=?UTF-8?Q?Observation:_Difficulties_in_the?=

Observation: Difficulties in the IDF for the Religious Don=E2=80=99t =
Negate Their Duty to Serve
Dr. Aaron Lerner 18 December 2025

Someone shared this article with me:

=E2=80=9CThe IDF Doesn=E2=80=99t Want Chareidim; It Wants to =
Re=E2=80=91Educate Them,=E2=80=9D Noam Chairman Says
The Yeshiva World December 15, 2025
https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/israel-news/2486186/the-idf-doesnt-w=
ant-chareidim-it-wants-to-re%E2%80%91educate-them-noam-chairman-says.html=

I posted my observation in the comments section following the article: =
(posting times are apparently USA)

DR_AARON_LERNER says:
December 16, 2025 2:55 pm at 2:55 pm
If this were any other mitzvah which secular elements made harder for =
religious Jews to carry out I am certain that Noam Party chairman MK Avi =
Maoz would be among the first to call on religious Jews to overcome the =
obstacles to perform the mitzvah.

That=E2=80=99s the bottom line.

I am proud that my children and nephews all carried out the mitzvah of =
serving in this latest war.

Someone responded:
coffee addict says:
December 16, 2025 7:17 pm at 7:17 pm
=E2=80=9CIf this were any other mitzvah which secular elements made =
harder for religious Jews to carry out I am certain that Noam Party =
chairman MK Avi Maoz would be among the first to call on religious Jews =
to overcome the obstacles to perform the mitzvah.=E2=80=9C

Ever heard of a Mitzva Habaah BeAveira

I guess you didn=E2=80=99t learn that when you became a doctor

I replied:

DR_AARON_LERNER says:
December 17, 2025 2:45 am at 2:45 am
Thank you for raising the issue. The principle you are referring to =
=E2=80=94 often rendered as =E2=80=9Ca mitzvah that comes through a =
transgression=E2=80=9D =E2=80=94 is indeed a genuine concept in Jewish =
law, but its scope is frequently misunderstood.

The Talmud (Sukkah 30a) establishes that a stolen lulav is invalid =
because the act of theft is inseparable from the performance of the =
mitzvah. Maimonides codifies this explicitly in Mishneh Torah, Hilchot =
Shofar, Sukkah v=E2=80=99Lulav, chapter 8, where he lists stolen items =
among the four species that are invalid for the mitzvah, with related =
disqualifications discussed in the surrounding halachot.

Crucially, this rule applies only where the mitzvah itself is performed =
through an inherent wrongdoing. It does not apply where external =
difficulties, burdens, or sacrifices make fulfilling a mitzvah harder.

Jewish tradition consistently teaches the opposite principle: hardship =
does not negate a mitzvah but can enhance its value =E2=80=94 =
=E2=80=9Cthe reward is according to the effort=E2=80=9D (Ethics of the =
Fathers 5:23).

Accordingly, many leading authorities classify the defense of the Jewish =
people as a milchemet mitzvah (obligatory war), following Maimonides =
(Hilchot Melachim 5:1), a category that obligates participation =
precisely because of its necessity.

Jewish law therefore draws a clear distinction between:

A mitzvah invalidated because it is inseparable from wrongdoing, and

A mitzvah that remains binding =E2=80=94 and even elevated =E2=80=94 =
when fulfilling it entails real sacrifice.

That distinction is well grounded in the classical sources.

[Since then no comments have followed]
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Source: https://www.imra.org.il/story.php?id=74402