The IDF Chief Rabbinate has buckled under pressure against its recently released pamphlet which contains a Halachic discussion on the need for a mezuzah on buildings in the IDF as was reported by YWN-ISRAEL.
The publication of the 142 page book was met with an outcry from politicians including opposition leader (Labor) Shelly Yacimovich, who felt the book was insulting and out of place. The daily Haaretz was on board, launching an attack against the military rabbinate for publishing and distributing the book in the IDF, which they feel is insulting to non-Jewish soldiers.
Among the other opponents of the sefer was Sheikh Moufiq Tarif, a leading religious leader in the Druse community, whose young men serve in the IDF, primarily in combat positions.
While IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Rafi Peretz has not given the order to remove the sefer from circulation, HaKol HaYehudi reports it has learned officials in the military rabbinate have buried the sefer so it cannot be distributed, bucking under the harsh criticism. The sefer was distributed in shuls in military bases, as well as appearing in digital form on the IDF Rabbinate website. It has since been removed from the website.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
If the goal of the IDF is to make young men become not frum (as many here claim), why does the IDF need mezuzos to begin with? And for that matter, why are there regulations about kashrus and chometz that if violated can lead to court martial? Why do they need Sifrei Torah? Why does the Tzomet Institute develop devices for the IDF that will allow critical things to be done on Shabbos without having to be mechalel Shabbos?
The fact that there is a debate shows that even many Religious Zionists who accept and enjoy benefits from the Medinah consider it an issue whether or not the state is truely a Jewish state from a halachic perspective.
It also shows the liability of having a state religion, since it means that secular politicians decide which psak halacha to follow.
Yanky55: If you had a frum army, there would be no need for orders on Shabbos and kashruth. Does the American army need orders telling the military not to serve horsemeat or roasted worms (both are perfectly good foods, eaten by people in some countries, but not this one).
The people who run the army are disproportionately secular, so much so that one might suggest a pattern of discrimination against the religious as many have noted that the percentage of Dati Leumi – who from my perspective are quite frum but misguided about politics – as juniors officers is much higher than their percentage as senior officers (if the same were true in the US, substituting “Black” for “shomer shabbos” most would suspect serious discrimination was at work).
Yanky55, the goal of Zionism is to replace Judaism with Zionism. Always was and is. They use real Judaism as a tool to make themselves look legit. There is also the practical matter of having “Dati Leumi” people in the government. They obviously care about real Judaism.
A mezuzah pamphlet offensive? Too bad it wasn’t a pamphlet on the issue of premarital sex.