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Sunday, March 10, 2024
UTJ: Jewish nation has ‘no right to exist’ in Israel without full-time Torah scholars
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The Jewish people have “no right to exist” as a nation in the land of Israel without the merit of full-time yeshiva students, the United Torah Judaism party says in a statement.
Responding to criticism of Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef — who on Saturday evening declared that if yeshiva students are forcibly enlisted, the Haredim would “go abroad” — the ultra-Orthodox party declares that those who learn Torah have “sustained us through thousands of years of exile.”
“We have no right to exist as a nation, God forbid, in the Land of Israel, without Torah scholars engaged in full-time study,” the party declares.
Speaking on Saturday evening, Yosef also declared, “Without the Torah, without the kollels, without the yeshivas, the army will have no success.”
The Times of Israel Community.