survived Auschwitz and worked himself into a success, my kid doesnt allow much to stop him. He is a fine soldier, a good son, a frime yid and a mench. He did spend time in a Yeshiva after doing his bagrut. He was in that yeshiva for two years. He left because he couldnt stand the BS. He said there were way too many layabouts who were simply hiding out there. Torah learning he does in his own time. AS he says being in the army teaches him that being frum and defending his country is one of the same. He never asks me for anything..has no sense of entitlement and is ready to sacrifice his very life to protect the country. The haredi ought to take a lesson from this Canadian born kid.

You betray your own 'motives' in this article. You start off the article with your family living in some lithuanian village (Diaspora), vulnerable, living at the mercy of someone else's hands. IF they let you live, you live, if they murder or lynch you, you die. Only in Eretz Yisrael, is a Jew FREE to study Torah. However, this FREEDOM comes at a price. The price of defending yourself, your family and your country. In NO other country was/is this allowed. For you to shirk off your responsibilities shows to me what your true motives are. It isn't about living a life filled with Kodesh Hashem, it's about money. It's not about whether or not people choose to allow others to live the life they want, it's about you forcing others (minors, who have no freewill of their own until they are considered adults) to give preferrence to your way of life. However, in this scenario, whose going to defend you? If everyone studied torah instead of working or serving in the army, then wouldn't we have been overrun by the enemy by now? You should be thanking Hashem for the soldiers every single day. You should be the fist one in line at a recruitment center and be a righteous soldier instead of a parasitic hasidic. If you want that kind of lifestyle go back to lithuania where you and your family are free to be slaughtered all the live long day or you can pick up a rifle and defend your home, your country where you are free to fight back. it's your choice.

What Yerach Toker, and the Israeli haredim, are willing to preserve is not the Torah (whose preservation nobody disputes), but what he calls “the Torah world”, meaning a life style where people devoted solely to Torah study are sustained by means forcefully extracted from everyone else. This “world” is a complete new thing. It is not a duplication of the European life style before the Shoah nor is a life style prescribed in any part of our tradition. This “world” is an aberration and will be over soon. The Torah will continue to flourish and protect the souls of Klal Israel.

Given the current trends of secularization of the world, and the realization that free thought is better than ancient dogma, Israeli secularism will certainly still be around and will probably be dominant.

It's great that you want to preserve the Torah, but why must you break the Torah to preserve it? why don't yeshiva heads instruct their students not to spit on others they don't agree with? would moshe rabbeinu do that? I also believe their prayers help the state, but that's no substitute for picking up a gun and fighting. if it is, why don't I pray for the state and you get shot at? it's a ludicrous statement made by a sector of society that has gotten addicted to taking and giving nothing tangible back. if they don't want to answer truthfully on their army entrance exams, fine. let them clean the toilets and do other menial, but necessary work.

your comments are laughable. do you really believe that the IDF can protect you against all Israels surrounding enemies. Many of the previous wars were miracles. Think of the Gulf War. Nobody hurt? You have seen how pathetic these Patriot missiles were.

The same kind of people who destroyed those communities are surrounding us here in Israel. Last time you had not one to save you. Now you have an opportunity to fight for your lives instead of going like sheep to the slaughter. Make a choice. Join us or go down with us

I don't know about Israel, but the "youth" in the US have access to the internet. With that access, many are understanding that ALL religion has been man made and handed down through the ages. They are realizing that in order to be a critical "thinker," you have to brush aside every religion that promotes bigotry, hatred and a class type system. What will happen to the major religions in the next 10-50 years, now that people are searching for the truth about each religion that advances bigotry, hatred and a class system? Will Judaism, Islam and Christianity still be around in 50 years? They believe that most of the world's bloodshed has been due to religion. Do you think the world will be more peaceful or more brutal in 50 years? Will our "youth" overcome the hate and find truth through the internet? Will people be forced to worship under a single, world religion in the next century?

torah preserves the jewish people even though individual jews may die. i haven't seen a lot of romans walking around lately. we've stayed alive 2000 years in exile because of the torah, otherwise we would have long assimilated out. we need to keep our peoplehood. preservation of bodies without torah is worse than worthless. and you should also note that the state of israel doesnt protect jewish lives: by far more jews died in israel since 1948 than in the rest of the world combined and the future looks even more forboding (i.e. iran). if that's the only reason for israel, why not move to the US? its much safer.

