The latest IDF regulations unfortunately continue to chip away at halacha as one of the military’s new priorities is to avoid ‘discriminating’ against women whenever and wherever possible. Commanders are instructed to do their utmost to have men and women training and operating together. In fact, the paragraph addressing women joining in providing they do not compromise the operational standards has been eliminated – hence, the goal is male and female soldiers operating side-by-side at all costs, even a compromised operational standard.
This follows the recent crackdown on beards, compelling frum soldiers to shave against their will, which followed the ousting of frum soldiers from officers training and other elite programs when they refused to listen to women vocalists.
What seems to be ignored are the basic rights and religious sensibilities of religious soldiers and officers along with rules of modesty. Despite the cries of many hesder roshei yeshiva, the IDF continues to forge ahead with what appears to be its new secular anti-Jewish agenda. In fact, during the tenure of outgoing IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Rafi Peretz, religion in the IDF has suffered a severe blow and soldiers are regularly confronted with the option of chas v’sholom violating halacha or being charged with insubordination.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
THE ISRAELI ARMY IS NO PLACE FOR A RELIGIOUS JEW
The IDF and Israeli society are being taken over by anti-Jewish forces–it’s getting very scary.
Not so. The IDF is a place for a frum Jew, in fact it is a Mitzvah to serve in the IDF. There are many options for religious Jews to serve in special units without women, excellent hechsherim and no Jew who enters the army with the beard is even asked to remove it. We are basically talking about traditional or dati leumi Jews that did not have a beard and then want to have it. This article misses all that information.
#1, really? My kids went into the army frum and came out frum. Posting a falsehood in all upper-case letters just makes you look more foolish.
Correction: THE ISRAELI ARMY IS NO PLACE FOR ANY JEW
#4 presumably means that they entered the army as “Religious Zionists” and emerged from it still as “Religious Zionists”.
The Brirsker Rav noted that their education consisted of a “drop of Torah mixed into a sea of heresy”.