A couple of months ago my friend Eliyokim Cohen recommended a 151-part series of classes by Rabbi Yossi Michalowicz, who I’d never heard of, on Zionism and its relationship to Judaism. He said the classes are phenomenal.
Finding time to sit down and listen to shiurim isn’t simple for me (same for all the long must-see videos people send me, which can usually be summarized in two minutes, and aren’t even worth the two minutes). Also, I usually hate listening to shiurim (yeshiva wasn’t fun), so I’m not going to listen to just anything.
But Eliyokim’s suggestions carry weight with me, so eventually I listened to the first class and I listened to a few more on Tisha B’av (including #52, “Religious Zionism and Dying for Your Country”, and #53, “Are IDF Soldiers Automatically Holy?”).
My friend was right. They are phenomenal. The classes are filled with information about the history of the modern Zionist movement to contemporary times, the various perspectives of Torah leaders in response to this movement, concrete Torah sources on the issues, and sharp analysis. Rabbi Michalowicz names names and really gets into details; lots of substance, no fluff.
Although Rabbi Michalowicz has drawn certain conclusions based on his critical analysis — as he should! — he is intellectually honest, and presents the information in a very balanced and reasonable way. Not only that, he is a pleasure to listen to.
I highly recommend you check out his classes and share them. They can be found on Torah Anytime, and a link to the series on Zionism and Judaism is here.
Then there’s the other side. I’m sorry to subject you to more from Tzohar, but I can’t let their latest outrage go.
The editor of The Kiddush Kefira Times is Shlomo Ben Zvi, a wealthy media mogul. (See here for his interesting bio; money can definitely buy influence where merit falls short.) I sent him the following email:
In your most recent issue Rabbi Stav writes that our generation has merited “a moral army the likes of which we have not had since the days of Joshua son of Nun”. What does he mean by this? Can you please elaborate?
Thank you.
I did not receive a response.
In his weekly column Ben Zvi has been promoting something he calls Beit ha-Umah, which he envisions as a legislative branch of the Israeli government. Diaspora Jews would be eligible to vote in elections for this branch (Jew-demonizers could have a field day with this) — but only if they “express his or her commitment to Am Yisrael”.
How does one do that? By serving Hashem? By committing to be shomer Torah u’mitzvos? By keeping Shabbos? By saying kriyas shema every day? By keeping kosher? By going to shul?
Don’t be silly. It involves “putting something on the line, having some skin in the game”. Commitment to the Jewish people means enlisting in the IDF. Alternatively, “if your child or grandchild serves Am Yisrael’s state in the army or in Sherut Leumi, barukh habah, you and your family should be able to vote and help shape Am Yisrael’s future…”
According to this Religious Zionist leader, editor of a publication reaching hundreds of communities, Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l was less committed to the Jewish people than a tattooed arse in the IDF, an atheist who parties and gets high in his spare time. At least he has skin in the game. What game is another question, but he has skin in it.
(Ben Zvi offers a third option: becoming a “pilgrim” and visiting Jerusalem for the chagim. Tough luck if you can’t afford all those round-trip flights; you’re not worthy of shaping the future of our people.)
I wouldn’t give attention to this drivel if not for the fact that the editor of The Kefira Times claims it comes from the Torah — from none other than Moshe Rabbeinu himself! He writes as follows:
The first way appears in Parashat Matot, and it was Moshe’s idea. He said to the two and a half tribes who wished to settle outside the Land, on the east bank of the Jordan: fight for Israel, fight alongside your brothers, and you will remain full members of the national tribal confederation. They agreed, and so it was, then and now. There is no greater demonstration of commitment than service in Tzahal or Sherut Leumi.
This is such a gross falsification of the Torah that it reads like a Purim spoof of Religious Zionism. But Ben Zvi isn’t joking; he’s really trying to pass this off as authentic Torah. It’s as twistedly Reform an approach to “interpreting” the Torah as this:
The agreement was nothing like Ben Zvi fabricates. A child reading an English translation could see that. If the two and a half tribes honored their commitment to fight with their brethren, they would be given the land they preferred instead of their regular portion. If they failed to honor their commitment, they would be given their regular portion inside the Land of Israel.