of course, you are enunciating pure dati leumi ideology: religion = the state of israel and serving in the army is therefore the height of religion. you are a little naive about it, though. there are plenty of non-jews who serve with distinction in the israeli army. there are messianic jews (jews for jesus) who do also. if the state of israel IS the religion, then all the gemara and shulchan aruch will not help, the dati leumi are going down. i see it with my own eyes how quickly the kippah goes off. 25% outright dump their religion. why shouldn't they? isn't just being an israeli enough even if you are not religious

She wouldn't even know what you meant by Kaunas. The Lithuania that she was born in over a hundred years ago was nothing like the place that you are writing about. My grandfather was so religious that my grandmother teased him about it, but he worked for a living. My mother described people like the author as "fanatics" on good days and "crazies" on other days. My father usually talked about Slabodka as if it were Chelm. And, neither my father nor mother ever wanted to see Lithuania again, they loved the USA.

we Hebrews view your words as a declaration of genocidal-war against our ethnicity and against our natural right to be the dominant tribe in between the River and the Sea. Expect to be handled, within that context.

I was born in Vilna, and come from a long line of Lithuanian Rabbis. I despise the present Haredi shnorres who hide behind "The World of Torah" (whatever this stupid expression means) to suck the blood of their brothers and shirk their responsibilities. This is not Jewish, but rather evil cultism.

gainfully employed or serving in the IDF, and also study Torah. That is what anyone with any self respect would do, and are the values to be passed down to sons.

Israel was not built to house the Torah but to give the Jewish nation sovereignty. Part of sovereignty is being able to defend yourself, and that requires its citizens to give it some time. You refuse? Leave Israel.

The Idf is reducing the holiness of the state of Israel. No army can serve two masters. All public officials must pledge their allegiance to the Torah of Israel. The state cannot have an army which violates Torah law.All armies must take their pledge to the Torah.

Where was the Torah at every Jews killing ,raping,tortures ,force conversion ,burned alive in public place I can go on and on for days The thora is a nice book of stories for kids

the haredim do not recognize the legitimacy of the state on religious grounds. they claim that the messiah has not arrived yet and therefore a jewish state is not legitimate.

Mr. Toker talks at length about his friend Mr. Serna and his trip to Eastern Europe to see the sights where g-d fearing Yeshiva students were murdered, he then describes in depth the places where g-d fearing yeshiva students were murdered in Hebron - and maybe one could expect him to understand the lesson - that it is not studying the Torah in excess that protects us, it is we ourselves - for G-d helps those who help themselves - - only serving in the army, which many of us secular or other believe that G-d protects is what saves us - but Mr. Toker is too myopic to see this

of spinning can present the "arguments" of the lazy bunch of Frummes in a positive light. Stop trying Mr.Toker

The borders are open and you are free. If your heart is in Mt. Sinai and Torah then look AHEAD and refresh yourself about Mt. Sinai being in the middle east before countless Medieval European reforms, OR GO BACK TO WHERE YOUR HEART IS!

BUT their studies must not be paid for and they must go out to work. The state must not support them or their children. I do not object to Charedim having 10 children or more, but they must support them not the state.

If you have a problem with what Israel is, come and change it, don't demand that we change for your opinions while you remain in Canada. Israel is NOT a theocracy, and hopefully never will be.

That's the question. Only the Tora can give Israel it's Jewish character. The Tora is Israel's "raison d'etre". Moreover,It might contribute , Muslims to accept Judaism, instead of the hated Western culture, in their midst.

On internet, everybody finds his truth. People believe what they want to believe and find all the arguments for it,while they are blind for all the arguments against it.

Help you ,and G-D will help you. The problem is that the Haredi soldiers must obey non-religious commanders who do not understand their religious needs.

if everybody would study equally Tora. Tora,Science and IDF for all Jewish Israelis. For one united Jewish people.

Ora as usual gets it wrong - the Jewish national movement, which led to the rebirth of Israel was of course founded by people who wanted to redeam the Jewish people for overzealous religion and it was a complete rejection of the Torah world, whcih has never done anything for the Jewish people and which is now one of the biggest threats facing Israel.

Hate to break it to you but religion is a belifef you cannot and will not force it on non belivers, we all have freedom of choice. If it wasnt for the IDF there would be no state , its about time these parasites did their bit, spending all day reading a book of fairy tales is harly pulling their weiight. How strange these people manage to study and work abroad and theres no reason they cant do the same here. The only reason being they know they can get away with it. We are no longer prepared to spill out blood so they can sit on their backsides all day. Those who dont like it our freee to leave the country, transport to the airport will be arranged. Bon Voyage

That's why the army created nahal haredi or hesder to accomodate the needs of orthodox soldiers. Moreover today 30% of the army commanders are religious. Finally, massehet Chabat (talmud) describes a number of cases where the laws of chabat do not hold during war.