More on Secular Coercion in the IDF

This post is a follow-up to what I wrote here.

In this week's issue of BeSheva the scandalous expulsion of cadets from an IDF officer's course is dealt with from many different angles.

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed agrees with me that the commander(s) that expelled the cadets should be punished (Update: Rabbi Melamed's remarks are now available in English):

לאחר האירוע המצער והמשפיל של הדחת ארבעה צוערים מקורס קצינים, ודרישה מחמישה אחרים להתנצל על כך שיצאו בעת שירת נשים, התיקון הנדרש הוא תביעה נחרצת להדחתו של מח"ט בה"ד 1 אל"מ ערן ניב, והדחתו של המג"ד סא"ל עוזי קליגר.

ידוע שמפקד שנכנס לעימותים מיותרים עם פקודיו הוא מפקד גרוע, וכל בר דעת מבין שהם הגיעו כאן לעימות מיותר. הנושא אינו רק זכותם של החיילים להיות נאמנים למצפונם הדתי. מדובר בכבוד למסורת ישראל. לא את הצוערים הדתיים בלבד המפקדים הללו ביזו, אלא את מורשת ישראל, את הסבים והסבתות שלהם עצמם, שבמשך כל הגלויות שמרו תורה ומצוות במסירות נפש. ורק בזכותם, נכדיהם ערן ניב ועוזי קליגר נולדו בישראל והגיעו לתפקידם הנוכחי בצה"ל. אנשים כאלה לא ראויים להיות מפקדים בצבא ישראלי.

זאת גם התנהגות שמבטאת חוסר אחריות לאומית. בזמן שהכול יודעים עד כמה חשוב שהציבור החרדי ישתלב בצבא, הם מודיעים קבל עולם, ובתמיכת הרמטכ"ל ושר הביטחון, שהצבא החליט לבזות את הציבור הדתי והחרדי שנאמן למסורת ישראל.

תקדימים מהעבר

בתמוז תשס"ד נתגלעה בעיה בבה"ד 1: המח"ט גל הירש יצר מצב שבו לא ניתן היה לקיים תפילות שחרית במניין. הצוערים הרגישו מאוימים ולא העזו להתלונן. פניתי מעל טור זה לנציגי הציבור הדתיים והחרדיים, אבל התגובה היתה רפה. שנתיים אח"כ, בעת מלחמת לבנון, התברר שתת אלוף גל הירש היה אחד מהאשמים המרכזיים במחדל שגרם לשחיקה קשה בכוח ההרתעה של ישראל ולמותם של חיילים רבים.

וכך היה הרב גורן זצ"ל אומר: מפקד בצה"ל שאינו מכבד את קודשי ישראל, גם לא יצליח במלחמה. לכן כאשר מצא מג"ד שנהג שלא כשורה כלפי חיילים דתיים, לא הסכים לקבל התנצלויות אלא תבע את סילוקו של המג"ד מהצבא. רק בדרך זו ניתן לדאוג שהפקודות הנוגעות לקודשי ישראל יישמרו כהלכה.

Rabbi Melamed also has some keen observations on the role of the Army Chief Rabbi and the religious political leadership:

הרבצ"ר

לצערנו הרב הצבאי הראשי, עם כל מעלותיו הידועות, לא רלוונטי לסוגיה הזו. הוא ממונה על ידי שר הביטחון והרמטכ"ל, וקרוב להניח שאם יפסוק בניגוד לדעתם ייזרק מהצבא. לכן בכל עת שמדובר בהתנגשות שכזו, אין לעמדתו משקל. רק לאחר שיעמוד על הפרק דיון שבו עמדת הרב הצבאי תהיה בניגוד לעמדת שר הביטחון והרמטכ"ל, ולמרות הלחצים הרבצ"ר לא ישנה את דעתו ובכל זאת לא יודח מתפקידו, אז נדע שהוא אכן פוסק באופן עצמאי. ללא זאת, סמכותו כפוסק הלכה מוטלת בספק. אמנם עדיין יש לו תפקיד חשוב כמנהל ענייני הדת בצבא, אבל לא כפוסק.

