Q:
The Rav has mentioned many times that the Israeli army is chotei u’machti. If there was a choice right now only between the two, what would be better for Klal Yisroel, no Israeli army or yes an Israeli army? You can only pick one out of the two.
A:
That’s not a question at all. If you said the question is should you join the Israeli army, I’d say, “No.”
Should it continue to function? Absolutely. It should continue. It should have victory, overcome enemies. No question about it. What enters your mind at all? Certainly it should conquer; otherwise the Arabs will overrun Eretz Yisroel. Who knows what’ll happen if the Arabs win this war? It’s a sakanah for us.
Not only them. Suppose a bandit is chasing after you and along comes a goy and wants to hit the bandit. Do you want the goy to succeed or not? What’s the question?
December 2000
Q:
Is having a Jewish army in the State of Israel before Moshiach comes, considered a meridah b’umos, a rebellion against the nations of the world (Kesuvos 111a)?
A:
Whatever it is, it’s like I said many times before. Suppose a dog is chasing you; a mad dog is running after you. And along comes an apikores holding a club and he gives the dog a blow with his club and drives it away. Do you want this apikores to drop dead? This apikores is running after the dog with his club and is trying to save you from this dangerous dog. Do you want the apikores to drop dead or not? He’s saving you from the dog! At least let him live until he finishes the job of saving you from the wild dog.
So therefore, as long as the army is fighting to protect the Jews in the yishuv hayashan, okay. The Jews need protection against the Arabs. If the Arabs would come in – chas v’shalom, chas v’shalom!
Now it could very well be that they are to blame. It could very well be that the Zionists are to blame for creating the atmosphere of hostility against the frum Jews. Yes, yes; but right now, that’s the story. The army is a protection.
Of course, Hakadosh Baruch Hu could protect us in other ways too, but we have to look at the natural things. And naturally, an army is a protection; so we want the army to be successful. Whether the army is kosher or not kosher is something else. When the apikores is coming to rescue you from the mad dog, what could you do? The apikores should succeed at that. That’s all. It’s not a matter of appreciating his kashrus or his tzidkus.
December 2000
