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BY THEIR POLLS. I have already explained the meaning of gulgelotam (their polls). I have already explained the meaning of gulgelotam (their polls). *The word gulgelotam (their polls) literally means their skulls. In his short commentary (S.C.) on Exodus, I.E. explains that the word gulgolet means a head. The head is so called because it is round. Compare, galgal (wheel, i.e., a round object). See I.E. on Ex. 16:16 (S.C.).
The People's Army Model (Hebrew: מודל צבא העם) is a school of thought in Israel concerning the role of the Israeli Army, the IDF, vis-à-vis Israeli society. According to this conception, the IDF plays a broader role than merely defending Israel's national security. Israel's regular army is relatively small, and thus its strength in emergency is based on reservists, which comprise much of the entire nation.[1][2] Following the Suez Crisis, the Israeli newspaper Davar published the following: "Our army is, as is well known, the people's army, an army of reserves, the laborer and the clerk, [as] the laborer and the teacher had one day laid down their daily work and stabilized the flag".[3]
See Wikopedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People%27s_Army_Model
ומרגיש בכך כל אחת ואחד מאיתנו, שבעמידה בכיכר "הבימה" או בהליכה ברחוב קפלן או בהפגנה למען סובלנות באום אל-פחם, אנחנו מנסחים מחדש את עקרונות החברה האזרחית של ישראל, שבצומת גומא או בבני ברק אנחנו מראים היכן עוברים
הקווים האדומים שלנו, קווי הסירוב והמרי האזרחי, הלא אלים.
ומיום ליום, מהפגנה להפגנה, מתחזקת התחושה שיזמֵי ההפיכה עשו כאן את
שגיאת חייהם. שהם הימרו כאן הימור מטורף על עתידנו, על היותנו, וגם על עתידם שלהם, ושל תומכיהם, ובעצם על העם כולו, שאותו הם קורעים לגזרים. האם הם מבינים זאת?
נורא הדבר אם אינם מבינים מה עוללו. עוד יותר נורא אם הם מבינים, ואף על פי כן מתעקשים להמשיך בתהליך האובדני.
כי ברור שעם כל חוכמתם וערמומיותם הם לא הבינו עד כמה השתנה הלילה הזה מכל הלילות.
הם לא תפסו - לא את הנחישות שלנו להילחם על מה שהוא באמת סלע קיומנו, ולא את תחושת הערבות ההדדית שפתאום חזרה לפעםֵ בנו, ולא את הסירוב החדש והמפתיע שלנו להמשיך ולקבל על עצמנו בהכנעה ובביטול עצמי את דימוי "העגלה
הריקה".
הסיפור הזה נגמר כאן.
העגלה מלאה וגדושה. תמיד הייתה.
And each and every one of us feels this, standing in the "Habima" square or walking down the street Kaplan or in the demonstration for tolerance in Umm al-Fahm, we are redefining the principles The civil society of Israel, that at the Goma junction or Bnei Brak we show where our red lines have been crossed, lines of refusal and civil, non-violent riots.
And day by day, from demonstration to demonstration, the feeling that the initiators of the coup did the mistake of their lives. That they made a crazy bet here on our future, on our being, and also on their future their own, and that of their supporters, and in fact on the entire nation, which they are tearing apart. Do they understand it? It's terrible if they don't understand what they have done. Even more terrible if they understand, and even so Insist on continuing the suicidal process.
Because it is clear that with all their wisdom and cunning they did not understand how much this night had changed of all nights They did not grasp - not our determination to fight for what is truly the bedrock of our existence, And not the feeling of mutual guarantee that suddenly returned to us, and not the new refusal And our surprise is to continue to humbly and self-abnegately accept the image of the "the empty wagon". This story ends here. The cart is full and overflowing. always was.
David Grossman
Link to view or download the הגדת החירות here.
Ben Gurion and the Chazon Ish Meet. - The Parable of the Empty Cart
“There’s the question of existence, of preserving human life,” Ben-Gurion recounted saying to the Hazon Ish. “Shouldn’t love of [the People of] Israel take precedence over everything?”
The Hazon Ish responded that, although love of Israel and love of Torah may seem like two separate things, they’re not, because “there is no Torah without Israel, and no Israel without Torah.”...
Navon, writing sometime later about the meeting, recounted how Rabbi Karelitz, responding to Ben-Gurion’s query regarding “how can we live together,” described a scene from the Talmud in which, when “two camels meet on a path, and one of the camels is weighed down with a load, and the other camel is not, the one not carrying the burden must give way to the one who is.” The moral of the parable, suggested Karelitz, was that, “We, the religious Jews, are analogous to the camel with the load – we carry a burden of hundreds of commandments. You” – secular Israel – “have to give way.”...
Ben-Gurion, according to Navon, attempted to mount a counter-argument. “And the [second] camel isn’t weighed down with the burden of commandments?” he asked rhetorically. “The commandment to settle the land isn’t a burden?... And the commandments to defending life aren’t mitzvot? And what those boys whom you are so opposed to do, sitting on the borders and protecting you, that’s not a mitzvah?”
Karelitz was not even able to agree, according to Navon, that the learners’ lives were protected by those serving in the army. Rather, he insisted that, “It is only thanks to the fact that we learn Torah that they [the soldiers] are able to exist.”
