But what’s the source?

Warning: The following post may exceed the recommended daily allowance for controversial topics. Proceed at your own risk.

In general, those who feel that not one of Israel’s chareidim should ever have to serve in the IDF tend to base their position on two separate claims:

1. The chareidim’s* Torah learning provides a metaphysical protection that equals - or perhaps even exceeds - the IDF. (*Note the implication that it’s only THEIR Torah learning that counts. Apparently, neither hesder yeshivot nor working people who are kovei’a itim – i.e. regularly dedicate time in their busy weekly and daily schedules to Torah learning – have this power. But I digress…)
2. The IDF is not an appropriate environment for religious or chareidi soldiers.

However, Rav Natan Slifkin recently highlighted the contradictions and inconsistencies inherent in the former claim, and in my post about the IDF and religious soldiers, I tried to show that the latter claim is simply untrue.

Which raises a key question that no one seems to be able to answer:

What is the halachic source for such a widespread military exemption? In other words, is there any heter (halachic justification or license) for not serving in the IDF?

After all, many (most?) authorities concur that the current situation constitutes a milchemet mitzvah (an obligatory war), when NO ONE is exempt from serving.

As the Mishnah (Sotah 8:7) famously teaches, during a milchemet mitzvah:

“Everyone goes out [to war] – even a bridegroom from his chamber and a bride from her wedding canopy.” (See also the Rambam - Hilchot Melachim U’Milchamot 7.)

And even if one disagrees and holds that the current situation is not akin to a milchemet mitzvah but is “merely” a milchemet reshut (a “voluntary” war), there still would not be a blanket exemption for chareidim.

The Rambam (Hilchot Melachim U’Milchamot 7) lists four very specific categories of individuals who are exempted from serving during a milchemet reshut, but learning Torah is not one of them.

Admittedly, some interpret the Rambam at the end of Hilchot Shmitah V’Yovel to mean that talmidei chachamim (Torah scholars or sages) resemble Shevet Levi (the Tribe of Levi) and are thus exempted from military service.

However:

1. Many commentators disagree with this interpretation.
2. Shevet Levi was still required to provide logistical, spiritual, and moral support. (See here for more details.)
3. It is very hard to say that the ENTIRE chareidi community, en masse, meets the criteria of “talmidei chachamim.”

So our question remains: What’s the source/halachic justification for not serving in the IDF?

I would suggest that it doesn’t exist…

***

Your thoughts?
(Please keep it civil. Thanks!)

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P.S. The latest Kosher Cooking Carnival is available here. Special thanks to Batya for including my French coffee cake post.

P.S.S. The latest JPiX carnival is available here. Special thanks to Leora for including three of my posts: Nov, Hevron, and the wheat harvest.

Requisite Fast Day Food Post: Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars Edition

Note: In keeping with a longstanding Our Shiputzim tradition, the waning hours of a [very long!] fast day are dedicated to blogging about food.

It’s that age-old dilemma: Which homemade treats should you send back with your son the IDF soldier, when he returns to his base on Sunday morning?

At the recommendation of several Our Shiputzim readers, chocolate swirl blondies have become our default choice. (In fact, OS even had a batch with him during the weeklong Operation Pillar of Defense.)

Not only are they very easy to make, but they’re always a huge hit with OS’s fellow soldiers.

For instance, during basic training, one soldier took a bite and then - waxing lyrical – announced to the rest of the unit, “He who never tasted these cookies has never tasted delicious cookies in his life!”

But as parents of Israeli soldiers are all too aware, the vagaries of military life are such that providing one’s son with freshly-baked treats isn’t always an option.

Often, a soldier home on leave will receive a last-minute phone call from his commanding officer – to the effect that due to unforeseen circumstances, the soldier must report back to base within a few hours and won’t be home for Shabbat after all.

Last week, this exact scenario played out here in TRLEOOB*.

Fortunately, however, a quick look in the freezer revealed that one of the wonderful Shiputzim daughters had recently tried her hand at a different type of bar.

Unsurprisingly, they also proved to be extremely popular with OS and his friends:

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars

Adapted from here.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup canola oil
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 TBSP hot water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1½ cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups oats (i.e. kvaker, for the Hebraically-oriented amongst you)
• 1 package chocolate chips

Directions

Combine oil and sugars. Beat in eggs, water, and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, and oats, and mix well. Add chocolate chips, and mix through.

