In the south, a rabbinical gathering is being held this evening (Sunday) by the rabbis of the southern communities and the heads of the yeshivahs, led by the great men of Israel, members of the councils of the great men and Torah scholars, against the military tracks 'Kodkud' and 'Ma'alot Tzur', "which tempt yeshivah students to enlist in the army with various temptations," according to the organizers.
The conference was organized by 'Ezerem Vemaginem' and is taking place after the heads of the army and the operators of the courses have recently been working in various publications among the Haredi public - in an attempt to "pierce the walls of religion and entice young men and boys to fall into their net, while hiding the true face of the courses, which are like conscription into the army for all intents and purposes.".
The gathering is expected to be attended by the head of the Toshiya-Tifrah Yeshiva, the Gaon Rabbi Aviezer Piltz, the head of the Shekar Shekir Yeshiva, the Gaon Rabbi Aryeh Levi, a member of the Council of Sages and head of the Porat Yosef Yeshiva, the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Bezalel, the Gaon Rabbi Yehoshua Eichenstein, the head of the Yad Aharon Yeshiva and president of the organization, the head of the Ateret Shlomo Yeshiva, the Gaon Rabbi Chaim Feinstein, rabbis of cities, rabbis of communities and congregations, and the heads of yeshiva from the cities of Beersheba, Ofakim, Netivot, Yerucham, Tifrah, Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat, Arad, Dimona, and more.
During the conference, they will hear from Lithuanian public leaders - who sent a dramatic letter to the conference against the recruitment tracks intended for the ultra-Orthodox.
The head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, wrote in his letter: "I have learned, unfortunately, that as part of the efforts to bring about the conscription of the Torah scholars, they have established various routes and given them names such as 'Kadkod' and the like, and recently they have added more conscription routes in the south in Netivot and Beersheba, and certainly all of these routes are an inseparable part of the army, and whoever goes there is submitting himself to the control and dictates of the army's government and becomes a soldier of the minimum wage for all purposes, and like joining the army in which there is no other party at all."
Maran HaGard Lando added in his handwriting: "Anyone who joins the aforementioned paths and the like should know, may God have mercy on them, that in addition to the disaster he brings upon himself and his family, God forbid, others may follow him, and his sin is greater than can be borne.".
