Biden Demands Israel Enter A Unilateral Ceasefire, Demands Nothing From Hamas

 

In an interview broadcast on Tuesday, President Joe Biden demanded that Israel agree to a unilateral six-to-eight week ceasefire in Gaza – without insisting on the release of hostages or even that Hamas shouldn’t attack Israel during that time.

“What I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all food and medicine going into the country,” Biden told Univision, a US Spanish-language TV network.

“I’ve spoken with everyone from the Saudis to the Jordanians to the Egyptians. They’re prepared to move in,” Biden added. “They’re prepared to move this food in. And I think there’s no excuse to not provide for the medical and the food needs of those people. It should be done now.”

The interview was taped last Wednesday, just two days after an Israeli airstrike mistakenly killed three aid workers. In the leadup to the interview being aired, Biden administration officials appeared to backtrack from the president’s comments – saying that it Hamas, not Israel, that is preventing a ceasefire from going into effect.

“There could be a ceasefire in place today that would extend for several weeks to be built upon longer if Hamas would be prepared to release some of those people, so let’s train the attention where it belongs… I believe Israel is ready and Hamas should step up to the table and be prepared to do so as well,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

He added that Hamas “has an opportunity now to agree to the proposal on a ceasefire and hostages. The ball is in Hamas’s court. The world is watching to see what it does.”

Lawler Slams Schumer and Pelosi on Fox

 

Innocent Israelis and Americans were killed on October 7th and are still being held hostage. #BringThemHomeNow pic.twitter.com/PJ5eeLd10x

— Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) April 9, 2024

 Congressman Mike Lawler, a Republican who represents Rockland and Westchester who is a staunch friend of the Jewish community, vocally defended Israel, and slammed Schumer and Pelosi, during an appearance on Fox Business Network.

Speaking with Neil Cavuto Tuesday, Lawler said, “What Chuck Schumer did, what Nancy Pelosi did, making Benjamin Netanyahu the boogey man, rather than focusing their ire on Hamas…”

He continued, “The fastest way to have a cease fire is for Hamas to put down its weapons and release the hostages.”

Lawler said, “To somehow call for regime change in Israel and dangle aid to Israel is shameful…What would the United States do if a country was threatening to eradicate our country?”

“You have to defend your country, you have to defend your citizens. We still have American hostages being held.”

Bein Hazamanim Started and Chareidim in Yerushalyim Wave Palestinian Flags and show Palestinian ID During Protests ..No One has a clue what they were protesting about!

While their brothers are dying on the front, Hundreds of Chareidim free from learning, free from Torah, and going bat-crazy from doing nothing decided to come out in mass to protest. No one has a clue why? Where were their Roshei Yeshiva? 

As I keep telling you guys the Chareide world is totally disconnected from all the other Jews! 

Two protesters were arrested Tuesday for disorderly conduct during a violent march from Ein Ya’akov to Kikar Shabbat in Jerusalem. Extremely graphic video footage shows them engaging in violent clashes with the police.

One of the people arrested who was asked to present an ID card pulled out a “Palestinian Jew” card.

 During the protest, they waved PLO flags and held up signs against the State of Israel. While police were attempting to arrest them, a violent riot erupted, with protesters attacking police, blocking vehicles and the highway, throwing objects and stones at the officers, attempting to damage a police vehicle, shouting “Nazis” at the officers, and setting fire to two trash cans.

Letitia James Issues Pesach Warning

 New York Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday issued a warning to residents about "blatantly antisemitic" scams targeting Jewish communities over Passover.

The Jewish holiday of Passover, also known as Pesach, begins this year at sundown on April 22 and continues through April 30. It commemorates the story of the Israelites' escape from slavery in Egypt. Passover is traditionally celebrated with a gathering known as a seder, at which the Jewish text called the Haggadah is read aloud.

On Tuesday, James warned New Yorkers on X, formerly Twitter, about businesses in the state charging extra for services branded as special deals for Passover, a practice she called antisemitic.

Rock Band "HaYehudim" Forced to Cancel Brooklyn Concert Because of their Name

The Brooklyn Monarch concert venue located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has canceled the appearance of the Israeli hard rock band HaYehudim because of its name and the club’s fear of appearing to be taking a political position on the war in Gaza.