The agreement had nothing to do with demonstrating commitment to the Jewish people, and their continued membership in the nation was not dependent on joining an army, let alone a fake-Jewish army like the IDF. Not then, not now, not ever. Who doesn’t know this?
The fact that Ben Zvi tries to pass this off as “proof” underscores the paucity of actual Torah sources to justify his position. He is literally falsifying the Torah and making things up.
No matter how strongly you feel in favor of “serving” in the IDF, this is not acceptable. It is the duty of Religious Zionists who still respect the Torah to publicly object to this, to disassociate themselves from Tzohar, The Kefira Times, and others who distort the Torah. They should speak to their rabbis and community leaders about this. They should not allow this publication into their shul or community.
Considering what Religious Zionism has become, they should take the next step and rethink their identification with this movement altogether. But even if they are not ready for that (what will it take?), they must draw a line in the sand. Religious Zionism — at least as represented by Tzohar and The Kefira Times — must be rejected as inauthentic Judaism, an assault on the Torah, and an effrontery to Hashem.
Since we’re already on the subject, let’s clarify the true meaning of the source from Matos. It is a favorite of Irreligious Zionists to hijack and distort, as if they really care what the Torah has to say.
The Mishna in Shekalim 3:2 teaches that when people donate their coins to the mikdash they must not enter the chamber wearing accouterments in which money could be easily concealed, lest people suspect them of stealing money from inside. As the Mishna concludes, we must be concerned with making a positive impression on people, in addition to satisfying Hashem.
This is supported with two pesukim, including Bamidbar 32:22, where Moshe tells the two and half tribes that if they fulfill their part of the deal they will be clean in the eyes of Hashem and Israel. The Tiferes Yisrael explains why the Mishna supports its teaching with two pesukim, beginning his comment as follows:
谞”诇 讚诇讛讻讬 谞拽讟 拽专讗 讘转专讗. 讚讗讬 诪拽专讗 拽诪讗, 讛讜”讗 讚讜拽讗 讘讙讜专诐 砖讬讞砖讚讜讛讜 讗住讜专, 讻讘谞讬 讙讚 砖诪讗谞讜 诇注讘讜专 诇讗”讬, 讜注讬”讝 讙专诪讜 砖讬讞砖讚讜诐 讻讗讬诇讜 诪转驻讞讚讬谉 诪讻谞注谞讬讬诐, 诇讛讻讬 讛讬讜. 爪专讬讻讬诐 诇讛讻专讬注 讚注转 讛专讜讗讛 讻砖讬专讗讜 讛诐 注讜讘专讬诐 诇驻谞讬 讛讞诇讜抓
It seems to me that this is why the mishna specified the latter verse, for if it only stated the former I might have thought that actively causing others to suspect one of wrongdoing is only that which is forbidden, such as the sons of Gad, who refused to cross to the Land of Israel, and thereby caused others to suspect them of being afraid of the Canaanites. Therefore they needed to sway the opinion of the observer, when they would see them crossing at the head of the armed men…
This is indeed evident from the text itself. Moshe’s concern was that these tribes were the meraglim redux, discouraging the people from entering Israel altogether. IDF missionaries hijack this story because it makes for a good sound bite — “should your brothers go out to war while you stay here?” — but they conveniently ignore the actual context and meaning. They are deceitful and irreligious, megaleh panim b’Torah, abusing the Torah to read their agenda into the Torah.
There is no comparison between biblical Jewish armies and the IDF. It doesn’t even get off the ground.
Besides, IDF cultists are not losing courage because of those who refuse to enlist. They may be getting ground up faster than they otherwise would be — which is highly debatable — but they wouldn’t leave the IDF if their life depended on it, in this world and the next.
Not only that, they want to be in combat units more than anything else; that’s where the glory is. Being removed from combat duty is a punishment!
Those who choose to “serve” in spite of it all should acknowledge that it’s the greatest b’dieved imaginable. They should not pretend that they are following in the footsteps of biblical heroes, they should refrain from distorting the Torah for propaganda purposes, and they should certainly not demand it of anyone else.