Place batter in a baking-paper-lined 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Let cool in pan before cutting into bars.

!צום קל ומועיל

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*TRLEOOB=the real life equivalent of our blog

Heblish: The “You Have a Blog?!” Edition

“You have a blog?!!”

No, the question wasn’t meant as a sarcastic dig at the way I’ve been shamelessly neglecting said blog.

Rather, it was asked - with great sincerity – by one of our Shabbat guests, who was very surprised to learn about my online presence.

I guess I just don’t have that, er, quintessential blogger look...

(I should explain that the guest – who, after coming to us regularly all year, is now an honorary member of the Shiputzim family - had just complimented our talented Baker-in-Chief on her yummy cinnamon buns, and in response, one of the other Shiputzim kids had noted that the recipe is on my blog.)

In any event, he was curious to hear more.

“So, what do you blog about?” he wondered.

It took me a while to remember.

“Uh, well, lots of things. Recipes. Our daily lives. Um, you know, just random stuff,” I was drawing a blank.

But then it all started to come back to me.

“Oh, and Heblish*, of course!”

*For the uninitiated, Heblish is that charming amalgamated language favored by the Israeli offspring of Anglo parents.

And on that note, here’s yet another batch of entries from the Official Our Shiputzim Heblish-English Dictionary:

Just for nice: Hebrew source – סתם ליופי. English definition – Just for decoration. Sample usage – “It didn’t do anything useful. It was just for nice.”

All what: Hebrew source – כל מה. English definition – All that. Sample usage – “I have all what I need.” (Hat tip: Mother in Israel)

Losing: Hebrew source – מפסיד. English definition – Missing. Sample usage – “You don't know what you’re losing if you don’t come!” (Hat tip: Mother in Israel)

Most of the chances: Hebrew source – רוב הסיכויים. English definition – Most likely; odds are. Sample usage – “Most of the chances are that I’m going to have to do mo’ed bet of the math bagrut.” (Hat tip: Mother in Israel)

Don’t forget to submit your favorite Heblishisms, and I’ll be glad to include them in a future post. You can leave a comment at the bottom of this post or send an email to OurShiputzim at gmail dot com.

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Previous Heblish editions are available here: Heblish I, Heblish II, Heblish III, Heblish IV, Heblish V, Heblish VI, Heblish VII, Heblish VIII, Heblish IX, Heblish X, Heblish XI, Heblish XII, Heblish XIII, Heblish XIV, Heblish XV, Heblish XVI, Heblish XVII, Heblish XVIII, Heblish XIX, Heblish XX, and Heblish XXI.

Freshly Baked Goods Friday: French Coffee Cake Edition

{INSERT: pro forma – and patently insincere - apology about my prolonged absence}

As you may recall surely have forgotten by now, the [no longer] recent bat mitzvah report included the following picture:

For reasons presumably known to my mother (aka This Recipe’s Source), the cake on the right goes by the name “French Coffee Cake” --- although it’s neither French nor made with coffee. (Discuss amongst yourselves…)

I’m told that a certain Our Shiputzim reader/member of the extended Shiputzim clan refers to the same cake as “3-2-1 Cake,” because in its original form, the recipe called for 3 cups of flour, 2 cups of sugar, and 1 cup of shortening.

However, as is our habit here in TRLEOOB*, we’ve long since changed the recipe.

Thus, I felt that a name change was also in order.

But to my surprise, no one shared my feelings.

Indeed, in the requisite Shiputzim family vote on the subject, I was hopelessly outnumbered. Everyone else wanted to keep the original name.

This leads me to one of two conclusions:

1. Ours is a conservative household, where longstanding traditions are reverently upheld.
2. Ours is a frivolous household, where the meaningless and the irrelevant are irreverently mocked.

I’ll let you decide which statement is more accurate, but in the meantime, please remind me: what is this blog called again?

French Coffee Cake

Adapted from an old family recipe

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tsp baking powder (i.e. one envelope, for my Israeli readers)
• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup mango juice

Topping

• 6 TBSP cocoa
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Separate eggs. Beat whites until stiff, and set aside.

