There are many well-intentioned people in the State of Israel who want to contribute to a reasonable solution to the persistent problem of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) conscription.
They suggest solutions they hope will be accepted by at least part of the public and the haredi leadership. Since many are religious themselves, they have no problem taking into account values such as Torah study or the “haredi lifestyle.”
Some propose, for example, that haredi men who are not studying should be drafted, while those who study Torah “seriously” (say, about half of haredi men) should be exempt from service. Others focus on the haredi lifestyle. They argue that if the IDF were to establish divisions exclusively for haredi men – they (at least those who are not studying) would be willing to enlist.
The problem is that such proposals have been circulating for decades and have not resulted in anything concrete and practical. The haredi leadership even declares every once in a while that even those who do not study would be drafted, heaven forbid.
The solutions and analyses of haredi society that support these ideas are fundamentally wrong. They accept the haredi claims and apologies at face value and think that if they compromise on one detail or another, adapt the IDF to haredi culture, and so forth, there will be progress.
I propose that we turn the tables: the most basic foundation of haredi existence is self-segregation.A comparison with the Yachad sect of the Dead Sea Scrolls may help.
According to what is described in the scrolls, as interpreted by modern scholars, during the Second Temple period, the Yachad sect fled to the Judean Desert, segregating itself from the rest of Jewish society, which it believed to be sinful and corrupt.
In fact, sectarianism during the Second Temple may have started even earlier, during the Return to Zion period (circa 500 BCE), when the term haredim denoting “tremblers” or “quakers” from the fear of God, first appeared (Isa 66:5). In that context, it seems to denote a group opposed to the sinful Jewish mainstream.
Haredi self-segregation
Contemporary haredi self-segregation stems from deep and ideological reasons – opposition to all the fundamental changes that Jewish society has undergone with modernity, including modern Orthodoxy and religious Zionism.
Above all, they object to adopting modern nationalism. They do not want to be part of those factions in the Jewish people that engage with modernity – social, moral, and cultural.
This self-segregation is accompanied by the contention that they are the true and authentic Israel (as was claimed by the Dead Sea sect in its time). As a result, the attitude toward mainstream Israel has always been ambivalent.
The clearest emblem of separation is non-conscription into the IDF. This is at the core of haredi identity, and there is no flexibility about it. Now, it is necessary to justify this separation in public discourse; one cannot simply say, “We are separating from you because you are wicked.”
So, all sorts of excuses are invented – “Torah study is our profession,” the haredi lifestyle, etc. But these come after the initial and foundational act of separation.
Note that wherever ultra-Orthodoxy emerged, it began with separation: the Austritt in Frankfurt am Main (of Samson Raphael Hirsch and his congregation), Orthodoxy in Hungary, and the haredi community in Jerusalem.
All these suggestions to compromise and consequently draft some of the ultra-Orthodox, do not delve into the depth of haredi self-segregation. They assume that the haredim actually want to be part of the broader Jewish people, but they have a unique perception of what the Jewish people need, and haredi spokespeople, of course, reinforce this impression.
In other words, they argue that in addition to a strong army and a strong economy, we also need Torah study and “faith.”
These concepts are, of course, also acceptable to many who are religious and traditional themselves, so they offer “compromises” that accommodate Torah study and gender separation in IDF service. However, for the “deep” ultra-Orthodoxy that characterizes (among other groups) the extreme and disruptive Jerusalem Faction and, less vocally, the haredi leadership, this is irrelevant.
They do not want to be part of the broader Jewish people. Period. And they do not want to enlist. Period.
Of course, within the wider haredi community, there are some, perhaps even many, who are not sure they want to separate completely from the broader Jewish people and broader Israeli society. For them, the haredi press offers other arguments – that in secular Tel Aviv, there are all kinds of draft dodgers, that the secular authorities harass religious soldiers and officers, and so on.
Thus, to be practical, there is no point in dialogue or compromise. Those who do not enlist should be designated as deserters, with all the economic sanctions that it entails (which most likely will not happen under the current government).
However, it is neither necessary nor desirable to send the military police to haredi Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Batei Ungarin or Kiryat Mattersdorf, nor to Bnei Brak.
The writer is a sociologist and a senior staff member of the Jewish People Policy Institute in Jerusalem.