There is a great deal of debate - some hot - in Israel with spill over to the diaspora.
The subject: Inducting yeshiva "boys" into the military or national service.
The yeshivot contend that only (study of) Torah protects Israel and that anyone who goes to a yeshiva must be exempt from any interference by the state (i.e., free of military and national service).
On the other side of the debate are those who resent the yeshiva boys failing to, as the side perceives it, "do their duty to the state."
Adding insult to injury, the yeshivot get money from the state and the yeshiva boys are exempt from certain taxes other Israelis are obliged to pay.
When the state was re-constituted in 1948, Ben Gurion - the man who brought us the Altalena "affair" with his man Rabin in charge - made a deal with the haredim to that the state would support yeshiva boys while they studied. At the time they numbered about 5,000. Ben Gurion sold the exemptions to pay for haredim political support.
Today there are many, many more yeshiva boys, all on the dole from the state.
Since most debaters see things as "black" or "white" - my side is right, yours is wrong - there's very little talk of possible accommodations.
But accommodations have been made.
Tzhal - the IDF - kitchens are kosher.
Religious solders - and there are many and they populate all branches of the IDF - get time to wrap tefillin; girl soldiers wear skirts so they don't seem to be wearing men's apparel.
ON THE OTHER HAND, the observant soldier - and here I am not referring to the "ultra" religious haredim, but to the plain soldier who is shomer mitzvoth - do ask for some "special treatment." They apparently were promised special treatment by the IDF (read "government") and, equally apparently, the agreement has been abrogated by Tzhal (the government).
These old-country observant (vs. "modern orthodox") object to serving with soldiers of the opposite sex. The men object to being forced to listen to a woman sing (never mind that we listed to Miriam and other women who sang praises of HaShem after we safely crossed Yam Suf
(שמות ט''ו)
כ וַתִּקַּח מִרְיָם הַנְּבִיאָה אֲחוֹת אַהֲרֹן, אֶת-הַתֹּף--בְּיָדָהּ; וַתֵּצֶאןָ כָל-הַנָּשִׁים אַחֲרֶיהָ, בְּתֻפִּים וּבִמְחֹלֹת.
כא וַתַּעַן לָהֶם, מִרְיָם: שִׁירוּ לַיהוָה כִּי-גָאֹה גָּאָה, סוּס וְרֹכְבוֹ רָמָה בַיָּם.
(Exodus, 15)
20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances
21 And Miriam sang unto them*: Sing ye to the LORD, for He is highly exalted: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.
In Hebrew, "la'hem" - the all-inclusive "them" - includes everyone, male and female alike. My point: All Israel heard Miriam's voice and watched her and "all the women" dance.
IN ANY EVENT the rabbis, in their wisdom, prohibit males from listening to females sing.
The haredi soldiers also object to visiting non-Jewish (perhaps "non-Orthodox" as well) places of worship, even for the purposes to learning about the people the soldiers are obliged to protect. The fear, I suspect, is that they might be coerced into a religious service in a place with idols.
It seems to me that Tzhal/the government could accommodate the "religious" soldiers; do they really need to go to a concert where women are singing? Why can't the people they are to understand and protect come out from their places of worship and show some respect the Jewish sensibilities?
By the same token, why must Tzhal follow "glat" rather than the stricter "halak," a/k/a Bet Yosef? (Rhetorical question; I know the answer.)
I have a friend who is a rabbi. He is of a mind that true Torah scholars should be exempt for military or other national service. The number of such scholars, he opines, is minimal.
If Torah indeed protects Israel, maybe Israel can put yeshivot on wheels (mobile homes or caravans) so the few true scholars can, as Moses and the ancient cohenim did, be with the soldiers at the front - at least when fighting is going on.
Mark the trailers with a Torah on the roof; much as a Red Crescent or Red Cross (we can't have a Red Mogen David; that offends the International red Cross) so that the enemy will know not to target a vehicle filled with non-combatants. Embed the Torah scholars into combat units, much as "journalists" are embedded - I would heartily encourage embedding pro-enemy/anti-Israel news crews with IDF units; maybe they could report the truth for a change.
The bottom line is that both the haredim and the helonim (non-observant) need to move toward the center to find accommodation for the other. There IS neutral ground that, while it may not satisfy those committed to extremism, may help heal the rift between the two sides.
If we don't succeed here, Israel will be, once more, an exercise in self-destruction.
