Rabbi Yaakov Medan Slams ‘Basic Law: Torah Study’ as a Distortion of Judaism

Rabbi Yaakov Medan, head of a yeshiva in Alon Shvut, sharply condemned the proposed “Basic Law: Torah Study,” saying it amounts to “a great deal of desecration of God’s name and distortion and humiliation of the Torah” because it does not require Torah learners to observe all of the Torah’s commandments.

In a polemical essay, he argued that if ultra-Orthodox political operatives in the Knesset truly represented Torah values, they should have promoted a very different law, one that would recognize Torah study as a central Jewish value but would also require those who study Torah to live by it. He said such a law should explicitly state that the state views long-term Torah scholars as performing “significant service” for Israel and the Jewish people, with benefits equal to those of IDF soldiers.

Medan added a third clause he said was missing from the actual proposal, namely that the law should apply only to people who study Torah and keep its commandments, including participation in a “milchemet mitzvah,” or obligatory war, in times of national danger. He cited biblical and rabbinic sources about joining battle, saving lives, loving one’s fellow, and helping carry the burden of others, and said Torah study is meant to lead to action, moral refinement, and public sanctification of God’s name.

He also quoted Maimonides, who warned that anyone who studies Torah for support without working “has desecrated the Name,” degraded the Torah, and will eventually come to harm. Medan said the law, which he described as politically extorted from Benjamin Netanyahu and potentially harmful to Likud, should have included that warning in gold lettering. He concluded with a direct rebuke, saying it is unprecedented in Israel’s history for a law to contain so much “desecration of God’s name,” “humiliation of the Torah,” and distortion.