Of course, by canceling the show the Monarch already took a political position on the war in Gaza, Israel’s right to defend itself, the 2-state solution, and Arab murderers beheading babies, raping women, and slashing innocent civilians.

Twitter user Iris shared the venue’s official explanation:

“I’m very sorry but we can’t accommodate you. My partners got back to me regarding the political nature of the band’s name, and we as an entertainment space in New York prefer to avoid politically charged events or actions.”

Of course, HaYehudim was established in 1992, and their name means, literally, “The Jews.” How would that make their show a politically charged event?

If your audience is mostly antisemites, it would.

Israel ‘prepared to strike nuclear targets’ if Iran retaliates after assassination

 

Israel is believed to be prepared to strike Iranian nuclear facilities if Tehran launches an attack in retaliation for the assassination of a top general last week.

The Israel Defense Forces has held air force drills in recent days and is eyeing vital Iranian infrastructure, including nuclear facilities, Elaph News, a London-based media outlet, reported, citing an unnamed Western security official.

Israelis have been on tenterhooks since late last week when a high-precision Israeli air strike killed a top general with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and other senior officers at the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

Mohammad Reza Zahedi has been described as Iran’s most important general to have been assassinated since the 2020 US airstrike that killed Qassim Soleimani.

Iran has vowed to retaliate, sparking fears of a major escalation and potentially all-out war between Israel and Iran.

Six-legged gazelle spotted in Israel

 

A rare six-legged mountain gazelle has been spotted in Israel. The male gazelle has an extra pair of legs growing from its back, but wildlife experts say it seems to be managing fine with the extra appendages.

The discovery was made by an Israeli army reservist who, in late March, spotted and then sent a photo of the bizarre looking creature to the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, or SPNI, an environmental nonprofit organization, after noticing that it had "something strange on its back," according to the group.

Amir Balaban, a conservationist for SPNI, said in a news release shared with CBS News that the six-legged gazelle had "survived a complex litter and survived as a young individual, dealt with many predators that endanger young fawns, matured single and as an adult managed to lead an impressive life in the Nahal HaBasor reserve."

The nature reserve sits in Israel's southern Negev desert, just a few miles from the war-torn Gaza Strip. SPNI called it "one of the most important remaining strongholds for the Israeli gazelle in the western Negev, especially during the recent war."

"Contrary to expectations, the gazelle is healthy, strong, and has three female gazelles and a fawn from the previous fall. He has been seen hosting the females in the fields and the extra legs on his back pose no challenge to him," Balaban said.

SPNI attributed the gazelle's extra legs to a rare genetic disorder called organ proliferation, or polymelia.

The animal's genetic abnormality was most likely hereditary, Balaban said. According to SPNI, it occurrs frequently in cattle, birds and reptiles, but this is the first known instance of polymelia being documented in a mountain gazelle in the Middle East.

Mountain gazelles are a protected wild species in Israel. There are estimated to be only around 5,000 gazelles of the endangered species remaining in the wild.

While mountain gazelles can be found mostly in Israel, they live across the region and can also be spotted in the Palestinian territories, Turkey, and parts of Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Bobov Doesn't Think Moshiach Is Coming Anytime Soon

I am happy that Schools are being built for our Jewish Children learning Torah, but having said that, I'm thinking, that the Chareidie World has learned absolutely zero from the Holocaust. 

I know that they believe that come Moshiach all those buildings will fly (El Al) to Israel. I know that the Zohar mentions this, and this is their excuse to build monstrosities in Chutz Le'aaaretz. Im not sure what the Zohar is actually saying, but the facts are unfortunately different, witness the expulsion of Spain, the expulsion of England and the Holocaust proved that this is NOT the case. Mosidois Hatorah were totally destroyed in Chutz Le'aartz not too long ago, and those burned down buildings are not coming to Israel  anytime soon even when Moshiach comes. 

First of all, we have no room for them in Israel, and second of all, we don't need burned down buildings in Israel, ask those who lived in the south on October 7. 

They haven't even learned from their experiences in the USA! 

Where is the new Bobover Yeshiva building built in Crown Heights? I remember as a child attending that groundbreaking and the Chanukas Habayis! What happened to all the beautiful Shuls in East New York, Brownsville, Bedford Stuyvesant and The Bronx? 

What do they think is going to happen to Boro-Park? Do they think that the goyim are going to stand by and watch Jews taking over? Are we blind and oblivious to what is happening throughout the world?

