Reply To: Being a Frum military Officer

Yossiea- Thanks, but I think for me it would be more dangerous- I might spill it! 😀

*everyone else*: Let me clarify a few things:

1. My not going to the Israeli military has nothing to do with being anti-Zionist, etc. I’m just not Israeli, and I don’t feel any sort of patriotism or hakaras hatov to them on a day-to-day basis. I know they allowed E”Y to be opened up, etc. but these aren’t things I’m thankful for every day. Also, all-inclusive (Yanky55), my research tells me that it’s much easier to be Frum in the American military than the Israeli military (outside of nachal chareidi which is combat, and I don’t want to do that).

2. Joseph is right, the military can assign me wherever they fell like it, but since I’m not being trained as a combat officer they won’t put me in a combat position. I may, for instance, be deployed to manage networks in Iraq, or whatever, but like was mentioned above, these aren’t the people who are R”L killed over there. I’m not saying Hashem can’t do whatever he wants, but it’s no more dangerous than, say, crossing Ocean Parkway or Lavista at Briarcliff (Hameiven yovin). It’s simply not worth re-training a person to do something they’re not good at when they’ve already spent millions of dollars training you for something else.

3. I’m not in the Air Force Academy, I’m in ROTC. This means that I can be in Yeshiva and in a normal college while getting training once a week. I picked this route because I can get a base in Learning before having to join, which won’t happen until, the earliest, three years from now.

4. The point that Chaplain was making is that there are people out there who want to destroy us, and those of us who have an ability to defend us against them must. I’m not sure I agree with him 100%, but I am sick and tired of reading stories about what’s going on and not being able to do anything about it.

5. The main reasons I’m considering this, though, have to do with, believe it or not, ruchnius. The discipline and self-control they teach you can be applied wherever you go, and the concepts of respect and professionalism apply to the Frum world as easily as the military one. I can honestly say my davening has been better since I started, and I now have more of a concept of Kiddush Hashem/Kiruv.