IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Avichai Ronsky seems to be on the chopping board of the daily Haaretz, which continues to report on his ‘unacceptable activities’ which include instilling a Jewish awareness in soldiers along with Jewish values.
Haaretz recently reported that Ronsky has breached the parameters of his authority, and the military rabbinate is encroaching on the jurisdiction of the IDF Chief Education Officer.
The latest attack from Haaretz appears on Monday, quoting a memo sent by Rav Ronsky to rabbi officers under his command, that despite the Haaretz attempt to curtail his activities, he and the Chief Rabbinate of the military remain committed to instilling Jewish values in soldiers as well as raising their Jewish awareness.
Haaretz writes of Ronsky’s agenda in a negative light, plans which include military rabbis contacting and maintaining a dialogue with bereaved families, officers in need of assistance, and soldiers other than hesder yeshiva soldiers.
In response to the latest report, the Office of the IDF Spokesperson released a statement that IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has instructed IDF Chief of Personnel Branch Major-General Avi Zamir to examine and define the operating parameters of the IDF Chief Rabbinate and the military’s Education Branch.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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9 Responses
The traditional job of the IDF chief rabbi was to keep religious soldiers from complaining too loudly about an institution that from the beginning was devoted to undermining Torah, and building a zionist state, one that would be an “Am Hofshi” – a secular people. Recently they have recruited some Bnei Torah to the army rabbinate who “just don’t get it”, and of course they have problems. Unless one removes the hiloni from control of Eretz Yisrael, they will object to the IDF rabbis use government money to spread doctrines that they (the hiloni elite) have been combatting for the last 100 years.
Nu? where’s ‘PoshuteYid’?
To the FOUNDERS of zionizm, ‘Am Chofshi’ meant not freedom OF religion, but freedom FROM religion. If you don’t know this, you’r totally ignorant.
let me get this right a JEW can,t be a JEW in a
in a Jewish state.
they can,t practice the right to be a Jew or Jewdeism . but perhaps if they where a goy they
could freely say the name —–. ware a cross
carry a bible. but a Jew can,t practice His or Her religion. if not in the Holy Land then were
i think David the King would be disapointed
seeing that he wrote tifflem to pray every day and he was the allterment shodier
Most of the problem stems from the fact that the secular Zionists ideology had been blown away and nobody subscribes to it anymore.
They are facing a problem whereby the best and most dedicated soldiers are davka the fantastic Yeshiva boys from the Hesder Yeshivot and Mechinot. Apart from creating a huge Kiddush Hashem they also irk the secular by their success. The hilonom then try all they can to undermine the achievements by trying to prevent these boys promotion to high ranking officers and now by undermining the IDF Rabbanut.
Hopefully their efforts will be futile.
I think it is important to differentiate between secular Zionists ideology which is totally Chol and between Religious Zionist ideology which to a major degree is Kodesh.
Haaretz does not recognize the Torah laws as laws befitting the Jewish country but would like the IDF Rabbis to continue what the founding secular Zionists have anticipated, i.e. to secularize religious soldiers and follow the immoral laws of Israel’s Sodomite Supreme Court of Injustice.
Torah and Zionism are not mutually exclusive to a sizable portion of Jews. Also, Haaretz is a newspaper, and being such, it goes without saying that it’s credibility in many cases, may be nowhere to be found.
I think akumerma summed up the reality of the IDF quite nicely.
MDShweks, why was Herzl’s original plan to make everyone notzrim, if they wanted to be free JEWS?
Since you seem so sure about your history, do you know anyone that were born in Israel and grew up there in the 50s? Have any of them told you that the State wanted them to be good Jews or, instead, did the State do all in its power to make them (post-Jewish) Israelis, even when their parents were observant Jews? The overwhelming majority of evidence points to the latter.
Zionists have always wanted to be free. Period. Chofshi had and has nothing to do with Judaism (unless they meant “free from Esav Sonei LiYaakov”…well, that worked out real well, didn’t it?), as is quite obvious from history and current events.
Of course, the only way to freedom, as we know, is bivias goel tzedek bimheira viyameinu Amein.
“rabbiofberlin”, for honesty’s sake, I will call your overall post disingenous.
Zionists, in general, like to use Jewish concepts like “Shalom” when it suits them to keep the truth from debunking their propaganda.
And your “comparison” of known Zionist treachery, as a group, to a hypothetical American Jew is quite ridiculous because, for one reason, while an individual American is his own private person, the unified actions of the Zionist leaders (public, and against their own co-religionists) de facto groups them together.
I can think of a better comparison than yours, but for shalom’s sake, I’ll leave it out (see, Zionists are not the only ones who claim to believe in shalom).
Your friend Herzl’s theology can be googled, should you care to know the truth, which, from previous posts on the topic, it seems you do not. Seek and you shall find.
The State of Israel, as a whole, since even before its inception and continuing on, has acted against our Torah and done many great injustices to our people. Period. What other silly things will you say in trying to whitewash that?
As for being “realistic and mature”, perhaps you could start by “condemning the bad things” about Zionism, or at the very least, if not outright admitting to the ones laid out in front of you in black-and-white, at least try not to lie about the cold hard facts. Zionism is the topic at hand, not Avira DiArah Machkimah, and Mitzvas Yeshivas HaAretz, which, certainly for a Rabbi, should be a very easy distinction to make.
rabbiofberlin,
It is a sad fact of the Zionist beginnings. Even before Herzl knew of a national longing (Dr. Birnbaum’s later suggestion), and even before the Uganda homeland idea, was the transition idea.
Herzl had the __________ idea that “all” Jews should join the notzrim- chas milehazkir- while he and a few coleagues would remain the transitional level of Jews. The church actually said no.
here’s a quote from Herzl Biography.
Sorry to provide such hurtful history of Herzl’s jewish sentiments.