 Bobov is building what they think is the "future" I suggest that they put Chassidishe Sefarim aside for a half hour and instead take out a history book and learn about what the goyim did to the Jews just in the last century, this might be a start for a good education. 

Until 911, Hashem protected the USA and not one war had any effect on the USA territory itself, and that is because the USA is a medina shel chesed. 

911 was a message to the USA that "If you abandon My values, I will remove that protection."  Hashem sent Muslims to the World Trade Center to wake up America .As long as the USA cares and backs Israel, the USA will be protected but once she abandons the majority of the Jewish people that live in Israel and caters to the Arabs in Michigan all because of an election, the USA will be doomed, and we are witnessing the rapid fall of this once great country in the here and now! 

Whether you are a Zionist or you are an antizionist Jew living in the USA, know that your success is bound to how Israel is treated. You can quote the Vayoel Moshe until kingdom comes or until the cows come home, but if your leaders are satisfied in Chutz Leaaretz and do not fight hand and foot against the policies of the Biden administration, you are doomed. 

Letters from the Moetzes Hagdola about the Israeli draft will not bring Moshiach. New Bobover buildings will not bring Moshiach. Expansion of Kiryas Yoel, New Square and Fakewood will not bring Moshiach. Bringing the mayor or the governor to rebbes to get their blessings and "chanfe" them, will not bring Moshiach. 

What the Ribono Shel Oilom wants to see is Jews returning to the land that Hashem gifted us and for those who choose to remain in Chul, being genuinely concerned how their government is treating Israel, because that is a reflection what their government really thinks of the Jews! 

Have you taken the time to write a letter to your elected officials?  

Not too long ago the then President Obama pushed the murderous Iran Deal, Jewish ASS'kanim wrote in  all the Frum News Sites that this is a good thing!???????????? 

 The Satmar Rebbe of Monroe started a writing campaign to Representatives, and hundreds of thousands of Satmar Chassidim wrote that they support this deal!! Unbelievable! 

I am wondering, did even ONE Satmar Chusid write to their elected officials one word in support of Israel? Guys, it's a time of war, are Satmar Chassidim still davening three times a day that the State of Israel (should G-D forbid) be destroyed?? 

I have news for you guys, the Ribbono Shel Olom doesn't have to look at chilonim, the RBS"O doesn't have to look at the Ziyonim all He has to do is look at us Frum Jews, how we don't care about the only Jewish Nation in the entire world.

 The RBS"O watched as did all the Goyim to see how many Jews would attend the rally in Washington DC. To see how many cared. Out of 5 million Jews a mere 500,00 showed up. Rabbanim after WW2 swore that they would never let that happen again, that they would march in the streets not to allow another annihilation to happen. Instead, the R"Y the Tzadddikim came up with all kinds of excuses, why not to show up. Oh! "a galich will speak" "oh! an actress will speak" ... "the event was organized "nish fun unzereh" 

But what the goyim saw was not who spoke, but who showed up! 

Schumer looked around and saw that few of his voters showed up and he understood that his frum constituents would continue to vote for him as long as he throws money to the moisdois! He knew and witnessed that they didn't care about Israel! 

The frum community better wake up quick, those who hate Israel, hate Jews. 

I have to admit that there was a large kinnus in Flatbush where thousands attended and said tehillim, but we in Israel weren't comforted by that; we didn't see one Israeli flag! 

The Secular News watching this event had no idea what this kinnos was about as there wasn't anything showing that this kinnus was connected to anything that happened in Israel. 

The Israeli Flag, like it or not represents Jews. When a Goy sees the Israeli Flag, he sees a Jewish Flag! Would it have hurt someone if they had brought one Israeli Flag to the event? 

What was the message? It wasn't to say tehillim in public, no! ...they could have rented a venue. The message they gave was that we Jews are NOT like those who were murdered, we are different, we wear black hats and white shirts. Well I have news for you black hatters, the Jews that got murdered in the south also hated the flag, you are one of the same. They also hated the medina! It would have been a Kiddush Hashem if the RY saying tehillim were clutching an Israeli Flag the flag hated in the entire world and said proudly we are one. "When you murder one of us, no matter his or her observance we are all brothers and sisters, "but sadly that message did not come across and the ASS"akanim were afraid of the anti-Zionists and so caved like a wet cardboard carton. What a waste!

