Koran, Rabbinate emblem
Koran, Rabbinate emblemIsrael news photo (montage)

The IDF Rabbinate intends to emboss its emblem on military-issued Korans, according to IDF journal BaMachaneh. This may be the first time in history that an overtly Jewish symbol – the emblem of the Israel Defense Force Rabbinate – will be embossed on Muslim holy books. The Rabbinate’s emblem depicts the Tablets of the Ten Commandments, as well as the sword and olive branches that appear in numerous IDF logos.

The IDF provides Korans for its Muslim soldiers. These include Bedouins, as well as non-Bedouin Muslim Arabs, who have served in the IDF as trackers and in other combat roles since its earliest days.



Brig.-Gen. Rabbi Ronsky addresses French delegation. (Israel news photo: BaMachaneh)

The idea for embossing the emblem on IDF Korans was brought up by the Chief Jewish Chaplain for the French Army, Maj.-Gen. Rabbi Haim Corsia, who visited the IDF last week. Corsia noticed that the IDF Rabbinate emblem is embossed upon the prayer books that the army hands out to religious Jewish soldiers, but does not appear on military Korans.

Rabbi Corsia pointed out the matter to the IDF’s Chief Rabbi, Brig.-Gen. Avichai Ronsky, who promised to fix the situation, the military magazine reported.

“Not having the Military Rabbinate’s emblem on the Koran is a mistake," Rabbi Corsia said. “If the IDF issues Korans to Muslim soldiers, that means the Koran is part of the army. I look at the Book of Tehillim (Psalms) and it has the stamp, but the Koran does not. In the French army this would not happen. This is an area in which we can help the IDF."

"Rabbinate is the heart of the army"

Rabbi Corsia, accompanied by more than 20 Jewish chaplains from the French Army, ended a ten-day visit to Israel last week, two days of which were spent in the IDF. The rabbis visited the Military Rabbinate headquarters and the Air Force’s Hatzor Base and met soldiers from the Golani Regiment. 

“Our role is to help the French soldier, and we do this, among other ways, by providing Kosher food and various religious services,” Rabbi Corsia explained when asked about the Jewish chaplain’s duty. “There are many Jews in the French army – you can see them in every battalion. And if there are no Jews, there is a soldier whose wife is Jewish… Our main mission is to strengthen the fighting spirit of the French army. We work together with the Christian and Muslim religious bodies and talk to the soldiers about the meaning of going out to battle,” he added.

Rabbi Corsia opined that the IDF Rabbinate should also continue to strengthen the soldiers’ esprit de corps. “I feel that the IDF’s Rabbinate is the heart of the army, and that is very good,” he noted. “In the past, rabbis in the French army only dealt with kashrut and religion. I believed that this was a mistake and changed the situation. I think the IDF Rabbinate should adopt the same approach,” he said.