Rav Yehoshua Eichenstein Warns: “Israel Is No Longer a Democratic State”
Rav Yehoshua Eichenstein delivered a forceful and emotional shmuess Sunday evening at Yeshiva Maor HaTalmud, sharply criticizing Israel’s conscription policies and warning that enlistment in so-called “chareidi tracks” within the Israel Defense Forces poses a grave spiritual danger to yeshiva students.
Speaking during a special chizuk gathering convened in light of recent cases of yeshiva students enlisting in the army, Rav Eichenstein cautioned that programs marketed as suitable for the chareidi public are fundamentally misleading. “Someone who enlists there may enter as chareidi,” he warned, “but he will not emerge chareidi.” He expressed particular anguish over what he described as “modern” families who encourage their sons to join such frameworks.
Rav Eichenstein, who serves as rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Yad Aharon, said he has been deeply involved in assisting yeshiva students who received draft notices or were detained over refusal to enlist.
During his remarks, he revealed that he recently held a three-hour conversation with a senior IDF official regarding the issue of chareidi conscription. He told the officer that he could not understand the approach of Israel’s High Court. “If they truly want us to enlist,” Rav Eichenstein said he argued, “why do they impose sanctions against us? That only causes us to hate the state and turn against it.”
According to Rav Eichenstein, the senior military official responded candidly, telling him: “You are naïve. What they really want is this: after October 7, there was a wave of teshuvah across Israel, and they are afraid that within a few years the chareidim will dominate the country. That is why they are imposing sanctions — to force chareidim into the army and stop that process.”
Rav Eichenstein emphasized that while Israel may indeed face genuine security challenges, he believes this is not the true motivation behind the push to draft chareidi youth. “The real goal is not security,” he said, “but to prevent the possibility of chareidim influencing the state — and in practice, to secularize those who enlist.”
He then launched a blistering critique of the state itself, declaring that Israel can no longer be considered a democracy. “There are many religions,” he said. “Communism is a religion. Zionism is a religion. The state is built on that religion. Zionism is a religion. You want to impose your religion on us — is that democracy? No. No one answers this question. There is no answer. This is not a democratic state. There is no such thing anywhere in the world as forcing religion.”
Rav Eichenstein contrasted Israel’s policies with those of Western democracies, noting that during periods of conscription in the United States, yeshiva students were exempt. “In Christianity,” he said, “they divided society into three groups: those devoted to Torah were exempt, the clergy were exempt, and the common people were obligated. In all Western democratic countries, yeshiva students were exempt, just as Christian seminarians were. The only ‘democratic’ country that does not do this is here — because it is not democratic. There is no freedom of religion here. They impose their religion.”
Addressing a question posed by students regarding how to relate to a yeshiva student who has already enlisted, Rav Eichenstein responded cautiously. “Such a person does not understand the essence of life,” he said. “It is best to speak with him as little as possible — but not to hurt him. If he approaches you, speak with him, but do not go out of your way to approach him.”
Toward the end of his address, Rav Eichenstein broadened his critique to what he described as historical attempts to combine Torah with external ideologies. “Since the Haskalah,” he said, “there have been endless efforts to create Torah with derech eretz, Torah with enlightenment, Torah with Zionism, Torah with something else — and not Torah alone. What came of all of this? Movements full of confusion.” He argued that frameworks such as religious Zionism and “modern chareidi” life represent attempts to merge Torah observance with secular or national identity, a blend he believes is ultimately unsustainable.
“All the programs in the army — Kodekod, Chashmonaim — what is their real goal?” he asked. “Security? To say that is naïve. The real goal is to create a ‘modern chareidi.’ Open your eyes and you will see it.”
Rav Eichenstein concluded with a stark warning. “When you pursue two goals in life,” he said, “there is no blessing in it. Every movement that tried to combine Torah with something else did not last. Look at what became of them. Torah leads to one thing only — closeness to the Ribbono Shel Olam. The moment life is divided between two purposes, nothing remains.”
{Matzav.com}
