Should Israel's Army Appoint A Non-Orthodox Rabbi?

The Progressive Judaism and Masorti movements are demanding that the defense minister and Israel Defense Forces chief of staff appoint a Reform or Conservative military rabbi to provide religious services to non-Orthodox Jewish soldiers.

 

Demand: Appoint non-Orthodox IDF rabbi
Leaders of Progressive Judaism, Masorti movements call on defense establishment to appoint second military rabbi, saying 'every soldier is entitled to religious services in accordance with his faith'
Kobi Nahshoni • Ynet

The Progressive Judaism and Masorti movements are demanding that the defense minister and Israel Defense Forces chief of staff appoint a Reform or Conservative military rabbi to provide religious services to non-Orthodox Jewish soldiers.

In a letter sent by leaders of the two moments to Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, they claim that the current Military Rabbinate cannot or is not interested in providing the religious needs of soldiers with a different worldviews, and therefore the IDF must give them an alternative.

Soldiers facing difficulties

Rabbi Gilad Kariv of the Israel Religious Action Center and Rabbi Mauricio Balter of the Masorti Movement note in their letter that there are dozens of active Reform and Conservative congregations in Israel, and that thousands of citizens take part in their activities.
 
"The Jewish soldiers serving in the army reflect the composition of the Jewish population in the country, which is mostly non-Orthodox," the two write, demanding that the IDF treat all its soldiers equally and respect their freedom of religion.

"Currently, religious services in the IDF are provided exclusively by the Military Rabbinate, which is affiliated with and operates as part of Judaism's Orthodox stream. This situation means that the needs of soldiers affiliated with Judaism's non-Orthodox streams are not met throughout their military services – compulsory, career and reserve service.

"The commanders in the different units and the elements in charge of providing religious services in the units are unfamiliar with the nature of the non-Orthodox religious services, and therefore cannot meet different demands in this context."
 
The letter, which was also sent to Major-General Avi Zamir, head of the IDF'S Personnel Directorate, and Chief Military Rabbi Brigadier-General Rafi Peretz, includes examples from recent years of difficulties encountered by non-Orthodox soldiers: A commander's refusal to exempt his soldiers from the daily shaving duty during the Counting of the Omer, because they don't wear a skullcap; rejecting female soldiers' request to hold a women's prayer at their base's synagogues; and denying a bereaved family's request to hold a Reform funeral for a fallen soldier.

"We believe soldiers interested in non-Orthodox religious services should have the option to turn to a Reform or Conservative military rabbi, who will be able to provide individual religious services to soldiers, instructions to the commanders, and advice on religious affairs," Kariv and Balter explained.

"We would be happy to hold a dialogue on this important issue with the authorized elements in the defense establishment and IDF, in order to find a suitable solution, which would guarantee an equal and honorable response of religious services to non-Orthodox soldiers as well."

'Mutual respect'

Rabbi Balter said he had appealed to the chief of staff and defense minister after "soldiers belonging to the Masorti Movement, a Zionist movement which encourages its youth to serve in the army, expressed their distress and need for spiritual support matching their way of life."

According to Balter, "Every soldier who dedicates his time, and sometimes risks his life for the State, is entitled to religious services in accordance to his faith."

Rabbi Gilad Kariv added, "The IDF is the people's army, and the central place where the Israeli communities meet with each other. It's only natural that this should be expressed in the service of Reform and Conservative rabbis alongside their Orthodox colleagues out of mutual respect and a common desire to serve the State of Israel."

The IDF Spokesperson's Office said in response, "The discussed letter has been received by the IDF. The response will be given directly to its senders, and not through the media."

Comments

[Jeff]

From the comments:

In a state of millions of Jews the dozens of conservative and reform Jews are insignificant and do not deserve to split our nation even more than it is already. The fact is that the reform movement is just one step behind christianity and the conservative movement is one step behind reform... I am for banning reform from Israel to protect the future of the Jewish nation from the decline we see in the US.

