Israel Air Force airplane technician Pierre Yitzchak serves in an air force base. He is a frum soldier and he was sentenced to seven days in jail for refusing an order to shave his beard.
Pierre is from a chareidi family. At some point, he decided to grow a beard. In line with protocol, he signed the necessary forms attesting to the fact the beard is for religious reasons. This was done with the chaplain of the S’dei Dov Base, Rabbi Menachem Alfasi, who approved the paperwork.
However, Yitzchak’s commander, Lt.-Colonel Erez Harel decided not to give his approval, instructing Yitzchak to shave, JDN reports. Yitzchak attempted to explain that his decision was based on his religious beliefs, but to no avail. The order to shave remained with the explanation that failing to comply would land him in jail.
The report quotes the soldier’s father, who states “I personally turned to the office, Lt.-Colonel Harel, but he would not hear of it, citing that in the United States military beards are prohibited and this includes all members of the service. I then asked him to release my son from jail but this request was refused too.”
The soldier was told that upon his release from jail, he will be instructed to shave once again and failure to comply will land him in jail again for a yet undermined period of time.
MK (Shas) Avraham Michaeli has turned to Defense Minister Ehud Barak in an urgent letter in which he writes “It appears to me that during these days with a significant public rift surrounding the share the burden issue, in this case despite the fact a chareidi soldier enlisted and is serving as required and there is no law broken and the actions [on the part of the IDF] are unwise, especially during these turbulent times.”
Michaeli calls on Barak to personally become involved and order the immediate release of the soldier from jail.
At the time of this report, parties involved await the response of the defense minister.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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22 Responses
and the IDF is planning to draft thousands of bearded hareidim???????
and this was a volunteer – someone who wanted to be in the army, and in an elite unit and was accepted for the unit — this is what they do to their friends and supporters
Lapid and Bennett may accomplish more for the Palestinians than was ever accomplished by the combined armies of a half dozen Arab states and thousands of terrorists
I want very much to sympathize with the soldier but one point in the report bothers me. He’s willing to serve time rather than to violate the religious principle of having a beard … after going clean-shaven for some time, during which he overlooked this ostensible religious principle. My army experience taught me that if you want to show the courage of your convictions (pardon the pun), you have to do it from the start.
#2
Precisely.
When the Nachal Chareidi soldiers wanted to know if they would have to listen to females singing, they were told no, only hesderniks have to attend.
(Similar to when Pharaoh tried to coerce the Jews to labor in Mitzrayim, first we start ever so gently..)
This article clearly is clearly missing some pertinent facts.
i.e. Considering that in the IDF there are many beards, why is the commander ordering him to shave his beard?
To elaborately state the obvious
Offer any secular or d”l Israeli, either 3 year draft and reserves (even with hesder)
or life as a chareidi/with yeshiva-kollel.
Who are the shirkers now?
Sometning important is missing from this story- as porque says. There are thousands of soldiers in the Israeli army with beards. I venture to say that , even in the Air Force, there are some who have beards.Hnece, “ikor choser min hasefer”- I dson’t trust this story one bit.
If the army’s objects to soldiers becoming more religious while in the army, they are going to have a problem. If the army does not welcome hareidi soldiers, the best they can hope for are a lot of unhappy soldiers seeing the army as the enemy. Segregated units will work for a short time, but not with draftees, and not when the soldiers want to advance (consider the problems that developed in the “Colored regiments” in America or the “Native regiments” in the British Empire – bad things happen when segregated units get upset). If the IDF is not willing to be friendly to hareidi soldiers, meaning accepting the maximum religious accomodation is followed in good faith in all units, it is suicidal to conscript hareidim.
2.
I feel bad for you that you in your heliga army brain can’t handle someone becoming more frum. I feel bad for you.
Despite my wholehearted support for the IDF, and my belief that there are roles for Chareidm within the IDF and National service, I am both disappointed and disillusioned by this story. I know of hundreds of personal friends and acquaintances who wear beards in the IDF. I think that this commander is acting in a manner prejudicial to command and to the values of the state, and the Defense Ministry should sanction him. If it doesn’t it is not only violating its own values but it is providing ammunition to those who feel they shouldn’t serve.
The whole point of drafting young people into the army is to condition them according to governments liking. Unless you have a full scale war drafting people who don’t want to serve is a waist of time and money unless you have an agenda! US has the strongest military on earth without draft! USSR with its enormous army could not accomplish anything in Afghanistan in 80’s because the solders were drafted by force and were not interested in fulfilling their “international duty” there.
Now it is all about Shmad in Israel.
If Im not mistaken, the rule is that if you enlist with a beard you can keep the beard, but you cannot grow one while enlisted without special permission.
Its also possible, being that he is in the air force, that his job entails wearing some kind of mask such as pilots do – which a beard may prevent from working properly.
Of course it could just be a jerk of a commander…
I personally know non-frum people who have permission for beards in the IDF. This is crazy. I’m inclined to believe there was a personal dispute between the soldier and the commander that is being left out of the picture.
#9 who said “I think that this commander is acting in a manner prejudicial to command and to the values of the state” — Unfortunately (or not, if you happen to be Neturei karta), the “values of the state” that frum Jews believe the state should have are not shared by the hilonim majority in Israel, and certainly not by the hiloni “elite” who run things. Their values (not the ones we wish they had), include building a secular modern state in which the Jewish people will be the “Am Hofshi” from from the yoke of Torah. Many frum people, especially in America,have a very naive view of Israel and the Israeli attitudes towards Torah – like it or not, the vast majority of Israelis of Jewish descent are rabidly secular and regard it as good public policy to try to make Torah and Mitsvos part of their history, not part of their society.
Will his next arrest be for not eating chazir in the Jewish army?
Mr. Levin, the story fits the narrative too well. The innocent lamb who just wanted to be more frum, the Tsarist, er, Zionist commander who threw him in jail for it, the frum shtadlan interceding with the Tsar’s, er, the Zionists’ minister for salvation…. Yichusdik (no. 9) probably interprets it correctly.
like I would want to enlist in an army that would force me to desecrate my religion? share the burden, make chilonim grow beards!!!
PowerToThePeople, I followed your reasoning until you mentioned the “waist of time”. What’s that, the outcome of indulging in an overlong long supper?
Meyerfreund (no. 14), in thirteen words you’ve slandered as many as 700000 Jews. Submit it to Guinness for the lashon hara record.
The Israeli officer cited the US army as a precedent? Curiouser and curiouser….
Interesting story sounds quite fictional if I may add.
#18 – Number 14 misspoke, He meant eating non-kosher meat, or perhaps milk mixed with meat. Pork isn’t a problem with the Israeli army .
#19 – The United States bans beards among the military. The United States also does not conscript people, and would probably discharge as “unsuitable for the military” a soldier who suddenly “got religion” and said his newfound faith prevented serving.
Akuperma:
As of 2011, the US military lifted it’s ban on beards, at least for chaplains. You are correct on the discharge of a soldier who “got religion” (or those that suddenly become pacifists) but not because they were “unsuitable” but as a conscentious objector, a status Israel does not recognize. Also, during the days of the draft the US granted CO status for religious reasons — e.g. the Amish and the Quakers — even during WWII.
Therein lies the problem. Someone above said something about “the values of the state.” Modern Israel, having been founded by socialist & communist atheists, places no value on and does not recognize the rights of individual conscience, most especially that of religion.