At Last, A Nachshon.

In this week's Torah portion we read about Aaron's sons Nadav and Avihu, who were vaporized in the Mishkan after bringing incense before Hashem that they had not been commanded to bring, the so-called "strange fire." As a result, they were consumed in fire.

We have seen quite a bit of strange fire being offered in Israel over the past year. First was the kowtowing to the Marack administration by Bibi Netanyahu when he pushed through a 10 month freeze, claiming it would soften the mood in Washington, and bring the terrorist kleptocrats of Fatah to the negotiating table so he could set about to the task of carving up the heartland of the Jewish people to create yet another terror state bordering Israel...because apparently Hamas and Jizbullah aren't enough of a problem. I personally think this was more about upsetting the religious power base in Judea and Samaria than making the White House happy.

Whatever the case, the plan has backfired completely as many of us predicted it would. Fatah refuses to negotiate, B"H, thanks to the White House and the Hate Defartment's desire to make more demands on Israel, while glad handing the Arabs and completely ignoring the fact that they commit attacks on Jews every day, not to mention the continuing rocket fire from the less "moderate" Arabs of Hamas (Remember that when you call an Arab terror faction "moderate" you mean that they only use firebombs, snipers, stabbings, rocks and axes to kill Jews...not rockets, which are used by radical Islamists like Jizbullah and Hamas...though now the idiot passing himself off as the leader of the "free world" thinks we should stop referring to Islamic radicals in terms of our national security...from now I suppose they will be known as detonationally effusive love-pixies.), and continue to teach their children that killing a Jew is better than Wii.

Then there is of course high priest of baal, Ehud Barak, who has been enforcing the illegal construction freeze with heartless brutality, and who also kicked the Har Bracha Yeshiva out of the Hesder program after its head, Rav Eliezer Melamed refused to tell his students to stop protesting the policy of evicting Jews from their homes as it is against the Torah. Of course Melamed eventually caved, discouraging his students from protesting while telling them that they should refuse to accept orders to eject Jews from their homes. So here we have two offerings of strange fire. Ehud Barak's anti-Torah policies, and Melamed's caving in to pressure to sign a declaration condemning Hesder student protests in the army, which he did in the most cowardly fashion.

Rather than signing a letter condemning Hesder soldier protests, he accepted the will of the majority of Hesder yeshiva heads that the protests should be condemned. In the end that didn't save him, and his yeshiva still got the boot from the program. As is the case when one consents to play ball with mamlachti idol worshippers, he failed to fully stand by halacha, and then got kicked in the teeth by the very force he desired to placate.

If the policy of evicting homes is against Torah, then it is the moral responsibility of every teacher of Torah to encourage their students to protest the policy and not be silent. He should have stood alone. He could have been an example, a light to the other yeshiva heads, and Hesder students. Instead, he rolled over. But it seems that at least one student of Har Bracha is showing the resolve of Nachshon.

A Har Bracha student has begun a work-to-rule strike, refusing to serve in the new Hesder track assigned to him. Facing possible jail time this young man is doing what his Rav would not: standing up to the high priest of baal in protest of the freeze, the ejection of Har Bracha from the Hesder program, and the government's anti-Torah policy of destroying Jewish homes and houses of worship. Apparently, the IDF Personnel Branch made Har Bracha students a variety of offers to get them to comply.

From Arutz-7

After the IDF Personnel Branch realized that the students would rather sit in jail than leave their yeshiva, [Uzi]Baruch [Hebrew Site editor for A-7] reports, the soldiers were apparently informed that they need not leave Har Bracha, but must merely “sign up” at another yeshiva. Only a few soldiers agreed to this arrangement, and the officers then made another offer: “Just say the name of another yeshiva, and we’ll take care of the rest.”

Most of the students agreed to this, but some holdouts remained, viewing it as a surrender to the notion that soldiers must agree to expel Jews. Some of them were therefore removed from the Hesder arrangement, and forced to complete three years in regular IDF service without yeshiva studies. At least one of them, however, refuses to accept the decree.

As of this morning (Thursday), the soldier, who serves in the Shimshon Battalion in the Hevron district, is carrying out what is known in Hebrew and other languages as an “Italian strike.” It was manifest by walking into his commander’s office, laying down his gun, and declaring, “I am not interested in leaving the Hesder and serving in the new track to which you have assigned me. I will sit and study in the synagogue or in my tent until the decision is changed.”

This one soldier is a Nachshon, a man willing to take a leap of faith in the name of defending the Torah, and HaKadosh Borachu, a young man unwilling to bring strange fire before the G-d of Israel. Perhaps his actions will inspire the Hesder Yeshiva heads to reconsider their position, and strengthen the resolve of the Hesder students, regardless of which yeshiva they belong, to continue to stand up against the illegal, anti-Torah policies of the current government of Israel.

B"H