I. Employment and Slavery The issue of drafting Israeli yeshiva students into the IDF is a perennial political topic. I would like to discuss a related topic but without any political connection. In order to survive, a country has...
I. A Time for War Koheles (3:6) notwithstanding, there is never a good time for war. We hope and pray for a time when there will be no war. But when war is necessary, presumably there should be...
I. Avoiding the Korban Pesach We know from tax law the difference between avoidance and evasion. Tax avoidance involves structuring your finances to legally minimize your taxes. In contrast, tax evasion is refusing to pay taxes that you owe. Obviously,...
I. Shabbos Clothes We greet Shabbos and spend the entire day clean and proper, dressed in fine clothes. What do you do if you have to wear an army uniform? The Gemara (Shabbos 119a) says that R. Chanina...
In the Israeli army, it is common for fully Torah observant soldiers to serve by the side of soldiers who are not. When a soldier has to serve a shift on Shabbos, this raises the question of whether...
When Jews are drafted into inhospitable armies in the diaspora, they are required to work on Shabbos and eat non- kosher food or face severe punishment. Effectively, they are coerced to violate Torah prohibitions. Historically, this raised many questions as...
I. Amalek Today With the October 7th Hamas attacks and the subsequent war, many have discussed the concept of the timeless war against Amalek. Amalek is the paradigm of the enemy of the Jewish people, a nation that attacked...
When a soldier moves position on Shabbos, he has to carry with him his gear as a matter of self- preservation, piku’ach nefesh. What about his personal items? Can he carry his tefillin with him so he can...
I recently drove on my own from Brooklyn to Monsey for a wedding. I wanted to listen to 10 minute mini-shiurim but because I was driving alone, I would not be able to manipulate my phone to switch...
I. Five Days of Megillah Earlier this month, I was notified that the IDF Rabbinate faces a shortage of Megillah scrolls. There are a number of ways to handle this, including paying scribes to quickly write more megillos. I...