It is amazing how far these people will go. Wasn't enough damage done in the USA to our brothers. Moses came down from Sinai with ONE Torah to ONE PEOPLE, who all observed together. Observe or do observe. Why this made up religion. What is constant hammering of "streams of Judaism". Don't we have enough lies to live with. ONE GOD - ONE TORAH. Religion doesn't have any freedoms. That is your delusional problem.

Okay, number one - Haredim are bastards. I'm sick to death of you ignorant frummies coming here and telling us how wonderful you all are, how you're the kindest, sweetest, most generous people on earth. Yeah, great; I'll tell the Dalai Lama what saints you are. In the meantime - STFU.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way - I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The long-predicted schism has taken place; we simply don't want to confront the reality. We now have two religions, each appropriating the label of "Judaism". It's time to acknowledge it and move on. Thanks to their breeding program, the vast majority of Orthodox are now Haredim, and thanks to the inertia of the Modern Orthodox (to say nothing of the ease with which they are intimidated), they now control the infrastructure and support systems - mikvaot, beis din, kashrus organizations, etc. - as well. Of the few Modern Orthodox left, many are Right Wing (many are, in fact, indistinguishable from Haredim in all but dress). As far as the Liberals and "Centrists" (a term I think is meaningless, but I'll include it here anyway) are concerned - you need to make a decision. You few Modern Orthodox who don't spend your days worrying about what the neighbors will think of you for serving asparagus need to quit hopping back and forth over that fence, and make a goddamn decision already. Choose a side, and stick with it (of course, we all know which side it will be - and it's tragic).

This is it; I have no more patience with this narrishkeit. Reconciliation and peaceful coexistence are impossible, and I'm tired of appeasers on both sides who insist that they are, merely because they want so desperately for it to be so. When DK had his blog, The Kvetcher, up and running, one of his commenters said something I've never forgotten, and I find myself using it regularly: "The Modern Orthodox and the Liberal Jews are suffering from a bad case of Fiddler on the Roof nostalgia"." I haven't yet found a simpler, more elegant way to explain the phenomenon. It's time to jettison all of this K'lal Yisroel crap, and to try gently to explain to Avi Weiss and his crowd that reunification just ain't gonna happen (yeah, like that'll be successful). It may happen yet for the Vulcans and the Romulans; it is FAR too late for us.

To take the analogy further - these people are the Borg. There can be no compromise, because, like fundamentalists throughout history, they simply have no concept of the term. What they want is complete domination, total assimilation. Nothing less will satisfy them. It's time for Jewry worldwide to grow a pair and stand up to them, to make it crystal clear that they neither define our beliefs nor have any license to dictate the parameters of our lives - and pressuring Israel to disenfranchise them economically would be a good place to start.

End of rant. (Dammit, every time I think I'm out, you people pull me back in!)

[Gevezener Chusid]

are there Christian and Muslim chaplains who serve the needs of Jews who have converted to those faiths in keeping with the principles of religious freedom? Just askin.

[Dr. Davd]

They do have chabad clergy so they already cater to idol/rebbe worshippers.

[ah-pee-chorus]

jeff-
its hard to argue with anything youve said.

[Garnel Ironheart]

Jeff, take your happy pills before your venomous hatred consumes you. No one is pulling you back in. You choose to upset yourself by reading stuff you hate.

The Reformative presence in Israel in minimal. This is despite decades of trying to establish a meaningful beachhead there. They've tried to use the court system to make the progress they couldn't on their own. Now they're trying to insert themselves into the army hoping to gain adherents. Nothing they do will work because secular Israelis have a very simple vision of Judaism - you're either observant or you're not. What's the point of being semi-observant, especially when the average secular Israel practices more Judaism without even realizing it than most "frum" Reformatives in North America.
This is just another attempt by them to get attention to themselves.

[Geshmak]

The Ortho's dont realize how different they are then the Torah of Moses.

1)We no longer do an eye for an eye, or hand for a hand.

2)Since all the nations stopped bringing animal sacrifices, we also stopped. (even on a Bomoh)

3) We no longer blow Shofar on R"H when its Shabbos.

4) we no longer practice polygamy.

