IDF Paratroop Brigade Commander Colonel Eliezer Toledano is not pleased as every third soldier in his brigade is sporting a beard for “health or religious reasons”. The commander realized this after conducting visits to brigade bases and outposts, telling subordinates “the party is over”.
“On weekends the soldiers head home and trim their beards so they look good while they do not trim them during the week. This is not acceptable” Yediot Achronot quotes the colonel saying. Some of the soldiers who told commanders their beard is because of religious beliefs were unable to answer basic religious questions posed to them by the colonel. “He spoke with the soldiers for two minutes and asked elementary questions that they should have known how to answer” stated an officer. “At the very least we expect a soldier who claims a religious lifestyle to daven daily and know the weekly parsha” he adds. “It is strange that the beard is religious while the soldier watches television on Shabbos” he adds.
The colonel instructed a number of soldier to shave during the visit as it was clear to him their reason for the beard is not genuine. He is setting up a committee that will examine the beards of personnel in the entire battalion but they must shave until that time. The committee will determine who has the right to grow a beard.
The colonel fears the beards lead to a decline in discipline and if they are not genuinely for religious or health reasons, they cannot be tolerated. He feels that anyone claiming religiosity as a reason for a beard must maintain a semblance of a religious lifestyle as well.
Committees are being set up throughout the battalion composed of a company commander, brigade commander, military rav and physician to determine which soldiers may sport beards. All others will have to shave daily. If the soldier claims religious reasons, he will have to show he lives a religious lifestyle. One claiming health reasons will have to explain to the doctor just why shaving is problematic.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
quite a interesting article and i appreciate the underlying respect that is in the article
though i must be the first person to express that according to most poskim the concept of the mitzva hadras panim zaken is not for religious jews
it is simply a mitzva that should be performed
i encourage all proud yidden to grow their beard..
America’s best General, George S. Patton, was always a stickler for proper decorum. All of his soldiers had to wear a tie, neatly tucked in at the third button of their shirts (called “blouses” in the military).
He blieved that strict discipline makes for better, more effective soldiers.
I agree. All soldiers should be neat and clean-shaven, including their heads.
As for beards: anyone who is truly chareidi, should not be in the IDF. The IDF doctrine encourages “equality” for women and homosexuals, which is poison for young Yeshiva bochurim.