The head of Tzohar Rabbonim, Rabbi David Stav, on Wednesday addressed an incident in which a soldier was removed from a military dining hall after he entered with a pudding made of soymilk, a parve item.
“From a halachic perspective” explained Rav Stav, “a soldier may eat a soymilk pudding during a meat meal exactly as in restaurants and banquet halls which serve coffee with soymilk at the end of a meat event”.
Regarding the official IDF claim that there is a religious prohibition due to ‘maras ayin’ (מראית עין), Rav Stav disagrees as today, there are other realities regarding parve products used often at catered events.
At the beginning of the week, Ynet reported that a vegan soldier was asked to leave a dining hall during a meat meal in the Tze’elim base. The mashgiach and cook asked him to leave because he was eating a soymilk-based product.
The IDF Spokesman’s Office: “Since it is a meat meal and in order to prevent confusion, an appearance he was mixing meat and milk, the mashgiach asked the soldier to use the products he received outside the dinning hall. The soldier accepted the request and did not complain to his direct commander, who was present when the event occurred.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
IT’S NICE THAT KASHRUT IS KEPT VERY STRICT IN ISRAELI ARMY. ALSO FOR DATI AND CHARDI SOLDIERS A VERY STRICT SEPARATION OF SEXES TOO THE POINT SOME FEMALE SOLDIERS COMPLAIN, THEY CAN”T EAT IN THE SAME DINING AT THE SAME TIME. AS MALE RELIGIOUS SOLDIERS. MUST DRESS MODESTLY IN THEIR PRESENCE AND USE DIFFERENT SHOWER AND RESTROOMS.THUS, THOSE WHO VOICE OPPOSITION FOR RELIGIOUS MALE SOLDIERS, NOW CAN BE ASSURED, THAT FULL RELIGIOUS LIFE STYLE CAN BE MAINTAINED IN THE ISRAELI ARMY!