5) We wear Teffilin, which Moses would have described as "Amilia Badilya".

6) The law of Ben Sorer Umoreh and Soteh was never accepted by Klal Yisroel.

7) We dont kiss our future Kallah as Yakov did.

8) We stopped selling our young daughters for slavery.

[chabib]

How about a Messianic Rabbi ?

[Jeff]

Garnel, as is so often (not always, but much of the time) the case, you just don't get the freaking point.

[Dave]

Garnel, I agree with you to an extent.
However, as you know there is a lot of good in traditional Judaism but also you should realize, which I think you do, that as they say "you can catch a lot more flies with honey than with vinegar". However many Orthodox people are judgemental. I know that if my parents had forced me to be observant (like their parents did with them) then I would have rebelled. I am becoming more observant because it makes sense to me. However, every time an Orthodox person takes the "my way or the highway" approach, they can be sure they've alienated one more Jew.

[Garnel Ironheart]

Jeff, my comment was divided into two parts. The first paragraph was for you. The second paragraph was just my thoughts on the subject in general. You were the one who missed the point this time.
Dave, you're absolutely right about the honey/vinegar analogy but the problem is that Reformative clergy aren't a lighter version of Orthodox rabbis. If a Reform rabbi shows up on the base and presents a fuzzy happy version of religion in which driving is okay on Shabbos and you can have your bacon and eat it too, people might take to it and enjoy it but it won't be Judaism.

[Jeff]

You were the one who missed the point this time.

I assure that I did not, and, once again, you are wrong.

[Maskil]

If the army decides to appoint Conservative and Reform rabbis to the army it should also provide an Atheist rabbi for soldiers who believe in no god, and an Agnostic rabbi for soldiers who aren't sure.

Every soldier is entitled to religious services in accordance with his faith. I don't know where this whence this "entitlement" stems, but if it is there then it should extend to rabbis to provide services whose faiths are Atheistic and Agnostic as well. No soldier should be deprived of the rights to which he (or she) is entitled.

BTW: Does anyone know the name of the IDF's Shinto chaplain?

[Maskil]

Geshmak,

1)We no longer do an eye for an eye, or hand for a hand.

There is no evidence that we ever did.

2)Since all the nations stopped bringing animal sacrifices, we also stopped. (even on a Bomoh)

On a bama, that was outlawed as soon as the Temple was built on the Temple Mount. Re: all the nations - Right here in this country the Bedouins, the Muslims and the Samaritans still practice animal sacrifice. We stopped because it is prohibited on a bama and we didn't have control of the Temple Mount until 1967. Although we symbolically "handed the keys of the Temple Mount over to the Waqf Authority," the Israeli police have continually controlled the area since its liberation. The Capo courts and Capo police who control the Temple Mount and strictly enforce the Jew Laws are the reason we have not resumed animal sacrifice, as well as the apathy of those who fervently pray to for the restoration of the Temple and the sacrificial services.

3) We no longer blow Shofar on R"H when its Shabbos.

Some communities, like Rabbi Yitzhak Alfasi (a.k.a. "the Rif"), felt they had the authority to allow the blowing of the Shofar on Shabbat. If we had access to ascend the Temple Mount on Shabbat it would at least be blown there.

4) we no longer practice polygamy.

Who is "we"? Speak for yourself. My sister knows a guy in Safed (well, really a neighbor of a friend) who immigrated from North Africa with his two wives and he is legally registered as being married to both of them. I know a man in Miami whose father was a rabbi in Morocco and performed a Leverite Marriage with his sister-in-law when his brother died childless. She was his second wife and is the mother of the guy living in Miami. The Lubabitcher Rebbe encouraged a Hasid of sepharadic descent in a childless marriage to take a second wife (he instructed him to get permission from a Sepharadi rabbi, because "as an Ashkenazi I cannot give you permission") and wrote a long letter explaining how he should appease his first wife to go along with it (published in various compilations of the Rebbe's letters of halachic nature).

5) We wear Teffilin, which Moses would have described as "Amilia Badilya".