מנהיגי הציבור הדתי

אם מנהיגי הציבור הדתי מתפלאים מדוע הציבור הדתי הגדול אינו בוחר במפלגות הדתיות, הם יכולים להתבונן בסיפור הזה ובדומיו ולהבין את התשובה. קשה להעלות על הדעת שמקרה דומה יקרה לאנשים מהשמאל. שום מפקד לא היה מעלה בדעתו לכפות על אנשי מר"ץ, שמספרם קטן בהרבה, לעשות דבר שמנוגד את מצפונם, שלא בהקשר ביטחוני מהדרגה העליונה. הדוגמא המקבילה היא אולי מצב שבו מזמינים את הרב אמנון יצחק לתת דרשה בבה"ד 1 על חזרה בתשובה, ומספר צוערים שמאלנים היו יוצאים, והמג"ד והמח"ט היו מדיחים אותם מקורס קצינים. אתם יכולים לתאר לעצמכם מה היו עושים נציגיהם בכנסת, ולנסות להעריך תוך כמה זמן היו קצינים אלו ננזפים ומוצאים את עצמם מחוץ לצבא.

זה מה שצריכים לעשות כעת מנהיגי הציבור הדתי והחרדי, לתבוע את סילוקם מהצבא. לא פחות. וגם אם הדבר יארך זמן, לא לנוח ולא לשקוט עד שהם יודחו. לפעמים חייבים לנקוט עמדה נחרצת, למען ישמעו וייראו ולא יזידון עוד. נחמה פורתא יש לנו מהצוערים האמיצים שנהגו כהלכה, ולצערנו נעזבו לנפשם לבד במערכה.

Yair Shapira, in his weekly legal column, outlines and bemoans the decline of the Military Rabbinate.

Yedidya Meir tells us about his own experiences with the IDF bureaucracy.

There is a lot more in the printed edition.

Katzav Convicted of Rape and Molestation

The verdict is in. He may be guilty and he may not be. I do not have faith in the Israeli Judicial System:

A three-judge panel of the Tel Aviv District Court unanimously convicted this morning former President Moshe Katzav of all charges against him, except for that of harassing a witness. He was convicted on two counts of rape, one count of an indecent act, sexual harassment of three women, and an attempt to obstruct justice. It is not known when the sentence will be handed down.

The tensions had been high in anticipation of the reading of the ruling, but as soon as Court President George Kara began without declaring Katzav innocent, it was clear that he had been found guilty of at least one of the charges against him.

The judges declared that Katzav, a former Transportation Minister, should not have accused the media of "trying him publicly," because he himself "used the media to his advantage whenever he could."

The State Prosecution is now facing strong criticism for having offered a relatively moderate plea bargain offer to Katzav, while the women's groups have been empowered.

Public officials praised Israel's justice system. Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman said that the "commandment not to sway justice had been fulfilled," while Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch said that the ruling proves that all are equal before the law. The prosecutor in the case, Ronit Amiel, said that it shows the strength of Israel's democracy. A woman, known only by her first initial Aleph, accused Katzav over four years ago of attacking her more than once when she worked for him in the Transportation Ministry. Three other women also accused him of similar, though less serious, crimes. The charges by one accuser - another woman known as Aleph, who worked for Katzav in the President's office - were dropped over three years ago.

Katzav strongly denied the charges against him throughout the last four years. At one point, he even held an angry press conference, charging the media - and especially Channel Two - with waging a witch hunt against him.

The judges said that Katzav's testimony had been "replete with lies," and that he should have accepted the plea bargain that was offered him. He turned it down at the time, saying he would fight for his complete innocence.

Katzav's wife Gila was not in court. His son broke down in sobs when the ruling was read aloud, while Katzav himself remained stone-faced.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that Moshe Katzav is innocent. Katzav could have avoided this mess if he had kept the laws of yichud and negiah. With regards to negiah, apparently Moshe Katzav admits that he sometimes hugged female members of his staff. If he had acted in accordance to Jewish law with regards to these matters any attempt to slander him would have been immediately written off.

I know a God fearing doctor who will not perform bodily examinations on any of his patients unless a member of his staff is in the room with him. This is in order to avoid any claims of improper conduct on his part. Where I work, even the so-called secular Jews know that you don't hug or even shake hands with a religious member of the opposite sex.

I hope the case will lead to a strengthening of modesty in the workplace and in general.

80 ultra-Orthodox Jews Enlist Into IDF Intelligence

The times they are a changing:

Eighty hareidi-religious men joined the ranks of IDF intelligence this week, becoming the largest group to do so in the history of the “Bina B'Yarok” (Intelligence in Green) program to bring hareidim into the corps.

The new inductees represent a 25% increase in hareidi-religious presence in the Intelligence Corp.

They will begin work in a variety of positions, working with communications, computers, GIS systems, and in research. Most will work with computers or in communications.

Young men from a variety of streams within the hareidi-religious community enlisted with Bina B'Yarok. Some are from the chassidic Gur and Sanz groups, others are Sephardi, and still others are “Litvaks,” members of communities based in European Jewish traditions.

