The Sentry
Real life stories. Documents. Quotes.
We bring a clip of what we wrote in the end of April regarding chareidi girls working in the air force, as an introduction to recent developments:
One month ago, an officer in the air force declared that there are already fifteen chareidi girls working in the air force. No not Mizrachi; chareidios in the military. No, they are not soldiers holding weapons, and “only” doing technical work, yet they are serving in the heart of the military.
And now, in honor of the Israeli Independence Day, the army held a ceremony where they awarded a medal to Mrs. Esty Solomon of Beit Shemesh, for her outstanding work of bringing chareidi n’shei kollel into an air force technology unit. The slogan to make this initiative appear innocent and not raise any alarms, is the concept of “earning a respectable income.” However, in a letter written by Mrs. Solomon, she writes how the “lofty ideals” of chareidi women attributing to the state will finally be fulfilled.
In a recording sent in honor of the ceremony, MK Uri Maklev offered his warm wishes and blessing for the future of this project. Additionally, the lawyer who works for this unit is none other than Moshe M., who represents a “chareidi” faction in the Bnei Brak municipality.
And now it has been revealed that four ultra-chareidi high schools are working hand-in-hand with army unit 8200 to direct the girls to apply for work in the technology unit. Hundreds of girls have applied for jobs, and tens have already been accepted.
What is the goal of the project? Here’s how Mrs. Solomon described the project; “You must understand, many times the chareidi community is not familiar of the operations of Tzahal. [However] on account of their work, they feel a strong connection to the workings of Tzahal, and particularly the air force.”
And when Mrs. Solomon accepted her award she had this to say; “What is most meaningful to me, is to see a chareidi woman walking with her daughter on the street, and in the sky a plane is flying for Yom HaAtzmaut, and she says ‘You see [that], Imma works there.”
The writer for chareidi matters on channel 20 news proclaimed; “Want to hear more about the serious change in the chareidi community? MK Uri Maklev sent a video of congradulations to Esty Solomon who received a medal of honor for her work of integrating chareidi women in the technology unit of the air force. To my knowledge, this is the first time that a MK of Yahadus HaTorah has officially commented on the issue of integrating chareidim in Tzahal, and certainly women.”
A 26 year old chareidi mother of three who is a member of a “segregated” community remarked about her work in the air force; “One of the things that is gratifying about my work in the air force, is that I can provide for my family, and my husband can learn Torah in tranquility, to my merit.”
This incongruous statement is reminiscent of an old European joke; Chaim was traveling on the train when he glanced at a gentile sitting across from him. The gentile appeared remarkably familiar, and Chaim racked his brains to recall where he knew him from. Suddenly Chaim called out “Berel, my old friend from yeshiva, what happened to you?!” Berel motioned for Chaim to quiet down. “I’ll tell you the story. You know how difficult the gentiles make our lives. I decided enough is enough, I converted, and now I can sit and learn with peace and tranquility.”
Hagaon Harav Tzvi Friedman shlita has written a strong letter of protest against the idea of women working in the heart of the military, where they are exposed to the gimmel aveiros chamuros. He writes that this project is definitely included in the Chazon Ish’s psak of yehareig v’al ya’avor for women to join the military or national service. Oy lanu shekach alsa b’yameinu.
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