With all the above in mind, I posted the following comment in response to the lengthy Facebook post that follows:
Why are you all so surprised the IDF would betray you like this? You're worse than Charlie Brown expecting that next time Lucy won't pull away the football, only you're gambling your bodies, souls, and lives on it. You're the intelligence failures. Am Yisrael Chai! LOL.
Here is the post, from an incorrigible Religious Zionist influencer:
https://www.facebook.com/avi.abelow.2025/posts/10162297838482242?ref=embed_post
Yehoshua Shani, father of Lt. Uri Shani, HY”D, killed on Oct. 7 fighting the jihadi invaders from Gaza:
What happened this Shabbat in the intensive care unit at Rambam Hospital demands an immediate investigation.
Three days ago, my nephew Eitan, an IDF combat soldier, was seriously wounded in Lebanon and hospitalized at Rambam Hospital together with three other soldiers from his unit who were also wounded.
Since then, we have been living with tremendous anxiety for his well-being.
Eitan was sedated and on a ventilator. Only yesterday afternoon did he wake up, suffering from burns all over his body, pain, fever, and hallucinations.
And then night came.
A new shift entered the ward. According to the family, every member of the nursing staff on that shift was Arabic-speaking.
At a certain point, all the families were removed from the ward and the doors were locked.
You have to understand the situation:
Four seriously wounded IDF soldiers, who had just returned from fighting in Lebanon, were left alone behind locked doors, without their families, while the entire staff on duty was Arabic-speaking.
I want to say this clearly: Given the security reality in which we are living, this is a situation that, from the families’ perspective, raises serious questions and creates a profound sense of insecurity. These feelings must not be dismissed, and these questions must not be swept under the rug.
The family members asked to be allowed inside.
Not to interfere with the staff’s work.
Not to sit there for hours.
Just to go in for a second and see that Eitan was okay.
Again and again they asked.
Again and again they were refused.:
refused.
At a certain point, David, Eitan’s brother, decided that he had to see with his own eyes what was happening to his brother. He forced his way through the door and entered the ward.
And what he describes seeing there is simply inconceivable.
Eitan was not okay.
According to David, his wounded brother was lying there begging for water, and at that moment none of the staff was beside him to respond to him.
A soldier seriously wounded in Lebanon.
Only hours earlier, he had awakened after being sedated and ventilated.
Suffering from burns, pain, fever, and hallucinations.
Begging for water.
With no family member beside him.
And at that moment, no one approaching him to help.
Then Eitan whispered something even more serious to his brother.
According to David, Eitan told him that when members of the staff turned him over in his bed, they did so brutally, “like a sardine,” in Eitan’s words, and his head was slammed against the bed.
These are things Eitan himself told his brother.
I am not prepared to simply let this pass.
And when David cried out over what he was seeing, instead of someone stopping and asking the obvious question, what happened here, and why is a wounded soldier begging for help? a hospital security officer was summoned to deal with David, who had entered the ward to check on his brother.
We also tried to involve the IDF unit responsible for hospitalized soldiers.
There was no representative available there for the family.
And there is something else that particularly infuriates me.
When a terrorist or security detainee is hospitalized, the State of Israel makes sure to place security personnel with him, among other reasons to ensure that no harm comes to him during his hospitalization.
Yet here we have four IDF soldiers who were seriously wounded in battle in Lebanon, and their families are removed from the ward. They remain behind locked doors, without an IDF representative there for them, while the entire staff on duty, according to the family’s testimony, is Arabic-speaking.
We know how to place guards around a terrorist.
But who is guarding our soldiers?
I am not claiming that every Arabic-speaking staff member constitutes a danger. Certainly not.
But in the reality of war, when wounded and helpless soldiers are hospitalized after battle, the IDF’s responsibility toward them does not end the moment the helicopter reaches the hospital.
The IDF must ensure that they are protected, properly cared for, and that there is an available military representative for their families.
And I ask:
Who is responsible for this failure?
Who is responsible for a situation in which the families of four seriously wounded soldiers find themselves outside locked doors?
Who was supposed to ensure that these soldiers received attention at every moment?
Who checked what was happening behind those doors?
And who, on behalf of the IDF, was supposed to be there for the soldiers and their families?
I demand that the management of Rambam Hospital and the IDF immediately open a thorough investigation into this incident.
