The IDF has responded to the report that a non-religious soldier was assigned the task of being a mashgiach kashrus. The story was revealed by ‘Kol Hazman’ last week. It is explained that the soldier required the assignment and was assigned as a mashgiach despite the fact he does not keep Shabbos or a religious lifestyle.
The spokesman’s unit explains that only religious soldiers are placed in the IDF Rabbinate after being screened to determine appropriateness. When asked to fill out his request form for an assignment, mashgiach was on the list and he was assigned to the task.
A source in the military explains that when the young man was interviewed he was wearing a kippa. It is also added the soldier and his family are not religious, but was wearing a kippa to honor a request from his mom following the passing of an aunt.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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9 Responses
Shouldn’t there be more thought before just “appointing” someone?
As long as there are secular Jews in the chain of command, the military rabbinate has to be seen not as the advocate and defended of religious soldiers, but as the army’s agents for keeping the religious soldiers “in line.” That is how the military works, everywhere. You must substitute your commanders will for your will, and the commander is a hiloni.
Guess it really is a treyfa m’dina.
Just another reason for frum Jews to stay out of the anti-religious IDF!
Why not take all the Charedim who are refusing to be drafted and make them an exclusive moshgiach unit?
This way they would obey both civil and Torah law and serve a very useful purpose in society.
What I want to understand is what the big deal is.
If your problem is that he decieved the army, then thats a whole different vetting issue.
In terms of the actual Halachic problems…..
First of all in war time – there is NO NEED for any hashgacha on food as per the Rambam.
And even if you needed to, this is an army where if this “non – religious” mashgiach was caught not doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing, he would face a court martial, as many before him have faced for varing Kashrus infractions.
Moose613 : Because the non-zionist and anti-zionist hareidim who are refusing to serve in the army, would be court martialed for refusing to obey orders if they were in the army.
The only way to have kashruth in an organization that allows people other than frum Jews to be in the chain of command, would be to “outsource” the kashrus in the army to someone independent of the government (which the government is hardly likely to consider). As long as the IDF has non-frum officers, the IDF is incapable of having a reliable hecksher (and if they banned non-frum Jews from the army, they would be incapable of defeating the goyim in wars).
its been proven again and again that its the religious soldiers that are the ones who the most heroic and who win the wars……
I second #4, the Zionists will do anything to make frum Yidden nichshel, even those serving these atheists don’t deserve basic rights acc. to them, I bet they would never have a secular Arab supervise halal.