Israeli Army: Biting The Hand That Sacrifices For Them
/BS"D
Israeli Army: Biting The Hand That Sacrifices For Them - The Paradigmatic Betrayal of the Trust of a Religious Jewish French Girl Volunteering for IDF Service
29 Shvat, 5781, Parshas Mishpatim (21:16) °° 11 February, '21
by Binyomin Feinberg
https://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2021/02/biting-hand-that-sacrifices.html
BELOW IS THE ORIGINAL* LETTER OF A 19 YEAR-OLD, SINCERE, RELIGIOUS JEWISH FRENCH GIRL, N.D., WHO WAS DECEIVED INTO "VOLUNTEERING" FOR THE ISRAELI ARMY.
In the wake of overt mistreatment, including violation of all preconditions of her volunteering for the IDF, Miss D. recently fled the Israeli Army, and is presently at risk for arrest - and abusive imprisonment in Israeli military jail. Despite formal legal intervention on her behalf, the Army refuses to recognize her basic human and religious rights, including her right to hold the Army to its commitments to her. As a French citizen, she volunteered to travel to Israel to enlist out of an altruistic (albeit misinformed - due to no fault of her own) motivation to help save Jewish lives. In return, she's being mistreated - as if she were a secular Israeli citizen legally OBLIGATED to serve in the military, and as if none of the rosy Army promises to her were ever made.
Her January 31, '21 letter, below, is a window into the plight of untold numbers of idealistic Jewish girls in France, and around the world. These girls are routinely fooled, via international propagandists for the IDF, into "volunteering" for the Israeli Army - under pretenses that are as premeditatively false as they are convincing. Realize that we're talking about many innocent, naive girls - including frum and erlich girls. In France, as unbelievable as it seems, even many sincere, altruistic religious girls are totally unaware of the Torah prohibition of enlistment in the Israeli Army. Many imagine that it's simply not done by Chareidim, but not necessarily a severely prohibited act. As Miss N. D. herself writes below: "In France we are not aware of what is prohibited for young girls - due to lack of information."
* The version below is slightly edited for English punctuation, usage, and clarity. (She wrote in both French and English, but the latter is not her natural language.) It's authenticity can be verified by contacting Merkoz Hatzoloh, the Orthodox organization in Israel assisting her with legal counsel.
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Date: יום א׳, 31 בינו 2021, 12:31
French passport: ...
Born in Paris on June ..., 2001
Date of entry into the army: 13/09/2020
I joined the army by "Mahal" (1 year and a half volunteer)
בס״ד
My name is N... D... I have been in Israel for 1 year without my parents and I have decided to voluntarily enlist in the army for 1.5 years with a visa.
If I decided to join the army, it is quite simple* because I was ready to help the Jewish people, while being a French citizen.
{* or "simply" Ed.}
I grew up in a religious family, {Ed.: please note THIS shocking fact! ==» } but no one warns us of the risks and dangers of joining the military. In France we are not aware of what is prohibited for young girls - due to lack of information. We think of an ideal, that to make the Army is something great - but it is not the reality.
The decision was difficult because my parents are not with me and it is very difficult not to be with them every day, to be alone in Israel.
I only wanted to serve in the Army under certain conditions, one of which was very important to be able to return to France. I was promised that when I wanted I could leave and be with my family, and when I requested it was refused, especially when I unfortunately learned that my father had had an accident and that he was in the hospital (and) that it was urgent for me to return to be with him. I have been denied a right which is indispensable and which I do not accept.
I haven't seen my parents for over a year, and, especially in this very difficult time for my family, I need to be there.
I was also promised that the army would be kosher, that the Tsniout* would be respected both in clothing and in speech.
{* aka, "Tzniyut:" Torah standards of modesty and personal purity in matters between the sexes - Ed.}
I have seen and heard things that are the opposite of what I was promised and said -- unlike what I know and where I come from.
