MK Michael Ben-Ari comes to the defense of IDF Chief Rabbi Avichai Ronsky, saying he was right in protesting the special “gay pride” project in the IDF journal BaMachaneh.
Marking Gay Pride Month, the weekly magazine, whose name means “In the Camp,” ran a special series of interviews with homosexual army officers and their personal stories. Rabbi Ronsky wrote to the heads of IDF Personnel and IDF Education that the topic is “not worthy of a journal that reflects the IDF milieu.”
The two did not accept his protest, responding that BaMachaneh “represents and reflects the entirety of IDF soldiers, including those who are homosexual.”
This is a far cry from the decision of a previous IDF Chief Education Officer, now-retired Maj.-Gen. Elazar Stern, in a similar instance. Anshel Pfeffer of Haaretz reports that in 2001, Gen. Stern ordered BaMachaneh closed down for two weeks after it featured an article on an officer who had gone public with his homosexuality.
Ben-Ari: It's the Rabbi's Job
MK Ben-Ari says that Rabbi Ronsky was well within his rights in registering his protest. “The job of the Chief Rabbi is to protect and defend the value system of the Jewish army,” Ben-Ari said. “Rabbi Ronsky’s protest against being dragged along with the negative trends of the times is part of his job and his obligations.”
News of Rabbi Ronsky’s protest was first reported by the left-wing daily Haaretz, which also broke the “story” last month of Rabbi Ronsky’s objections to women serving in the army. The latter story, predictably, led to knee-jerk left-wing calls for Rabbi Ronsky’s removal from his position. At least one left-wing activist, however – Ariella Goldman - responded with praise for Rabbi Ronsky, and with derision for those in her camp who opposed him.
Ms. Goldman’s son Noam was killed in the Second Lebanon War three years ago, and she remembers fondly how he not only came to “console” her, but to “truly listen.” In a public letter after calls for his dismissal were heard, she wrote:
“When my son fell, I asked, ‘Where is the nation that is supposed to be behind me? I didn’t feel a sense of nationhood – until Rabbi Ronsky came and brought the nation to my home. He really listened to me; you could see it in the way he sat and held himself... This is something that we can learn from him. He gives and sacrifices of his time – and not only to bereaved families.
"I know he was happy to visit me, and that he did not see it as a bother or as his job to pay a condolence visit. He listened to me so much that I know that he truly meant it when he said that he becomes filled with strength when he comes to homes like ours, homes of bereavement.
“I still strive for political justice, even when I meet with him. He is a man of truth; to call him a ‘big mouth’ is stupid – and to try to have him fired would be even sadder for us, the seculars, than for the religious; they have lots of rabbis, and he’ll still be accepted by them no matter what, but who do we have? At best we have Yair Lapid, but he doesn’t always make house calls…"
Ms. Goldman wrote that she was once at a festive ceremony commemorating a new Torah scroll in a synagogue in Kfar Tavor, “and there were other rabbis there, wise and supportive, but when Rabbi Ronsky arrived, the parade stopped. They didn’t stop singing and dancing, but they waited. For the young dancers, it was enough to see his totally military look, with his pants tucked into his high boots, army-style. The singing became even stronger, and their legs flew higher in the air… He is a leader of youth. He lives the life of youth. He barely sleeps, doesn’t think of himself or his health – only of his mission. His own mission, and not our secular missions.
"I know that all the dancers will enlist in the army. If there was one there who had doubts about enlisting, these doubts certainly did not last while they were dancing aside the Chief IDF rabbi; next to him, their doubts evaporated.
"We have forgotten what it is to give someone else a feeling that he is your equal, that he enriches you. In general, we don’t believe that most people have something they can add to us. We discuss and argue without really trying to think what we can really gain from our partner in argument. There is no real need to listen. We are accustomed to despair; we’re not used to people who engender hope by their mere presence.
“In short, what I’m saying is: Just leave aside for a moment all the things you don’t agree with regarding this rabbi, and look at what you can gain from him and at all that he has contributed and contributes to Israeli society.”