At a special gathering held at Yeshivas Maor HaTalmud following the arrest of kollel yungerman Reb Avraham Ben Dayan, Hagaon Rav Dov Landau delivered a forceful and unequivocal declaration that no yeshiva bochur will enlist in the army under any framework.

The event was convened in response to the arrest, which took place months after the young avreich’s chasunah. Addressing the crowd, Rav Landau spoke in sharp terms about the situation and the broader implications for the Torah world.

“The entire Jewish world is shaken by the criminal act in which wicked authorities arrested and imprisoned in a military jail an elevated avreich who has nothing in his world except the four cubits of halachah, and this solely because of his desire to learn Torah,” Rav Landau said. “But the precious avreich has merited that through him there has been such a great awakening to Torah study among the public, and merit is brought about through one who is meritorious — apparently he has great merits.”

“While he sits behind walls and bars, bound in chains of iron, the voice of Torah that grows stronger as a result of his imprisonment echoes from one end of the world to the other, shattering walls of falsehood, breaking chains of wickedness, and piercing until the Heavenly Throne, giving voice to the groans of the Bnei Yisroel from the distress of their oppressors and pursuers.”

Rav Landau continued by describing what he called an intense campaign against the Torah community. “The Torah world is now undergoing a terrible persecution by misguided brothers. The fears are heavy and widely shared. Their schemes are no longer hidden but out in the open, and their entire aim is to uproot the Torah world, Heaven forbid.”

He then addressed those he accused of seeking to undermine the yeshiva world. “To those evildoers and schemers of wickedness who seek to break our spirit and steal the treasure of our world, we say in clear language: Do not imagine that you will succeed! In complete contrast to you, we are people of noble spirit. Our hands will not do evil, and we do not wish to use your tools of strife. But know that standing against Torah learners is a war against the eternity of Israel.”

“History is filled with those who sought to make Torah forgotten from Yisroel. They disappeared from the world, their names forgotten and their rule passing like a fleeting shadow. But the Torah stands forever. You cannot break those whose lives are spirit alone. Your time will pass and your rule will sink away, but we will continue to cling to our eternal Torah, which is the Torah of Hashem. There is none who can stand against the Torah of Hashem, against those who learn it, and against the halls of Torah. Jailers may imprison the body, but there is no power in the world that can imprison the spirit.”

Rav Landau concluded with a sweeping declaration: “We hereby proclaim in a loud voice: Whether the authorities agree to this or not, not even one avreich, not even one yeshiva bochur, will go to the army — not in this form and not in any other form,” he emphasized. “The place of Torah learners is solely within the halls of the yeshivos and kollelim. Let everyone know, whether they understand this or not, this is the reality. So it was and so it will be.”

He ended with a tefillah: “May it be the will of Hashem that the emissaries of the Torah world who were imprisoned emerge quickly from darkness to light, and may we all merit every good, to learn Torah in quiet and tranquility.”

{Matzav.com}