HaGaon HaRav Yosef Chevroni, Rosh Yeshivas Chevron, has given a rare and wide-ranging interview addressing the battle over the future of the Olam HaTorah, the draft decree targeting yeshiva bochurim and what he described as relentless incitement against the Chareidi community.
Speaking in an interview with *Bama* magazine ahead of Sukkos, Rav Chevroni made the striking declaration that the draft decree ultimately helped rebuild the Torah world in Eretz Yisroel following the Holocaust.
“The draft decree saved us from the Holocaust,” Rav Chevroni said, explaining that the overwhelming majority of the yeshiva’s most prominent bochurim ultimately came to Eretz Yisroel.
Rav Chevroni also sharply rejected claims that the Chareidi community simply lives off government funding, arguing that the opposite is true and that the Torah community brings enormous sums of foreign money into Israel.
“Even when the state transfers budgets, it is giving from our money,” Rav Chevroni said. He pointed specifically to Keren Olam HaTorah, saying that it has brought hundreds of millions of dollars into Israel in recent years.
“We are not schnorrers; we give a tremendous amount of money,” he said, accusing critics of attempting to portray the Torah community as living at the expense of the rest of the country.
Rav Chevroni noted that much of the funding supporting kollelim comes from outside Israel, while also pointing to the enormous economic activity generated by Chareidi families through housing purchases and everyday consumption.
“Economically, what we contribute here to the state amounts to enormous sums,” he said.
But his strongest words were reserved for the ongoing battle over drafting yeshiva bochurim.
Rav Chevroni rejected the premise that Israel’s security can be measured exclusively through military strength, stressing that limud haTorah provides indispensable protection for those living in Eretz Yisroel.
“If there is a city in Eretz Yisroel that thinks it is possible to live in Eretz Yisroel with the protection of soldiers but without the protection of Torah — there is no greater risk and danger than that!” Rav Chevroni declared.
The comments represent Rav Chevroni’s first extensive public remarks on the current battle surrounding the Olam HaTorah and the draft issue.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
