The tragic loss of five Netzach Yehuda soldiers in Beit Hanun was attributed by Rav Yitzchok Yosef, the previous Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel, to a decline in commitment to Torah learning. In a public letter, he pointed to spiritual failings as the root of the tragedy.
“We are to blame,” Rav Yosef stated, asserting that “weakness in Torah study leads to disasters, such as the terrible tragedy of the soldiers’ deaths in battle.”
Addressing bnei yeshiva directly, Yosef appealed for renewed dedication to Torah learning. “To the precious Torah scholars of the yeshivas, may God bless them. I come here with an urgent call to strengthen and be strengthened in Torah study, especially in these days, the end of summer, when there is concern for laxity,” he wrote.
Rav Yosef expressed grief over the incident and reminded the community of their spiritual obligations. “We received with great sorrow the bad news about the fall of the precious soldiers, may their memory be for a blessing, who gave their lives for the people of Israel. Our responsibility as Torah Jews is immeasurable,” he wrote.
He also urged the community to engage in introspection and expressed heartfelt condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers. Rav Yosef emphasized the need for cheshbon hanefesh, personal and communal self-examination.
The Netzach Yehuda unit, to which the slain soldiers belonged, is composed largely of chareidi servicemen.
Rav Yosef served as the Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel from 2013 until June 2024.
{Matzav.com Israel}
Very misleading title, which some will interpret as the rav blaming the soldiers’ lack of Torah study for their own deaths, which he did not at all.
Instead, he said “we” and not them are to blame for the general lack of Torah study, which weakened Heavenly protection.
I’m confused, so are yeshiva boys learning or not ?
Let’s set the record straight . Most bochorim during chofesh attend other batei midrashim and learn for a few hours there, my son is one of them, and there’s nothing wrong with a little vacation, they’re human beings like the “other” vacation takers.
Somebody had to say what everyone was thinking.
Please fix the headline. It makes it sound like the Rav is saying the soldiers were killed for not learning Torah. That’s not what he said. He said they were killed due to lack of learning in Klal Yisrael in general.