The RBS"O could have made it that 1.500 Jews be murdered in chutz le'aaretz, why in the State of Israel? Oh! I know all your frum answers, I am way past that. 

I'll tell you my thoughts on why, and listen closely. 

If this would have happened in any part of the world, the world would have been outraged and the Jewish people would have had alot of sympathy, because there wasn't any way they could defend themselves and the world loves dead Jews not Jews that defend themselves.  and so there wouldn't have been an awakening to the Jewish people,  that ALL Goyim hate Us! There wouldn't have been an awakening at all! The college campuses would have been marching in sympathy for dead Jews. 

The fact that this happened in Israel, and the Jews, thank G-d, used the army to go into Gaza and murder the assailants and rapists is why the world is outraged. They are outraged because Jews are fighting back, and that is what brought out all the antisemitic roaches from their hiding places. In Chutz Le'aartz the Jews would have not been able to defend themselves so they would have garnered sympathy but in Eretz Yisrael where Jews fought back is where the proverbial dog is hidden. 

During the Holocaust not ONE nation came to save the Jews, not One! Yes, they fought the Nazis but they fought the Germans because of their own self-interests not one fought Germany to save the Jews. We now have a country albeit not perfect, that is Jewish, and they care if Jews are being murdered anywhere in the world, be it in Entebbe, be it Yemen, Ukraine etc, they have an army and they will do everything they can do to protect and save their fellow Jews. Her borders are open to all Jews, and for the first time in thousands of years a Jew no longer needs to be a refugee! In Monroe and New Square the cities are not open to all Jews, your wife has to shave her head bald, but in Israel ALL Jews are welcome. 

For the first time in history when the goyim come to kill us as they will inevitably do, we will fight back and pursue them anywhere in the world they may hide. Yes ... it gives us some comfort knowing that. 

Hashem wanted to let the Chutz Le'aaretz Jews know that "You are not safe anywhere in the world."  "ALL Goyim hate You" "They hate the boys and girls that were Mechalleil Yom Tov in Nova, they hate the leftists that loved the Arabs, and who hated what the State of Israel stands for and they hate the Chareidim that live in Bnei-Brak, all the same "but this would have never happened had this occurred anywhere else in the world.

So, yes,  Bobov keep building your monstrosities in chutz le'aaretz, the Goyim and the Mayor are not impressed and neither is Hashem! We can never forget when the Bobover Rebbe told his audience that they shouldn't pray for the soldiers, and this was in the midst of our boys fighting in Gaza! 

Below watch how naive Bobover Chassidim listen intently to the Mayor quote the most influential antisemite of our time ... Bishop Tutu! 

 A momentous occasion was marked on Sunday night, as the Bobover Chassidus inaugurated two new buildings in Boro Park: a girls’ school building located at the corner of 13th Avenue and 51st Street, and a new Cheder Building located at 13th Avenue and 36th Street.

This joyous event took place at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, led by Yochi Fleishman of YF Productions.

The event was graced by the presence of the Bobover Rebbe Shlita, Community leaders, and city officials, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who addressed the massive crowd.

Watch Hamas Take all "Humanitarian Aid"

 

Footage captured by @Reuters earlier today showed terrorists atop a convoy of trucks in Rafah, preventing Gazans from accessing the humanitarian aid insidepic.twitter.com/k0NvJEder5

— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) April 8, 2024

The Turncoat Biden wants to label goods produced in Judea and Samaria

 

The Biden administration is preparing to label goods produced in Judea and Samaria, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing U.S. officials.

While it is undecided as to when the move will take place, it comes amid increasing tensions between Jerusalem and Washington over the prosecution of the six-month war in Gaza and disputes over the extent of Israeli violence directed at Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, including U.S. sanctions on Jews living in the area.

Such labeling would reverse a Trump administration policy implemented in 2020 that required products originating in the Israeli region, called the Israeli-administered Area C under the Oslo Accords, to be labeled as “Made in Israel.”

According to the Financial Times report, the Biden administration was close to announcing the step last month after Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on March 22 announced that the Civil Administration declared 2,000 acres in the Jordan Valley as state land. The announcement took place during a visit to Israel by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Two days later, the U.S. declined to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution that for the first time separated the demand for a ceasefire in Gaza from the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The American sources told the Financial Times that they did not want to announce the product labeling around the same time as the U.N. move.

