The violent ultra-Orthodox fight against the draft is a holy war against the state |
Anyone who was surprised by the shocking attack on the home and property of Supreme Court Deputy President Justice Noam Sohlberg on Wednesday completely misread the situation on the ground and was not attuned to the intensity of the hatred that has been developing for years in the ultra-Orthodox community toward the State of Israel and its institutions.
Anyone who was surprised fails to understand that this is a religious-extremist phenomenon that is not subject to formulas of compromise or moderation. This is an existential ultra-Orthodox holy war in the service of God, and it is one they feel they must never abandon.
The shattered windows, broken flowerpots, and wrecked car of Justice Sohlberg are part of this religious crusade. Had he fallen into the rioters’ hands, his fate, too, would likely have been sealed due to the “sins” of conscription the ultra-Orthodox attribute to him.
“God is our king, and we are His servants The holy Torah is our life, and to it we are bound In the rule of the heretics we do not believe And their laws we do not heed In the path of the Torah we will go through fire and water In the path of the Torah we will go to sanctify the name of Heaven.”
These are the simple words of the anthem that nowadays accompanies every ultra-Orthodox youth when he goes out to block roads, break into prisons in an attempt to free draft dodgers, threaten enlistment candidates seeking to join the army, or besiege and vandalize the homes of Brig. Gen. Yuval Yamin, commander of the Military Police, and Justice Sohlberg — representatives of the rule of the heretics. As far as the ultra-Orthodox are concerned, this is the path of the Torah.
In the past, this anthem was the preserve of Neturei Karta, a reclusive fringe sect that most ultra-Orthodox disavowed. Anyone who sang “in the rule of the heretics” in the alleyways of Mea Shearim was considered a “meshuggeneh” (crazy in Yiddish).
Today, against the backdrop of the struggles over the ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the IDF, this inciting refrain has become the most popular of all. The meaning is clear.
I once met a yeshiva student on the Chords Bridge in Jerusalem during a huge demonstration against drafting ultra-Orthodox youths into the army, an event during which a young protester lost his life after falling to his death from a high crane.
“We are not Israelis, and this country does not interest us,” the yeshiva student told me. “You need to understand that. We are servants of God, and you cannot take us out of there.”
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