- July 9, 2026
- 7:58 pm
- Israel
The Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, Moshe Asman, visited the soldiers of the IDF’s religious brigade ‘Hashmonaim’ in Israel. His words became an important bridge between the Ukrainian and Israeli experiences of war.
On July 9, 2026, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Reuven Asman announced that he was with the soldiers of the IDF’s religious brigade ‘Hashmonaim’.
In his publication, he expressed a phrase that goes far beyond a regular visit to the military: strong faith and the readiness to defend one’s country do not contradict each other.
For Israel, this is one of the most pressing issues today.
For Ukraine, it is also an understandable topic because the war has long ceased to be just a matter of the front. It has become a matter of personal responsibility, choice, faith, family, home, and people.
Who are the fighters of ‘Hashmonaim’
The brigade ‘Hashmonaim’ is a Haredi unit of the IDF, created for ultra-religious Jews who want or are ready to serve in the army while maintaining their religious lifestyle.
In February 2026, the IDF wrote about the 613th battalion of the ‘Hashmonaim’ brigade, which completed its first battalion exercises on the Golan Heights. During the training, the soldiers practiced in open terrain, urban combat, and targeted operations, and the training itself was adapted to their lifestyle.
The army emphasized that this is not a decorative project but part of forming a full-fledged combat brigade in the ground forces. The IDF command clearly formulated the main idea: one can be an ultra-religious Jew and at the same time be a combat soldier.
In March 2026, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Haredi brigade ‘Hashmonaim’ operated in Lebanon for the first time as part of the ongoing war. According to the publication, the soldiers participated in operations in southern Lebanon and had previously operated in several directions, including Syria, the Gaza Strip, and Judea and Samaria.
It was to such fighters that the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine came.
What Moshe Asman wrote
Moshe Asman reported that he is with the religious regiment ‘Hashmonaim’, where ultra-religious Jews serve — people who have studied the Torah and observed the commandments all their lives, and today take up arms to defend their home, their land, and their people.
According to Asman, these fighters do not choose between the Torah and defending the Homeland.
They carry both duties together.
The Chief Rabbi of Ukraine wrote that he came to them to be close, to support, to go through several elements of training with them, and to say to each one: the people of Israel appreciate their readiness to defend the country.
In these words, there is an important Israeli nerve.
After October 7, the topic of service by ultra-religious Jews ceased to be just a political dispute between parties, coalitions, and courts. It became a matter of justice within society, where some families have borne the burden of the army, reserves, and losses for years, while other communities have lived in a different model of relations with the state for decades.
‘Hashmonaim’ does not completely close this dispute.
But this brigade shows that another formula is possible: not a renunciation of religious identity for the sake of the army and not a renunciation of defending the country for the sake of religious life, but an attempt to combine these two worlds.
For Asman, this became the main thing.
He wrote that he was deeply moved to see young people who remain true to their religious beliefs but at the same time take responsibility for the security of their people.
Ukrainian Rabbi in the Israeli War
The special significance of this publication is in who exactly wrote it.
From the first days of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, Moshe Asman has been with the Ukrainian people, helping people, supporting defenders, visiting the military, and speaking about the war not from an office but from within the Ukrainian reality.
Now, being in Israel, he effectively transfers this experience to Israeli soil.
In his words, Ukraine and Israel do not mix, but become understandable through each other.
In Ukraine, people defend their cities from Russian aggression.
In Israel, IDF soldiers continue to fight on several fronts — against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the Houthis, and other enemies of the country.
Asman wrote that he considered it his duty to support the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces.
For NAnovosti — Israel News | Nikk.Agency, this story is important precisely as part of the Israeli-Ukrainian agenda without the Russian optics.
There is no artificial opposition here: Ukraine separately, Israel separately.
There is a common question that both countries understand today: what does society do when war comes for a long time, and security becomes not an abstract topic but a daily duty?
Why this is important for Israel now
Moshe Asman’s visit to the fighters of ‘Hashmonaim’ hit a very sensitive point in the Israeli discussion.
Israeli society has been debating the conscription of Haredim for years, but after the start of the big war, this debate has become much harsher. Reservists bear a huge burden, families live in a state of constant anxiety, and the country simultaneously faces threats from the south, north, east, and afar.
Against this backdrop, every Haredi soldier becomes not only a military man but also a symbol of possible change.
Not a slogan.
Not an advertising picture.
But a person who prays in the morning, studies the Torah, observes the commandments — and at the same time goes to training, takes up arms, and prepares to defend the country.
That is why Asman’s words sound so strong.
He does not tell the Haredi community: stop being yourself.
He says something else: faith and the protection of the people can go together.
This is especially important in Israel, where religious identity, the army, politics, family, and memory of the past are always interconnected much more closely than it seems from the outside.
The common language of war and responsibility
At the end of his address, Moshe Asman asked the Almighty to protect all ‘Warriors of Light’, to give them strength, courage, and victory of good over evil.
This is a religious formula, but it also has a political meaning.
For Ukraine, the war has long become a struggle for the right of the people to live without the dictate of Russia.
For Israel, the war after October 7 became a struggle for the safety of citizens, for the return of hostages, for the opportunity to live without the constant threat of terror and rockets.
Moshe Asman, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, saw in the fighters of ‘Hashmonaim’ not only Israeli soldiers.
He saw people who are trying to combine two duties: before God and before the people.
And that is why this story is important not only for the religious audience.
It is important for all of Israel.
Because the main question today does not sound like this: who belongs to which community?
The main question sounds differently: who is ready to take responsibility when the country needs protection?