I was promised that the Shabbat would be respected, and all the opposite happened. Music on speakers all Shabbat is something that is not respectful, and I would even say contempt[ful] for religion; it is absolutely forbidden on Shabbat; the lighting of the plata {hotplate - Ed.} in the middle of Shabbat because they had forgotten, or that the only way to drink is with an electric dispenser; [these are] are prohibitions that oblige me to break Shabbat - because I am prohibited from eating a dish that has been cooked on Shabbat, or from drinking from an electronic source. In France, we usually go to the synagogue with our family on Friday and Saturday to pray. There was a synagogue - but an empty one - where I cannot follow the Shabbat prayer, which is very important to me. Being the only one in my whole base shomeret Shabbat {Sabbath observant} is something that is not bearable, and that I live very badly. I spend the day alone every time without my family, without my friends, and in a place that does not suit me. I have never in my life spent Shabbat like this, and when I tell my officers when I ask them to be able to at least be at home on Shabbat, I am told that this is impossible even if it is very hard for me. Also, the mix of girls and boys is unacceptable for me to always be together and see things that are against my values.
I don't feel comfortable, I am feeling very bad, and I don't feel able to stay in an environment like this. All the things that the Army had promised me are not respected, and I no longer have the strength to remain in this environment, in this living environment which does not suit me. {Ed. NOTE ==»»} If I had known I would never have committed and would never have agreed to sign the contract. They have exploited my naivety and my ignorance of the fact that I am a young French girl wanting to help, and I have been deceived (in)to (making me) believe things which are nothing but pure lies. I consider this to be dishonesty. I have been deceived.
I no longer wish to stay in the Army because all the conditions for which I am enlisted are not respected.
I demand the immediate cancellation of my engagement in the army because I suffer humiliation from day to day. All the promises they made to me have no value. I never thought I would be subjected to such an aberration, a swindle."
__________________________________________________________
{End of English letter; French letter below:}
feinbergbinyomin@gmail.com__________________________________________________________
Le 31 Janv. 2021 à
D... N...
Passport fronçais : ...
Née à Paris le ... juin 2001
Date d’entrée à l’armée : 13/09/2020
Je me suis engagée à l armée par Mahal (1 an et demi volontaire )
בס״ד
Je m appelle N... D... je suis en Israël depuis 1 an sans mes parents et j ai décidé de m engager volontairement à l armée pendant 1 an et demi à l’aide d un visa.
Si j ai décidé de m engager à l’ armée c est tout simple parce que j était prête à aider le peuple juif , tout en étant une citoyenne française .
J ai grandit dans une famille religieuse mais personne ne nous préviens des risques et dangers a s’engager à l’armée. En France nous ne sommes pas au courant de que ce qui est interdit pour les jeunes filles à cause du au manque d’informations . Nous pensons à un idéal, que de faire l armée est quelque de super mais ce n’est pas la réalité.
La décision a été difficile car mes parents ne sont pas avec moi et c est très compliqué de ne pas être avec eux tous les jours ,d’être seule en Israël .
J ai voulu faire l armée seulement sous certaines conditions dont une très importante qui était de pouvoir rentrer en France. On m as promis que lorsque je le voudrait je pourrais partir et être avec ma famille et lorsque j ai fait la demande on me la refusée surtout lorsque j ai appris malheureusement que mon père avait eu un accident et qu’il était à l hôpital. Qu il était urgent pour moi de rentrer pour être avec lui. On m a refusé un droit qui est indispensable et que je n accepte pas.
Je n ai pas vu mes parents depuis plus d un an et particulièrement dans cette période très difficile pour ma famille j ai besoin d être là.
On m as également promis que l armée serait cacher, que la Tsniout serait respectée aussi bien dans le vêtement que dans la parole .
J ai vu et entendu des choses qui sont à l inverse de ce que l on m avait promis et dits.
A l’inverse de ce que je connais et de l endroit d ou je viens .
On m as promis que le Shabbat serait respecté et tous l inverse s est produit. La musique sur des enceintes tout le Shabbat est quelque chose qui n est pas respectueux et je dirais même du mépris envers la religion c est absolument interdit Shabbat , l’allumage de la plata en plein Shabbat parce qu ils l avaient oubliée ou encore que la seule manière de boire est avec un distributeur électrique sont des interdictions qui m obligent de transgresser Shabbat car il m est interdit de manger un plat qui a été cuit pendant Shabbat ou de boire d une provenance électronique . En France on a l’habitude d aller à la synagogue en famille vendredi et samedi pour prier. Il a effectivement une synagogue mais une synagogue vide ou je ne peux pas suivre la prière de Shabbat qui est très importante pour moi .Etre la seule de toute ma base shomeret Shabbat est quelque chose qui n est pas supportable et que je vis très mal. Je passe la journée seule à chaque fois sans ma famille sans mes amis et dans un endroit qui ne me convient pas. Je n ai jamais de ma vie passe des Shabbat comme ça et lorsque j en parle à mon mefaqued lorsque je fais la demande de pouvoir au minimum être chez moi à Shabbat on me répond que cela est impossible même si c est très dur pour moi . De plus,le mélange Filles et garçons est inacceptable pour moi d être toujours ensembles et de voir des choses qui sont à l encontre de mes valeurs.