Beat yolks, oil, and sugar together. Add vanilla and baking powder. Add flour alternating with juice, and mix well.

Gently fold the mixture into the egg whites, and then carefully pour some of the batter into a well-oiled tube pan. Sprinkle some of the topping over the batter, and then continue alternating batter and topping. Be sure to end with the topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until done.

Let the cake cool completely before removing it from the pan.

!בתאבון

!שבת שלום ומבורך

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*TRLEOOB=the real life equivalent of our blog

Ani matzhir!

Yesterday, the IDF’s Netzach Yehudah battalion (aka Nachal Chareidi) held an induction ceremony (i.e. a tekes hashba’ah, for the Hebraically-oriented amongst you) in Yerushalayim.

Here’s an incredibly moving look at that ceremony:

Additional pictures are available here.

Note that as observant Jews, the soldiers are allowed to say “ani matzhir!” (“I declare!”) instead of the more traditional “ani nishba!” (“I swear!”).

This is yet another one of the many ways that the IDF does everything it can to take religious soldiers’ needs into consideration.

May Hashem watch over and protect them and all our beloved chayalim!

Mazal tov: Bat mitzvah edition

Warning: The following post exceeds the recommended daily allowance for vain attempts at making up for one’s prolonged absence with an overwhelming amount of photos. Proceed at your own risk.

As some of you know, we recently celebrated a Shiputzim daughter’s bat mitzvah.

First, she had a small party in school with her friends, and then we had a separate party just for the immediate family.

Here are the threatened promised photos. (As always, feel free to click on the pictures for a better view.)

The bat mitzvah girl chose spring colors for the decorations:

Note the bat-mitzvah-themed confetti sprinkled in the middle of each table:

The rolls were made by one of the bat mitzvah girl’s grandmothers (aka “She Who Made the Incredible Bundle-of-Wheat Challah for Shavuot”):

As you can see by the screen in the above picture, the program included the requisite video presentation (i.e. a matzeget, for the Hebraically-oriented among you), expertly prepared by our favorite filmmaker.

The main course consisted of brisket, schnitzel, mushroom rice, carrot bread, and several salads: (Thank you to each of the salad makers!)

Dessert included a yummy assortment of homemade treats, such as trifle (made by the bat mitzvah girl’s other grandmother):

Chocolate cake (courtesy of guest blogger Malke) and French coffee cake (which is neither French nor made with coffee – discuss amongst yourselves - recipe to follow, b”n, in a future post):

Cookie “pizza” (credit: one of the bat mitzvah girl’s aunts):

Cinnamon swirl cookies and black and white cookies:

Chocolate chocolate chip bars and chocolate chip sticks:

”No-name” bars (with white glaze instead of colored sprinkles) and more black and white cookies:

Except where otherwise specified, all the desserts were made by the talented Shiputzim bakers (known here on the blog as the tza’ir bakers) – including the bat mitzvah girl herself.

Mazal tov to the beautiful bat mitzvah girl, who did an amazing job with her dvar Torah!

We love you!!!!

Freshly Baked Goods Friday: Meta Challah Edition

To continue the previous post’s sheaves of wheat theme, check out the incredible challah that one of our yom tov guests made for Shavuot:

In case you can’t tell - as always, click on the photos for a better view – it was supposed to look like a bundle of wheat.

Or, to put it in hashtag terms:

Wheat flour that was baked into a challah and then shaped into wheat stalks #HowMetaCanYouGet

Thank you, dear Yom Tov Guest! The challah tasted as good as it looked!

!שבת שלום ומבורך

Erev Shavuot 5773

Reason #5432 for making aliyah:
You know Shavuot – aka Chag HaKatzir - is coming, because you see wheat being harvested in fields along the side of the road.

"וַתִּדְבַּק בְּנַעֲרוֹת בֹּעַז לְלַקֵּט עַד כְּלוֹת קְצִיר הַשְּׂעֹרִים וּקְצִיר הַחִטִּים..."

“And she clung to Boaz's maidens to glean until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest...”
(Megilat Ruth 2:23)

And on a related note, here’s Ofra Haza singing “Shibolet BaSadeh”:

The lyrics are available here, and an English translation is available here.

!חג שבועות שמח