registration for school in rbs

m in Israel

Tue, Feb 19 2013, 5:17 am

No one knows how the army will fit in to all of this because the Tal Law was shot down by the Supreme Court and there is not yet a new policy in place. This was one of the main issues of the past election, and there are many different plans being discussed. Hopefully within the next few months there will be more clarity on the issue.

As a general response: The IDF currently has a mandatory draft for ALL 18 year old boys and girls in this country, unless one gets an exemption or deferment. Religious girls are currently automatically eligible for an exemption.

In the past boys who were learning full time were eligible for a deferment until they stopped learning or reached a certain age/ stage in life (married with 4 kids I think, not sure). So yes, a boy who decided to leave yeshiva and get a job would have to do his army service before taking a job unless he was already past the eligibility window. There was also the concept of Hesder yeshivos, where boys could choose to do a shorter army service combined with a certain amount of time learning. This was common in many DL circles. If you did your service after you were married it was also a shorter service (many of the Chardal Israelis who I know got married, learned in Kollel a few years, and then did their abbreviated army service, rather than doing the Hesder program). Someone who did not serve in the IDF without taking the proper legal channels would be unable to work in the general economy (although obviously many work on the "black market"). But none of this is officially in effect any longer. The deferment for full time learning as well as the Hesder yeshiva program were both shot down by the Supreme Court ruling. So it is anyone's guess what deal the current Knesset will come up with, and whether or not it will pass the Supreme Court.