Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave an unusual press conference on Thursday evening in which he addressed the thorny issue of religious people serving in the military.
For 75 years, ultra-Orthodox males have been able to request exemptions if they are studying religion. That has, over time, been a source of resentment among other, secular (or even just regular Orthodox) members of the population, who have shouldered the military burden.
In fact, that resentment helped fuel the protests that, a year ago, sharply divided Israeli society. The secular-religious divide lay behind much of the political rancor.
So when defense minister Yoav Gallant announced earlier this week that Israel needed to start drafting religious people, due to the extreme demands on IDF manpower (and womanpower) during the ongoing war, that created the potential for an explosive domestic political situation, mid-conflict.
But as Netanyahu explained, there is probably enough political will for some kind of compromise. It won't be one that everyone likes: there is no "absolute agreement" except in North Korea, he said. But it will allow the military to continue to function well -- and will resolve the "social gap" in Israeli society.
If that actually comes together, it will be an incredibly positive thing, and one of the most important victories of the war. Perhaps only a war like this could move Israel to confront its internal cultural and religious divisions. But in doing so, Israel faces an opportunity for an incredible, even miraculous, national rebirth.
Just think of it: a year ago, ultra-religious and secular Israelis were arguing in the streets. (Well, it was more like secular people yelling at religious people.) Now, they could be serving together in uniform. People talk about shared suffering in crisis leading to transformation. This time it may really happen.
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
