Is Torah Study a Valid Exemption from Serving in the IDF: What do our Talmudic and Rabbinic Sources Say?

TO WHAT DOES ALL THE FOREGOING [EXEMPTIONS FROM WAR] APPLY? TO VOLUNTARY WARS, BUT IN THE WARS COMMANDED BY THE TORAH ALL GO FORTH EVEN A BRIDEGROOM FROM HIS CHAMBER AND A BRIDE FROM HER CANOPY. R. JUDAH SAYS: TO WHAT DOES ALL THE FOREGOING APPLY? TO THE WARS COMMANDED BY THE TORAH; BUT IN OBLIGATORY WARS ALL GO FORTH, EVEN A BRIDEGROOM FROM HIS CHAMBER AND A BRIDE FROM HER CANOPY.

(1) When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, thou shalt not be afraid of them; for the LORD thy God is with thee, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. (2) And it shall be, when ye draw nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, (3) and shall say unto them: ‘Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle against your enemies; let not your heart faint; fear not, nor be alarmed, neither be ye affrighted at them; (4) for the LORD your God is He that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’ (5) And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying: ‘What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. (6) And what man is there that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not used the fruit thereof? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use the fruit thereof. (7) And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.’ (8) And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say: ‘What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart melt as his heart.’ (9) And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that captains of hosts shall be appointed at the head of the people.

HE MAY BE COMPELLED TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE BUILDING OF A WALL etc. It was taught: Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says that not all cities require a wall; a town adjoining the frontier requires a wall, but a town which does not adjoin the frontier does not require a wall. And the Rabbis? — [They hold that it does, because] it may happen to be attacked by a roving band.

R. Eleazar inquired of R. Johanan: Is the impost [for the wall] levied as a poll tax or according to means? He replied: It is levied according to means; and do you, Eleazar my son, fix this ruling firmly in your mind. According to another version, R. Eleazar asked R. Johanan whether the impost was levied in proportion to the proximity of the resident's house to the wall or to his means. He replied: In proportion to the proximity of his house to the wall: and do you, Eleazar my son, fix this ruling firmly in your mind.

R. Judah the Prince levied the impost for the wall on the Rabbis. Said Resh Lakish: The Rabbis do not require the protection [of a wall], as it is written, If I should count them, they are more In number than the sand. Who are these that are counted? Shall I say the righteous, and that they are more in number than the sand? Seeing that of the whole of Israel it is written that they shall be like the sand on the sea shore, how can the righteous alone be more than the sand? — What the verse means, however, is I shall count the deeds of the righteous and they will be more in number than the sand. If then the sand which is the lesser quantity protects [the land] against the sea, how much more must the deeds of the righteous, which are a larger quantity, protect them?

The scholars propounded: May a priest take a ‘a woman of goodly form’? Is it an anomaly and so there is no difference between priests and Israelites: or perhaps priests are different, since the Writ imposes additional precepts upon them? — Rab said: He is permitted; while Samuel maintained, He is forbidden. With respect to the first intercourse there is universal agreement that it is permitted, since the Torah only provided for man's evil passions; their dispute refers to the second intercourse. Rab ruled: It is permitted; and Samuel ruled, it is forbidden. Rab ruled: It is permitted: since it was [once] allowed, it remains so. But Samuel said, it is forbidden; because she is a proselyte, and so ineligible to [marry] a priest. Others state, with respect to the second intercourse it is generally agreed that it is forbidden, since she is a proselyte. Their dispute refers to the first intercourse: Rab maintained, It is permitted, since the Torah only provided for man's evil passions. Whilst Samuel ruled: that it is forbidden: where one can read, "Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house," we also read, "and seest among the captives [etc.]," But where we cannot read: "Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house," we do not read: "and seest among the captives [etc.].’

And why did Levi not merit an inheritance in the land of Israel and its spoils with his brethren? Because he was separated to serve God, to minster to Him, and to teach His steadfast ways and righteous laws to the public, as it says, "They will teach Your laws to Jacob, and Your Torah to Israel." Therefore, they were separated from the ways of the world - they do not wage war like the rest of Israel, they do not inherit, nor do they merit anything themselves from the strength of their bodies, but they are God's army, as it says, "God blesses His army." And he who is blessed also merits for them, as it says, "I am your portion and inheritance."

And not just the tribe of Levi, but any many from any background who devotes himself and understands from his knowledge to discern, to stand before God and minister to Him, and to serve Him, to know God and to walk upright as God made him, and who removes from his neck the yoke of the many considerations that people search after - such a person is sanctified as the holy of holies, and God becomes his portion, and his eternal legacy, and he earns in this world a sustenance similar to the Priests and Levites, as King David, peace be upon him, said, "God is my portion and my cup, You safeguard my lot."

Our Rabbis taught: When R. Eleazar b. Perata and R. Hanina b. Teradion were arrested, R. Eleazar b. Perata said to R. Hanina b. Teradion: Happy art thou that thou hast been arrested on one charge; woe is me, for I am arrested on five charges. R. Hanina replied: Happy art thou, who hast been arrested on five charges, but wilt be rescued; woe is me who, though having been arrested on one charge, will not be rescued; for thou hast occupied thyself with [the study of] the Torah as well as with acts of benevolence, whereas I occupied myself with Torah alone.

This accords with the opinion of R. Huna. For R. Huna said: He who only occupies himself with the study of the Torah is as if he had no God, for it is said: "Now for long seasons Israel was without the true God." What is meant by 'without the true God'? — It means that he who only occupies himself with the study of the Torah is as if he had no God.