IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Rafi Peretz on Sunday held a conference of senior members of the military’s Chief Rabbinate to address the current storm surrounding women’s rights, which has impacted the military in a number of ways, including the objections to kol isha by frum soldiers.
Regarding the conflict that is dividing religious and non-religious camps, Peretz stated “It is not my custom to blame others, and as such, we must take responsibility and we must address this issue”. He went on to explain that we mustn’t blame others, but we are compelled to address the issues at hand and find a solution.
Peretz stated discrimination against women will not be tolerated in the IDF, and no one knows the value of treating a woman with the proper respect more than the religious community. He told his officers that the IDF Rabbinate is on the front line of this battle and therefore, he relies upon them to ensure there are no such instances under their command – emphasizing there will be a zero tolerance level for discrimination.
He stressed the need for an abundance of “ahavas yisrael” and closing ranks, to mend fences and bring an end to the strife that plagues the community today.
Regarding the place of women in the military, he cited the regulations and recent decisions from IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz, and as such, women can and do perform at official ceremonies and while a commander may opt to accommodate a frum soldier regarding kol isha, if there is a conflict between Halacha and military regulations, the latter must assume the dominating role.
Peretz stressed that first and foremost, the IDF Rabbinate is “the rabbinate of all, not just the religious. For us, it is a very big honor to be emissaries towards serving this goal”.
Seeking to avoid exposure to ‘extremist elements’ in the military, Peretz added that if any IDF rav wishes to bring an outside rav to address his troops, as Chabad and others commonly do, this military rav must clear the event with Rabbi Peretz personally, not with members of his staff. Brig.-General Peretz made it crystal clear, that members of the IDF Rabbinate may not bring in any rav to address troops without his prior personal approval.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
6 Responses
How about the right for women who chose to serve in the army to do so without being subject to sexual harassment. All it would take wold be to apply strict “anti-fraternization” rules (in theory in effect in the American army), along with the halachic prohibitions of “negiah” and “yihud”.
It was not without a basis that rabbanim have compared conditions in the army to a “Beis Boosha” (the English word is not allowed on YWN), raising yet another shailoh for frum Jews serving in the army (how can you serve along side soldiers who treat Jewish soldiers in such a way – the English expression refers to a “piano player in a ….).
It should be pointed out, no one is prohibiting female soldiers from singing. The issue is the army ordering them to sing in from of frum soldiers for the purpose of indicating to the frum soldiers that traditional interpretations of halacha will not be tolerated by the army.
Any frum Jew can request to be assigned to a non mixed unit-no women on base.
Can a female soldier request to be assigned to a non-mixed all-female unit where she won’t be subject to commands from males who out rank her (and therefore won’t be subject to sexual harassment)?
If the answer is “no”, then by serving in the army is a Frum Jew being “part of the problem.” Is it permissable to serve in an army where such harssment and exploitation takes place? Are we allowed to say “Do want you want to our sisters, just don’t make me part of it?”
#1
There are strict rules against the types of contact you suggest happen on a daily basis.
Soldiers found to be violating, or worse truly sexually harassing can end up in jail, if they are officers/NCOs they will most likely be demoted and dishonorably discharged for their acts (after doing jail-time).
As #2 points out you can always serve in religious units, and you can also always ask your commander for permission to leave which he is entitled to give you, but not forced by current regulations, most commanders are not unreasonable and are sensitive to the needs of their charges.
Though excesses will likely happen when you have a group of teens/early tweens of mixed, you seem to be very keen on being motzi shem rah on the majority of soldiers in the IDF that serve honorably and keep their urges for their leave.
Even consensual sexual activity with another service member while on-base/on-duty is not allowed by regulations (as far as I know), but obviously it’s not easy to find/catch people in that scenario because why would one ‘rat’ on the other….
Emunah613… and are such non mixed units exempt from official cerimonies that include women singing? I suspect not.
#2, there is increasingly no such thing.