Rabbi Dov Lando Rebukes Public Protests Over Draft Enforcement

Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox leader Rabbi Dov Lando sharply rejected street protests over draft enforcement and arrests of draft evaders, even as his co-leader Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch had recently given his approval to a large convoy protest of cars. Lando spoke Thursday night at a meeting in his home in Bnei Brak, before dozens of heads of kollels from across Israel.

The gathering was originally meant to present a summary of a historic fundraising trip by leading rabbis to the United States, organized to offset government cuts to yeshiva budgets. Instead, it became a platform for Lando to distance the Lithuanian camp from public activism against the military draft.

Lando said, “All kinds of other protests we did not hear from our rabbis in previous generations are not our way.” He added that such demonstrations often cause “serious damage to the image of the ultra-Orthodox public” and said the main answer to decrees and hardships is increased Torah study. According to him, strengthening study inside the yeshivas is the greatest sanctification of God’s name and what will help withstand the pressure.

He also referred to his recent visit to the United States and the budget dispute with the government, saying the world’s center of Torah is now in Israel and influences the entire world. He argued that wealthy donors abroad understand that if Torah study in Israel declines, it will affect the entire Jewish people, which is why they have opened their wallets to support kollel students, whom he called the most distinguished learners.

Lando’s comments put the Haredi newspaper Yated Ne’eman in an awkward position, after it had recently tried to balance support for protest activity with the more conservative line now being set by the senior Lithuanian leader. His remarks were published in the paper on Friday morning.