See: Sefaria Source Sheet: Five Most Interesting Conversations in Jewish History, Session V: David Ben Gurion and the Chazon Ish by by Gabe Greenberg
As it is taught in a baraita: When the verse states: “Justice, justice, shall you follow,” one mention of “justice” is stated with regard to judgment and one is stated with regard to compromise. How so? Where there are two boats traveling on the river and they encounter each other, if both of them attempt to pass, both of them sink, as the river is not wide enough for both to pass. If they pass one after the other, both of them pass.
And similarly, where there are two camels who were ascending the ascent of Beit Ḥoron, where there is a narrow steep path, and they encounter each other, if both of them attempt to ascend, both of them fall. If they ascend one after the other, both of them ascend. How does one decide which of them should go first? If there is one boat that is laden and one boat that is not laden, the needs of the one that is not laden should be overridden due to the needs of the one that is laden.
If there is one boat that is close to its destination and one boat that is not close to its destination, the needs of the one that is close should be overridden due to the needs of the one that is not close. If both of them were close to their destinations, or both of them were far from their destinations, impose a compromise between them to decide which goes first, and the owners of the boats pay a fee to one other, i.e., the owners of the first boat compensate the owner of the boat that waits, for any loss incurred.
The number of eligible deferrals issued under this arrangement has dramatically increased over the years from under 400 a year until 1970, to 800 in 1975, 17,017 in 1987, 26,262 in 1995, 28,772 in 1997, and 61,000 by 2010. The percentage of those enjoying deferments as compared with the total number of persons who were drafted has similarly increased at a steady pace, from 5.4% in 1987 to 6.4% in 1995, 7.4% in 1996, 8% in 1997,10 and 14% in 2007.
In his 1998 leading decision in Rubinstein v. Minister of Defense on deferment of military service for yeshiva students, Supreme Court President Aharon Barak explained the reason for the deferment and its historical context as follows:
The original reason for the arrangement was the destruction of the yeshivas in Europe during the Holocaust and the wish to prevent the closing of yeshivas in Israel due to their students being drafted to the army. Today this objective no longer exists. The yeshivas are flourishing in Israel, and there is no serious worry that the draft of yeshiva students, according to any arrangement, would bring about the disappearance of this [yeshiva] institution. [HC 3267/97 Rubinstein v. Minister of Defense, 52(5) PD 481, 491 [1998] (translated by the author).]
These conflicting arguments have been recognized by the Supreme Court as constituting a conflict between two competing constitutional rights that are guaranteed by the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty—the right to freedom of religion and the right to human dignity, including equality.
Israel: Supreme Court Decision Invalidating the Law on Haredi Military Draft Postponement March 2012
The statistics do not lie. The reality is that the Haredi sector is expanding, and will likely eventually become the majority in Israel. This successful and prosperous country may soon be entrusted to a religiously observant majority. And who is most concerned about this dramatic possibility? We are! We Haredim have no idea how to run a country. There is no precedent in Jewish sources for how to do this. We need to learn the art of responsibility!
This reality threatens Israeli society. The feeling that there is a large community that does not pull its weight in Israeli society is frustrating, and very concerning. But it is important to understand that Haredi citizens of Israel are also apprehensive. They fear external influences that threaten to weaken their hold on their halachic traditions, and their commitment and dedication to the Torah and its values. They live with a sense of danger. But they also see themselves as having a mission to restore the Torah world that was destroyed in the Holocaust.
At the same time, there has never been a more fruitful period for Haredi society. Many yeshivas, synagogues, communities, Torah centers, and frameworks for vibrant religious services have been established under the auspices of the state.
However, significant parts of Israel’s non-Haredi society are not prepared to bear the economic burden of the Haredi community. They are exhausted. The gaps are growing between the Haredi and non-Haredi community in national service rates, contributions to the economy, and the sharing of general social responsibilities, because of their many conflicting values. People are becoming more and more distressed.
This unraveling of Israel’s social cohesion is undermining our national resilience. It threatens our existence in Israel and damages our entire society. We seem to have reached a watershed. The metaphor of the full wagon and the empty wagon — used by the Chazon Ish to describe a wagon full of Jewish values on a collision course with an empty wagon — is no longer relevant. We’re trapped in a dialogue of the deaf, in which neither side can hear the other.
It’s important to know that there are tens of thousands of Haredim who recognize this reality. They are ready to take responsibility, and they are committed to dialogue and to finding the common ground between all citizens in the State of Israel.
This is big news. There are Haredi Jews today who recognize the importance of dialogue. They are no longer defined by who they are not and what they disagree with, but by who they are. Their identity is based on affirmation. They have deep feelings of gratitude to the state, and they know that their era of privilege as a minority is over.
We are entering a new era, in which the minority is going to become the majority. As such, we must sit together and formulate a social covenant based on respect, solidarity, and fraternity. However, there can be no agreement without compromise. Each group must be willing to compromise. Even the religious fanatics who are shouting in the streets, who have left the beit midrash in order to have their voices heard in public, must agree to compromise.
As a Haredi Israeli who regards my Jewish identity as a crucial condition for my existence in Israel, I am embarrassed by the behavior of some of my brothers. I would love to turn back the clock to the yeshiva of Hillel, 2,000 years ago, where a non-Jew asked to learn the entire Torah while standing on one leg and Hillel replied: “Whatever is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man.”
See: A Haredi call for compromise between religious and secular MAY 1, 2023 Times of Israel Blog Rabbi Menachem Bombach President and CEO of Netzach Educational Network