The European Union approved regulations in 2019 labeling Judea and Samaria products as originating in “occupied territories,” a designation that Jerusalem disputes.

For its part, Israel continues to develop Judea and Samaria, with the Civil Administration on Friday announcing approval of the “deposit” planning stage of a plan to build 234 housing units in Kiryat Arba, changing the zoning for the neighborhood in question from industrial to residential.

Is This a Joke??? Mir Rosh Yeshiva Calls To Extend Winter Zman Until 3rd Of Nissan

Is he being serious?  Am I the crazy one?

This proves that the Roshei Yeshiva do not believe that "Torah is Matzil" if they did, there would no breaks for Bein Hazmanim! They lie saying that they the torah learners are equally carrying the burdens, How So? If they truly believed in their hearts that it is the Torah that is protecting the Jewish people, they would be learning nonstop 24/7 including Pesach! They wouldn't leave Klall Yisrael unprotected for a minute, But unfortunately, they do not believe it! And what is insane is that the Charedie Press is so excited to report this. This proves my point that the Chareidie Leaders of Klall Yisrael are totally disconnected to the rest of the Jewish people and reality! 

 In the wake of the difficult situation in Israel, both due to the protracted war with Hamas and Hezbollah and the cancellation of the draft exemption for yeshiva students, the Mir Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, decided to extend the winter Zman until Thursday, the 3rd of Nissan.

In a letter distributed in all of the yeshiva’s different buildings to its over 9000 students, the Rosh Yeshiva explained that he was following the directive of the gedolim to strengthen “Torah diligence” during the Bein Hazmanim period.

The Rosh Yeshiva wrote: “Happy are you who are standing on guard with courage and strength to protect the world and disseminate life in the world through the study of Torah and prayers during such a long and tense period, while ignoring all the temptations of the world and immersing yourselves in Torah study with great diligence. Now it is time to prepare for Pesach and help in the home which is one of the fundamentals of Torah to assist one’s friends and all the more so one’s family.”

The Rosh Yeshiva added that “We cannot ignore the decrees and tragedies during the war, with the sword unleashed outside and with the decrees against the world of Torah and it is certainly a call from heaven to strengthen out Torah study and this is our obligation at this point.

The Rosh Yeshiva specified extending the study in the mornings to the 3rd of Nissan, and added that “In the merit of this devotion the decrees will be abolished.”

Inside a 958-foot container ship, from the crew's living quarters to the massive engine room

 

• A merchant mariner captured life at sea on a video tour of a Maersk container ship.

• The video shows the everyday life of cargo ship crew as they spend months at sea.

• Second mate Bryan Boyle said workers celebrate holidays on board with festive meals and community.

A merchant mariner gave a tour of a 958-foot cargo ship in 2019 that showed the intricacies of the hulking freighters that haul 90% of the world's goods.

In the video, second mate Bryan Boyle records the vast array of machinery that keeps the ship moving, as well as the crew's and officers' living quarters on the Maersk ship, which was built in 2006.

Though the video was taken in 2019, Boyle told Business Insider in 2021 that it provides insight into the lives of shipping crews today.

Solar eclipse: Researchers warn about increased risk of deadly crashes during spectacle

 

The increased traffic and spectacle of the total solar eclipse on Monday could imperil motorists, with researchers warning that fatal collisions increased during previous eclipses and law enforcement bracing for the event. 

There was a 31% increase in fatal traffic accidents during the 2017 total eclipse – and even in the days before and after the astrological event – according to a letter published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal this week. 

Week After Bar-Mitzvah Boy Hangs Himself another 15 Year Old Found Dead Because of Parental Allienation

 

Shock and shock again on the streets of Williamsburg!

Less than a week after the tragic incident, in which a Bar Mitzvah boy passed away under unbearable circumstances in the Williamsburg neighborhood of New York, it happened again in the same neighborhood, and tonight came the bitter news of the passing of a 15-year-old boy, Monday night, who suffered from parental alienation and whose heart could not bear it 

 His body was found near the Beit Midrash of the Tush Chasidic community

The  young man who cut his life short was Ze'ev Serulovich, z"l, the reason for his tragic suicide is a result of parental alienation, according to neighbors. 

The tragedy occurred at Tash Shul Williamsburg, where the 15-year-old's body was found after extensive searches.