Je ne me sens pas à l’aise et je ne me sens pas capable de rester dans un environnement comme ça. Toutes les choses que l armée m avait promis ne sont pas respectés et je n ai plus la force de rester dans cet environnement, dans ce cadre de vie qui ne me convient pas . Si j avais su je ne me saurais jamais engagée et n aurais jamais acceptée de signer le contrat . On a exploitée ma naïveté et mon ignorance du fait que je sois une jeune française voulant aider et on m as trompé à me faire croire des choses qui ne sont autres que de pures mensonges .Je considère ceci comme de la malhonnêteté .On m a trompé.
Je ne souhaites plus rester à l armée car toutes les conditions pour lesquelles je me suis engagée ne sont pas respectés.
J exige l annulation immédiat de mon engagement à l’armée car je subis une humiliation de jour en jour. Toutes les promesses que l ont m’a accordes n ont aucune valeur . Jamais je n’aurais pensé subir une telle aberration, escroquerie.
«# END of letter, French version #»
Gratitude is foundational to being a good Jew (as Rav Saadya Gaon explains). This stinging rebuke of the Israeli Army over their shocking ingratitude reveals yet again just how un-Jewish the Army leadership is.
If every girl mistreated or abused by the IDF would just put their experience into such a letter, that alone would turn around the struggle to save girls from the Israeli military draft. We must never underestimate the power of telling the true stories of evil and its confrontation with righteousness. The power of storytelling can be leveraged here to mobilize the Jewish People to revolt against this rampant corruption.
Moreover, we dare not ignore her plight, or the plight of untold numbers of other young women similarly duped into enlisting in the IDF, or subjected to enduring abuse (of that type - or much, much worse). G-d doesn't tolerate the oppression of the powerless - at all - as explained very clearly in this week's Parsha (Ex. 22:21-23, Rashi 21). Rav Dovid Soloveichik OB"M writes sharply about the devastating Divine Retribution that awaits those who oppress innocent women, even individual women (Shiurei Rabbeinu Meshulum Dovid HaLevi, Drush etc. (Jeusalem, 5774), Section 4, chapter 25, especially p. 675,6, including the quote from Pirkei DeRebbe Eliezer 48).
In closing, here's what HaRav Shamshon Refoel Hirsch OB"M (d. 1888), the world-renowned leader of German Jewry, writes regarding Pinchos, ever relevant to us nowadays:
"... And if someone, like Phinehas, is one among a multitude and every man is against him when he dares to speak out for truth and to fight for the Law - the more lonely his stand, the greater the number of his adversaries, the more powerful is his word, the mightier his deed. He is the savior of those against whom he struggles, a priest of atonement for those who stand by in silence, for he accomplishes what they should all have accomplished. Though every man be against him and he stand alone, yet G-d's covenant is with him and allows not his word to be lost or his deeds to vanish without trace."
A page earlier, Rav Hirsch explains:
""As long as even one man has the courage to take up the struggle openly for G-d's cause - which is no less than the cause of man's future - it is not lost on earth and the intervention of DIVINE JUDGEMENT* is not required. He (Pinchos -BF) had demonstrated for all time that whenever the sanctity of G-d and His Law is being mocked and trampled on (Chillul HaShem), EVERY* other consideration must give way."
{* emphasis absent in original}
(printed in "Judaism Eternal," translation by Dayan Dr. I Grunfeld, vol.2, p. 293 (Soncino Publ., London, 1956)), in an essay at.the end of the volume entitled "Pinchus ("Phinehas") - Eliyahu")
We end off with some positive news. B"H, we received notice that another refusenik enduring Army persecution, Talya A. bas Chana (18), received notice of being provided her religious service exemption (see https://www.jerseyconservative.org/blog/2021/2/4/idf-making-amaleksploitation-great-again).
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