Hesder

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Hesder (in Hebrew: "arrangement"; or Yeshivat Hesder ישיבת הסדר) is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces. These yeshivot allow religious Jews to fulfill the ideal of full and active participation in the defense of the Israeli people, while still engaging in intense Torah study during their formative years.

1 Framework and description
2 History
3 Legal standing
4 The Ideology of Hesder
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Framework and description

Hesder service usually lasts a total of five years, within which participants are officially soldiers in the IDF. Through those five years, 15 months are dedicated to actual army service, comprising both training and active duty. In some Hesder Yeshivas service lasts six years of which 24 months are dedicated to actual army service. Almost all Hesder Yeshiva students serve in the army as combat soldiers. The remainder of the time in Hesder is designated for full time Torah study. Some students study for several years after this mandatory term.

The typical Yeshivat Hesder functions along the lines of a traditional Orthodox yeshiva, with the emphasis on in-depth study of the Talmud. However, the curriculum of a Hesder yeshiva often differs from this track in certain respects including an increased focus on Tanakh and Jewish Philosophy. In addition, most Yeshivot Hesder encourage their students to spend time helping the needy in surrounding communities.

Many of the Yeshivot Hesder also support a Kollel and offer a Semicha ("rabbinic ordination") program. Since 1990, various hesder yeshivot have established teachers' institutes. Graduates of these yeshivot are thus often active in the educational system of the national-religious, both as rabbis and as teachers.

Most Yeshivot Hesder have 150-300 students, while some of the larger ones have 400-500 students and a few have less than 100 students.

A number of Yeshivot Hesder have programs that allow students from the Diaspora to attend them for 1-2 years. The most prominent of these programs are those of Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh, Yeshivat Shaalvim, Yeshivat Ha'Kotel and Yeshivat Har Etzion.

[edit] History

The first Yeshivat Hesder was Kerem B'Yavneh, founded in 1953 (with its program modelled on Nahal; a unit combining time on a (frontier) kibbutz with army service). Today there are 41 Yeshivot Hesder spread throughout Israel:

Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh, founded in 1953.
Yeshivat Shaalvim, founded in 1961.
Yeshivat Ha'Kotel, founded in 1967.
Yeshivat Har Etzion, founded in 1967.
Yeshivat Kiryat Arba, founded in 1972.
Yeshivat Ha'Golan, founded in 1973.
Yeshivat Maalot, founded in 1974.
Yeshivat Neveh Dekalim, founded in 1976.
Yeshivat Kiryat Shmonah, founded in 1977.
Yeshivat Birkat Moshe - Maaleh Adumim, founded in 1977.
Yeshivat Shvut Yisrael - Efrat, founded in 1977.
Yeshivat Ohr Etzion, founded in 1978.
Yeshivat Shilo, founded in 1979.
Yeshivat Karnei Shomron, founded in 1981.
Yeshivat Beit Orot, founded in 1990.
Yeshivat Midbarah K'Eden, founded in 1991.
Yeshivat Har Bracha, founded in 1991.
Yeshivat Otniel, founded in 1993.
Yeshivat Shadmot Neryah, founded in 1994.
Yeshivat Ramat Gan, founded in 1994.
Yeshivat Yerucham, founded in 1994.
Yeshivat Birkat Yosef - Elon Moreh, founded in 1995.
Yeshivat Nahariya, founded in 1995.
Yeshivat Heichal Eliyahu, founded in 1996.
Yeshivat Siyach Yitzchak, founded in 1996.
Yeshivat Tzfat, founded in 1997.
Yeshivat Ayelet Hashachar - Eilat, founded in 1998.
Yeshivat Rishon L'Zion, founded in 1998.
Yeshivat Petach Tikvah, founded in 1998.
Yeshivat Maaleh Efraim, founded in 2000.
Yeshivat Netivot, founded in 2001.
Yeshivat Ruach Tsfonit - Akko, founded in 2003.
Yeshivat Ohr V'Yeshua - Haifa, founded in 2003.
Yeshivat Holon, founded in 2004.
Yeshivat Birkat Ha'Torah - Shavei Shomron, founded in 2004.
Yeshivat Modiin, founded in 2005.
Yeshivat Moreshet Yaacov - Rechovot, founded in ????.
Yeshivat Afikei Daat - Sderot, founded in ????.
Yeshivat Tkoa, founded in ????.
Yeshivat Raanana, founded in ????.
Yeshivat Eretz Ha'Zvi - P'duel, founded in ????.

In 1991, the Yeshivot Hesder were awarded the Israel Prize for their exceptional contribution to the nation.

[edit] Legal standing

The legal standing of yeshivot taking part in the Hesder program was regulated for years by orders of the Israeli Minister of Defense. In 1999, a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court invalidated such orders dealing with exemptions from service of Haredi yeshiva students. As it was much less controversial, that ruling didn't deal with the Hesder program. However, the new Knesset's law concerning Haredi yeshiva student exemptions also included an article concerning the legal status of Hesder service and yeshivot. More recently, there has been growing concern that the groups of young men studying and serving together in the IDF will be broken down into smaller groups and dispersed across the branches and corps of the IDF.

[edit] The Ideology of Hesder

In 1981, Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, wrote a groundbreaking article in the journal Tradition entitled The Ideology of Hesder, explaining and justifying the ideological basis for the Hesder program. He writes:

Hesder at its finest seeks to attract and develop bnei torah ("religious individuals") who are profoundly motivated by the desire to become serious talmidei hachamim ("religiously learned, knowledgeable") but who concurrently feel morally and religiously bound to help defend their people and their country; who, given the historical exigencies of their time and place, regard this dual commitment as both a privilege and a duty; who, in comparison with their non-hesder confreres love not Torah less but Israel more. It provides a context within which students can focus upon enhancing their personal spiritual and intellectual growth while yet heeding the call to public service, and it thus enables them to maintain an integrated Jewish existence. [1]