As you will recall, and as reported extensively in DIN, last week, a bar mitzvah boy took his own life, a few hours after his bar mitzvah celebrations ended. Reports state that Ass'kanim from the  community to which his mother belonged prevented his father, who belongs to another Chasidic group, from participating in his private bar mitzvah celebration .

The Bar Mitzvah event was organized for him by the "ass'kanim".

Sources close to the family noted that for several years the boy had been crying incessantly, when all he wanted was to see his father, whom he loved   all these years, and due to family reasons he divorced his wife. 

However, according to the ass'kanim involved in the case, the children were forbidden to meet with their father, whose soul was scarred by the fact that their parents were divorced, and therefore, the ass'kanim claimed, it would be better for him not to meet with the father.

Following the incident, the famous American influencer Yonassan Shvartz published a long and chilling monologue, and began his remarks with a message he received from several ass'kanim who asked him not to deal with this issue "because the story should be swept under the carpet"... "

"There are dead children walking around here, a child committed suicide, and that's what you have to say? Sweep??? What does that sound like?" he cried out from the blood of his heart.

Rabbi Schwartz continued with pent-up pain, saying: 

"I personally accompany such stories, hundreds and even thousands of children who are estranged from their parents. Usually it's alienation from the father, are these children alive? These children are called dead! Indeed, they have not yet committed suicide by hanging rope or jumping from the roof, but their lives are not called life, walking around dead in the streets!"

London Police Arrest "Neturei Karta" For Burning Israeli Flag ..Pro-Hamas Guys Trying to stop the arrest

Back-Stabber Schumer Fails to Show at COJO Breakfast

 

 On Sunday, the Council of Jewish Organizations (COJO Flatbush) held its annual breakfast, yet Senator Chuck Schumer, who frequently attends, was nowhere to be found. Multiple politicians at the bipartisan event linked his noticeable absence with his recent decision to abandon Israel.

On a video posted to X, Congressman Mike Lawler, an honoree at the breakfast, and Dov Hikind, both slammed Schumer for his attempts to interfere in Israeli politics.

Lawler said, “Just as we don’t want people interfering in our elections, he never ever should interfere in the Israeli elections.”

Hikind accused Schumer of “stabbing Israel in the back.”

Councilwoman Inna Vernikov added in a tweet, “@SenSchumer we missed you today. Yes, stabbing Israel in the back would not be a good look, especially after hostage families were begging and pleading for our support. Shame.”

Yeshivos Say That They Are Carrying The Burden Just Like the Soldfiers So How Come They Take off Bein Hazmanim?

Rabbi Yitzchok Berkovitz in Aish 

by SCOTT KAHN

 The following does not represent some original thought or halachic innovation. Others have said things like this before, and more will say them after. I’m simply joining an existing chorus, and demanding that hypocrisy be called out and, potentially, avoided.

In the most recent issue of Mishpacha Magazine (April 3, 2024), in the wake of the Attorney General’s ruling that the Israeli army must initiate the process of drafting previously-exempt yeshiva students, Gedalia Guttentag interviewed Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits, the rosh yeshiva of Aish HaTorah, about the Chareidi position regarding exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service.

 In response to the interviewer’s question about the IDF manpower shortage, Rabbi Berkovits acknowledged the problem and said,

 “We need miracles. The most important asset that Klal Yisrael has is the olam hayeshivos, now more than ever. And the fact that we’re protecting Klal Yisrael means that we need to take ourselves seriously. If we recognize that at a time like this, when Klal Yisrael is in danger, the yishuv in Eretz Yisrael is in danger, then we need to take what we’re doing seriously… I know it’s very difficult to maintain a state of chizuk long term, but in the first days after Simchas Torah, when the yeshivos reopened early, people were learning like crazy. There were all-night sedorim. You know, it was very difficult to maintain that. And I think people have gone back to normal life. We really do have to strengthen our passion, our hasmadah and our tefillah.” (Emphasis mine)

I have written numerous articles explaining why I don’t agree with this perspective. Nonetheless, let’s assume that Rabbi Berkovits is correct: that the people learning Torah, rather than those who are fighting for Israel, are, in fact, the authentic source of Israel’s protection. 

Let’s work with this oft-cited reason for military exemptions for those who are learning in yeshivot. (In my less generous moments, I summarize this as, “You’re fighting in Gaza, and we’re learning in yeshiva. You’re welcome.”)