Prominent dati leumi posek Rabbi Eliezer Melamed Shlita feels the new IDF Chief Rabbi no longer has the authority to function as the military’s ‘Mora D’asra’. Rabbi Melamed’s comments appear in his weekly column in the BaSheva Newspaper. He explains the military rabbinate has been stripped of much of its authority.

Rabbi Melamed refers to the recent difficulties encountered by religious soldiers; including orders to shave beards and listen to kol isha performances. Rabbi Melamed explains that those responsible for deciding matters of halacha in the IDF, headed by incoming Chief Rabbi Karim, must stand firm but the latter he explains has already found a heter regarding kol isha by which soldiers are not compelled to leave an event in which a female vocalist performs.

Rabbi Melamed adds “I wrote a number of times to the IDF Chief Rabbi regarding his authority as ‘Mora D’asra’ following the erosion of the status of the IDF Rabbinate and the dismissive attitude regarding Jewish heritage…”

Rabbi Melamed stresses that on a personal level he has no complaints against military rabbonim, and he does intend to single anyone out on a personal level as he has the utmost respect for them as talmidei chachamim and persons with midos. He empathizes with the difficult conditions in which they operate as today, the IDF Chief of Staff and Chief of Personnel are both problematic regarding matters of religion, but points out “not everything is in their hands”.

He suggests that when applicable, the IDF Rabbinate should tell its rabbonim “Since we operate within a military framework, we do not have jurisdiction in this matter so we can best serve concentrating on our responsibilities and to consult with commanders regarding religious matters”. He cites an example, meeting with the General Staff to explain certain religious concepts and the norm in the various religious communities.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)