Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi and the Eternal Army of Israel: A Call for Duty, Unity, and Faith

Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi has delivered a courageous and soul-stirring message to the Jewish people: every Jew must serve in the Israel Defense Forces. This call is not political; it is deeply spiritual. In Rabbi Ben Artzi’s eyes, defending the Land of Israel is not only a national responsibility but a divine commandment. He teaches that the mitzvah of protecting the Jewish people and the Holy Land applies equally to the religious and the secular, the rabbi and the farmer, the yeshiva student and the soldier.

In one of his most striking statements, Rabbi Ben Artzi declares that even if a person were to study Torah for twenty million years, he would never reach the spiritual level of a single IDF soldier who puts his life on the line to defend the Jewish nation. This is not a dismissal of Torah. Rabbi Ben Artzi reveres true Torah study, but it is a reminder that the highest Torah is one that leads to action. Study without sacrifice and learning without courage is incomplete. The soldier who stands in defense of his people embodies a level of holiness that cannot be reached through books alone.

Ayat, a supporter of this view, reinforces the idea that Jewish strength and faith have always walked together. The greatest figures in Jewish history—Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe Rabbeinu, Yehoshua, David HaMelech, and Shimshon—were not only spiritual leaders but also warriors. They fought to defend their people, guided by God’s command. They were the original defenders of Israel, the earliest members of God’s eternal army. None of them evaded the battlefield. All of them fought with courage and righteousness. This is the legacy that the modern-day IDF inherits.

To bridge the gap between religious communities and military service, Rabbi Ben Artzi has called on the most prominent rabbis in Israel to set an example by sending their own sons to the IDF. He believes that such a step would break barriers, inspire change, and lead to a wave of enlistment among Haredi youth. The sight of respected Torah scholars choosing national service for their own children would show the entire nation that defending Israel is not a contradiction to Torah. It is a fulfillment of it.

Rabbi Ben Artzi also warns against those who hide behind Torah study to avoid serving. True Torah never turns its back on the nation. Real kedusha, holiness, requires action, courage, and willingness to protect fellow Jews. In today’s reality, serving in the IDF is one of the highest forms of spiritual devotion. The battlefield, when approached with the right heart and faith, becomes a holy place.

His message is one of love, unity, and truth. In a time when the Jewish people face great danger, Rabbi Ben Artzi reminds us that we must stand together, not as separate groups, but as one people. The IDF is not just an army. It is a sacred mission, a continuation of the same divine protection that began with our forefathers.

Through his bold leadership and fearless voice, Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi teaches that to serve in the IDF is to stand on the frontlines of Jewish destiny. It is to join the ranks of the prophets, kings, and warriors of Israel. It is to walk in the footsteps of the holiest figures in our history and to rise to a spiritual level that even twenty million years of Torah study cannot reach without action.