Jewish Military Service

1824 years from the Destruction. Issue no. 36¹

The rumor about military service for the Jews in our land comes in every European newspaper, in almost the same form as when we presented it in an earlier issue.

In the Neue Freie Presse, on May 23^rd, it is written: 

“I received interesting news from Constantinople. About eight days ago the kaymakam, the hakham bashi [the Ottoman chief rabbi] was called to the royal palace, and there he was told that the government had decided to summon the Jewish subjects of [Ottoman] Turkey to military service. His Magnificence the Sultan wished thereby to show a special sign of goodwill toward the Jews. For political reasons, until now only Mohammedans were called up for military service. But his Magnificence places total faith in the Jews. Two weeks were given to the honorable rabbi to form an opinion regarding this matter. In the first moments, this matter brought confusion to the rabbis,² but after consideration they saw correctly and quickly that the matter must be accepted with great gratitude, only to ask that the Jews who would be serving in the army would not be required to do anything against their religion.”

In a Dalziel Agency telegram,³ which was published in many newspapers, the following things were said:

“His Magnificence the Sultan has decided to conscript the Jews for military service in Turkey. This decision is regarded as a sign of good will to the Jews on the part of his Magnificence, and in a convocation of the rabbis it was decided to say, ‘Many thanks to his Royal Magnificence for paying attention to the status of the Jews in his state; they only asked that freedom would be given to the Jewish men in the army to fulfill all of their religious duties.’”

In The Jewish Chronicle, their special correspondent reported the following:

“Another very important event for the Jews of this country is the request of the Chief Rabbi and the Rabbinical Council in Istanbul, which was presented to his Magnificence the Sultan, that he agree to accept the Jews for military service, so that they might have the ability to pay their duties to their country. Thus, it seems in the whole world that the Jews, wherever they are, are faithful sons of their country; and desire and request to bear this burden and to do their duties as citizens, like all the Muslim people of the land. This action that the rabbis took with the agreement of the entire community proves well enough how happy Jews are under the protection of his Merciful Magnificence, how full our hearts are with feelings of gratitude for his protection and grace for us. We cannot know what will be the outcome of this action, but in any event, his Royal Magnificence will surely see the faithful spirit of his Jewish subjects.”

From all of this, it seems clear that there is no doubt about the matter, that his Royal Magnificence wished to show signs of favor to his Jewish subjects and his confidence in their loyal spirit to the throne. But how far this thing has come, whether it will truly come into effect and when, it is still impossible to say anything clear about this. As it stands, the matter has not been decided entirely in the Sublime Porte, there are still many doubts about the matter, and, in any event, it still requires quite a bit of time until it is concluded.

But see, we are not unaware that the spirit of the people was aroused by our article in the previous edition. We can now surmise that our older children—whose behavior in relation to such serious matters is like that of short-tempered children, who run away from something that is not according to their taste, with resentment and tears and tantrums—will not shower many blessings upon us. Knowing this, we think it is nonetheless our duty to say, now, as at all times, with gravity and seriousness, as is proper for such a great matter, what we must say. [ . . . ]

Let’s not behave like children regarding this great point! Whether or not the matter takes place, be it now or later, we must in any event always be prepared and ready for it, at every hour and time. We must be prepared for it spiritually and physically, in our souls and in our bodies. We must be armed for every matter that has the power to help us to make this difficult, but sacred, duty easier for our sons. Our sons must learn Turkish—the state language, the language of our government. Like a man who can see what the future has in store, Mr. Nissim Behar, the principal of the Torah u-melakhah [Torah and Craft] school, saw the value of the Turkish language in our country and made the teaching of that language one of the most important subjects in the school he directs [in Jerusalem]. He frequently urged the students to be diligent in the study of the Imperial language, supporting them as much as he could, and now, all the more so. And we have no doubt that Mr. Ephraim Kohen, the principal of the Lämel School, will do something about this in his school, and also Mr. [Joseph] Niego, the principal of the Mikveh Israel school, and Mr. [Meir] Angel, the principal of the school in Jaffa, Mr. L. Levi, the principal of the school in Safed, and Mr. Uziel, the principal of the school in Haifa—all of them will attend to this, for knowledge of the Turkish language is of exceedingly great value: in respect to earning a living and our status in the state, but even more so, in respect to our preparation for fulfilling this difficult duty, whether it be today or tomorrow, ultimately our sons will have to fulfill.

But in this matter alone, the men of our schools have failed in their duty to our sons: to prepare them for the military service. Knowledge of the Turkish language is spiritual preparation. But even more important and necessary—especially for our sons here in this land—than mental preparation is preparation of the body. Our sons, especially in the Land of Israel, are weak in body, flaccid in strength, soft, spoiled, whether greatly or slightly; how difficult will that service be for them in the beginning—all of the drills, training, and getting accustomed to this service will be so difficult! O how they will suffer torments, sadness, and pain and punishments until their soft limbs learn all the actions of battle! Therefore, this is now the obligation of our schools: to prepare our sons’ bodies for the difficult duty that will soon confront them. If gymnastic exercises are good and useful for general health, as all experts agree, it is now incumbent upon our soft sons to do not simply gymnastics, but true training for all military actions. Our schools’ principals must hire from the Imperial army instructors to teach the students everything necessary for military service, to harden their weak bodies, and to prepare their soft limbs for all of the [new] difficult movements. Our principals must ask the authorities to provide them army officers as teachers for this; for there is no doubt that the government will do it and willingly give them what they request. For this physical preparation, aside from it being absolutely necessary for our sons to make this hard service easier for them, it is likewise to the advantage of the government. First, if our youth are prepared and accustomed to this service, knowing that it will not be very difficult for them, they will go to do their duty more willingly, without fear. And second, so much time and effort will be saved thereby for the army officers who are appointed to teach the new recruits!

This is now the obligation of our schools. Thereby their benefit to our people will increase doubly. Let all the fathers, and especially the mothers, know, that their tender sons will acquire in the schools the virtues and competencies most necessary for them now. And when the time comes for our sons to fulfill their duty to the empire, let them know, and let their fathers and mothers know, that they will neither be new to this labor nor will they be so green—they will have already learned and become accustomed to everything required of them—half of the difficulty will be removed from them.

Indeed! With heartfelt prayers let us bless his Magnificence, our merciful Sultan, for his good will toward us, and let every one of us do what is in his power to be prepared for this in any event. Let us all do our duty for our tender sons, as much as we can, to make their service easier for them, which no citizen has the right not to fulfill. Our sons, tender and weak, flaccid in strength, plead with us to do at least this for them. When the holy hour comes to do their last duty to their country, they will go willingly to shed their blood, so at least let us make it as easy for them as possible!

Will we ignore the plea of our tender sons?