Okay, I'm pretty sure you meant Amelia Bedelia. However, even a basic school child reading the "Bible," with no preconceptions, on a literary level could tell you that this book cannot be understood (and was not meant to) without the context or the instructions.

6) The law of Ben Sorer Umoreh and Soteh was never accepted by Klal Yisroel.

One opinion in the Talmud claims that the incident never happened and never will. A dissenting opinion claims that he "stood on his grave" (of the killed child). The Rambam takes the second opinion in regard to halacha, and is the only source that rules on this mitzva, stating that it can occur and if it does the child should receive the death sentence as he describes it. The Rambam's ruling has not been disputed by any halachic source.

7) We dont kiss our future Kallah as Yakov did.

a) Our brides are presumed to be in a state of nida, while in ancient Mesopotamia girls immersed regularly after menstruating.

b) Ya'akov, while from the Hebrew nation, was halachically a Gentile.

8) We stopped selling our young daughters for slavery.

This mitzva can only be kept when the majority of the Jewish nation resides in Eretz Israel, which has not been the case since the first Temple period. When the number of Jews in Israel, the PA, Southern Lebanon and Jordan outnumber the number of Jews in the Diaspora this will once again be permitted by Jewish law.

[Geshmak]

To Maskil

Believe me; the reforms and consrvtv reasoning for not practicing yiddeshkeit like their grandparents, is just as logigical and valid as your reasoning.

The fact is, that Moishe Rabeinu's God wanted a Yibum to do Yibum and if he doesn't want, he should be scorned (the shoe business is just an expression of those times). Instead, we don't do Yibum, but we make a big deal with the shoe and the spitting.

[Maskil]

Believe me; the reforms and consrvtv reasoning for not practicing yiddeshkeit like their grandparents, is just as logigical and valid as your reasoning.

Unlike Reform and Conservative, I give no reasoning or justification for my not observing Jewish law.

Instead, we don't do Yibum...

Again, who do you mean when you say "we"? I just told you of an acquaintance who is the product of a leverite marriage. You represent the faction of "Geshmak" - (i.e. you speak only for yourself).

[Geshmak]

To Maskil

Nobody ever says "we don't observe Jewish Law", they always use some kind of logic, the circumstamce is not propper, the place is not the right one, or this is what the Torah had originally meant.

Besides the "Geshmak Klan" there others (99.99% of the observing community) who would never believe in doing Yibum in contempory days, but they would make sure that the saliva, for Chalitza, comes from every part of the woman's mouth.

[Maskil]

Nobody ever says "we don't observe Jewish Law", they always use some kind of logic, the circumstamce is not propper, the place is not the right one, or this is what the Torah had originally meant.

Well, I guess that makes me "Nobody." And all the "Hilonim" I know in Jerusalem are "Nobodys" as well.

I keep some laws because I really want to, others because I really like to and others because I'm not agenda driven to go out of my way to make sure I disobey the Jewish Law. But the reason I don't sell my daughter is just like the reason I don't keep the affirmative precept to divorce my wife. I love my wife and so divorcing her, while a mitzva it is, simply does not apply to me. Likewise with my daughter, as long as the number of Jews in the Diaspora is greater than the number of Jews in Eretz Israel the mitzva is irrelevant. When that status changes, if I will be so destitute that selling my daughter would be the best for her and for my entire family I would have no qualms in considering it an option.

Besides the "Geshmak Klan" there others (99.99% of the observing community) who would never believe in doing Yibum in contempory days, but they would make sure that the saliva, for Chalitza, comes from every part of the woman's mouth.

I don't get it. What's the big deal with leverite marriages? If one of my brothers gets married and before having a child is killed in a bus explosion together with my wife I would have no problem considering it (and if it's a no-go I'd pass the torch to another unmarried brother to try to make it work before resorting to halitza. If just my brother died I'd encourage one of my unmarried brothers to look into its viability. I would likewise advise a widowed sister to consider marrying her dead husband's unmarried (or Sepharadic) brother as the first option, if the situation were to arise. All my siblings consider themselves "observant" (as I once considered myself). Why is it so anathema to you?