The recruits came from cities across the country, including hareidi-religious strongholds like Beitar Illit and Modiin Illit (Kiryat Sefer) where IDF enlistment is often discouraged.

So How did the IDF succeed in enlisting them?:

Commanding officer Major Yoram Dan explained that the Bina B'Yarok program is designed with the haredi soldiers' unique needs in mind. The soldiers serve exclusively with men, are provided with food that meets demanding kosher specifications, and are given time to pray each afternoon, he said.

“Our goal is to make more options available for hareidi recruits,” he added.

This is a simple solution that could have been implemented a long time ago: Create different frameworks within the army that do not contradict the Hareidi way of life i.e. do not force them to serve with women etc. BTW, I know that not all of the recruits are "Hareidi" in the "black hat" sense of the word. Some of them are youth from from the National Religious community that found the “Bina B'Yarok” program appealing.

Behatzlachah to the new recruits!

Translating Hebrew to Yeshivish

This poster, as well as various variations of it, were pasted up in Jerusalem's religious neighborhoods. On the right is the message in Hebrew and on the left is the translation into English Yeshivish(click on the pic for enlargement!):



I like the way they translated it:

Bat Yisrael = Bas Yisroel
Eshet Avrech = Kollel Youngerman "wife"
"al pi torah" and "Posek" are left in Hebrew letters as is
Peah = sheitel
Mitpachat = tichle

And so on.

BTW, I sympathize with the poster's message.

Not the Jblogosphere Modestry Patrol

29 Tishrei, 5769

I'll say it straight out, without further ado: The God of Israel hates obscenity, bawdiness, lewdness, whatever you want to call it (see Sanhedrin 51B - 52A). It is not the He dislikes it, or that He has reservations about it: He hates it! All of the Hollywood "culture", with its half naked actresses, pop singers, etc. is not "cool" nor is it "chic". It is a snare to anyone who wants to progress in spirituality, and a stumbling block to anyone who wants to be something more than an animal that walks on two legs.

Therefore I plead with everyone here in the jblogosphere: Please do not post pictures of scantily clad women on your blog. If you consider yourself religious, posting such pics is absolutely in opposition to the Torah, in letter and in spirit. If you don't consider yourself religious, consider the fact that posting such photographs degrades women, lowering them to being nothing more than objects for male lust.

Let's clean up the neighborhood! Thanks in advance and yishar koach!

Unfair Characterization Of American Jewry

Here:

The even better news is that they are shortening their trip and returning to Eretz Yisrael after only five days because my daughter says that the people there only talk about money and she feels bored. She also complains that the fruit has no taste, she is afraid to find insects in the salad, the buildings remind her of pictures of Rome, there are churches wherever you look, and Orthodox women walk around in public without covering their hair, as if they were single girls.

I think that Fishman went a little too far this time.

In Honor Of The Heat Wave

This was originally posted way back when. I'm reposting it since the message is timely:

The Princess Of Jaffa Street And The King's Daughter

It's summer in Jerusalem. The weather is hot and dry. Now is the
time for Yaeli to take out her summertime wardrobe. Yaeli's
summertime clothes don't cover too much, after all it's hot during the
summer. When Yaeli walks down the street she gets a lot of attention.
Many men turn their heads to take a good look. There's a lot to see.

Yaeli likes the attention. She feels like a movie star. She senses
several pairs of male eyes that are scrutinizing her every move as she
struts her stuff down Jaffa Street. Even the Avrech who turns the
other way at the sight of the brazenly dressed Yaeli doesn't faze her.
Isn't this also an acknowledgement of her attractiveness? Yaeli
smiles at the thought. She is more than a movie star. She is the
Princess of Jaffa Street.

Shulamit wears the same long-sleeved-button-down shirt in the summer
that she wears during the winter. Her skirt reaches several inches
below the knee. No heads turn to see her, which is fine as far as she
is concerned, since she does not seek attention. She is a true
daughter of Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah. No one is looking at her,
except the One above who sees and know all, and rewards those who do
His will. She is the King's daughter. "The complete glory of the
king's daughter is within...(Psalms 45:14)."

In the meantime, Yaeli is enjoying all of the stares that she is
getting. Does she know that those gazing at her see her as a
collection of body parts and nothing more? Does she realize that she
is foolish for revealing herself in such a way in public? Is she
aware that she has forsaken her humanity and has given in to her most
primitive animal instincts? The answer to all of these questions is
"no." She has been duped by a decadent culture that speaks of women's
liberation but excels in degrading them.

When will Yaeli realize that deep down, in her innermost essence, she
is also the King's daughter and not the Princess of Jaffa Street?