I demand that all security-camera footage from the ward and corridors during the relevant hours be preserved immediately.
I demand an investigation into exactly who was on duty, why all the families were removed and the doors locked, what response Eitan received when he asked for water, how he was treated and moved in his bed, where the staff members were during those minutes, and who was responsible for the shift.
And I demand an answer to another question that we must not be afraid to ask:
Was the fact that the entire staff on duty was Arabic-speaking completely irrelevant to what occurred, or is there something additional here that requires investigation?
I am not determining the answer in advance.
I am demanding that the question be investigated.
Not every Arab staff member is responsible for what happened, and I am not casting suspicion on an entire community. But neither should the families of wounded soldiers be expected to ignore the situation or the fears it raised for them.
These four young men were not injured while on vacation.
They were wounded as IDF combat soldiers in Lebanon, defending the State of Israel.
When they are lying wounded, in pain, and helpless in an Israeli hospital, the State of Israel owes them one basic thing:
To protect them.
I expect an investigation and answers.
Not in a month.
Not after the camera footage has been erased.
Now.
Now for my personal commentary. I’m not as politically correct as Yehoshua Shani:
Let’s say they consider themselves “palestinians, as most Arab Muslim Israelis identify, and believe Israel is killing their jihadi brothers and cousins in Gaza. Is it really so far-fetched to think they would exploit their positions on the night shift in a hospital to neglect their medical duties toward IDF soldiers?
Add to that a 1,400-year jihadi ideological background.
Jews must wake up: the Arab Muslim population with Israeli citizenship is a fifth column. Not all of them, but many. They must be treated as the security risk they represent, not blindly trusted in positions that impact Jewish lives, as doctors or nurses in our hospitals.
This is wake-up time for the Jewish people. The time for naively ignoring the jihadi background of our Arab Muslim Israeli citizens is over. The danger of jihad is not just in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria, it’s in our hospitals, pharmacies and buses, all staffed by Arab Muslim Israeli citizens.
We will overcome this. It begins by stopping the denial of a 1,400-year jihad and its impact on Arab Muslims. This is an evil that must be removed from God’s holy land, the land entrusted to the Jewish people to spread holiness and serve as a light unto the nations.
For the United States, or any country, to survive the growing jihad within its borders and the political power it is gaining, all jihadis must be deported. Israel must set the example by implementing this policy first.
Strengthen your faith. Share these truths loudly. Stop being afraid of being called an “Islamophobe.” Saving our lives is more important.
Am Yisrael Chai!!!
End of quote.
A reader made the following astute comment:
Instead of using it as a moment to realize that they have been worshipping the Molech state, they just use the event as a springboard pleading to each other that they should be hating on Arabs more, instead of the people responsible for intentionally utilizing Arabs in this malicious hospital format.
Indeed. It's incredible to see that no matter how badly the state abuses them they will not reconsider their slavish devotion to their oppressors, not even slightly.
Stockholm Syndrome and a Molech death cult in one. That is Religious Zionism.
Finally:
Chareidi soldiers who enlisted nearly two years ago in the “Tomer” Company—the Chareidi track within the Givati Brigade—told Ynet that the unit has been disbanded and that they have been reassigned to a regular company serving in Gaza, where they can no longer maintain the Chareidi lifestyle they were promised when they enlisted.
“We feel betrayed,” one soldier said. “They promised us something, and we came. People burned bridges with the communities they came from. Most of our company receives special welfare support for a reason. Many severed ties with their parents and families, knowing that even future marriage prospects could be damaged if people found out they enlisted. They sacrificed their past and their future to contribute to the country, and now no one seems to care.”
The soldiers said the specialized framework had ensured tefilla times and Torah study during training, but that conditions changed after they joined the battalion.
“We’re invited to events that are not gender-separated. During the Nine Days, they played music and served meat. There are many gaps that simply don’t fit our religious outlook,” one soldier said.
Others said they are now assigned to duties alongside female soldiers, including kitchen shifts and serving with female paramedics.
Read the complete article here.
Who could have possibly predicted that?!
Anyone who is surprised is the real intelligence failure.
Will they ever learn the appropriate lessons?
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