Young religious IDF cadets in an officers' course were forced to join a mixed-gender battalion - but their protests worked, and they were allowed to join an all-male battalion.
The cadets recently completed the first stage of a ground-forces officers' course, the Yediot Acharonot newspaper reports, and were divided into two battalions. One of the battalions was to be comprised of religious soldiers, all males, while the other was to be mixed, though with separate companies for males and females. Some 21 religious soldiers were told by Base Commander Col. Gal Hirsch that they would have to sign up with the latter.
"We were told that there can't be one totally religious battalion and one totally secular battalion," one religious soldier told the newspaper. "But is it our fault that so many religious soldiers want to be officers?"
The 21 soldiers "took their time" in fulfilling their new orders, while at the same time calling their rabbis to apprise them of the situation. The rabbis, who have been making efforts to enable their students to serve in the army despite the increasing presence of female combat soldiers, spoke with IDF Ground Forces Commander Gen. Yiftach Ron-Tal, who in fact canceled the orders. The 21 soldiers are now free to choose to join the all-male battalion.
Arutz-7 spoke today with Rabbi Ze'ev Sharon, head of the pre-military yeshiva academy in Maaleh Ephraim in the Jordan Valley, and asked him to explain what happened:
"What happened is as follows," he said. "In light of the recent decision in the army to place girls in as many frameworks as possible, the rabbis of the hesder yeshivot and pre-military yeshiva academies asked for, and received, a Ground Force Command order stating that religious soldiers have the option of serving in separate frameworks. Thus, for instance, there must be an all-male battalion in the base in question. This is a standing order, and even the base commander must abide by it, as is known. The commander asked, however, to be able to fulfill it by having separate companies within a mixed battalion, instead of having separate battalions.
"This, however, we are simply unable to agree to; it stands in contrast to long-standing IDF orders that require the enabling of every soldier to serve in a framework that does not impinge on his religious way of life. This is why the army has always had kosher food, and time for prayers, and the like. If it wants to integrate girls, we can't say anything about this; but it cannot do this in a way that forces our students to violate their Halakhic [Jewish legal] standards."
"The real problem," Rabbi Sharon said, "is that 45-50% of the budding officers are religious or, shall we say, wearers of kippot [yarmulkes] - leading to a situation in which there really could be an entire battalion just for the religious, even though the religious are a smaller part of the overall population. We explained that the very education that leads them to serve as officers in the army also includes the ideal of separation between the genders."
Asked if the rabbis' strong stand on the matter could lead to a situation in which the religious soldiers simply refuse orders, Rabbi Sharon said,
"No, no, no, Heaven forbid. They will simply stop volunteering for these officers' courses, and will join the Nachal Hareidi instead. The army, I believe, wants us to be officers, and we want to do so as well, and we want to take part in every aspect of the army - but this cannot be at the expense of the Halakhah."
In other army news, Maj.-Gen. Elazar Stern, who took over the command of the IDF Personnel Wing several weeks ago, has ordered his officers to ensure that all documents written in their offices bear the Hebrew date - in accordance with long-standing but often ignored IDF regulations.
The cadets recently completed the first stage of a ground-forces officers' course, the Yediot Acharonot newspaper reports, and were divided into two battalions. One of the battalions was to be comprised of religious soldiers, all males, while the other was to be mixed, though with separate companies for males and females. Some 21 religious soldiers were told by Base Commander Col. Gal Hirsch that they would have to sign up with the latter.
"We were told that there can't be one totally religious battalion and one totally secular battalion," one religious soldier told the newspaper. "But is it our fault that so many religious soldiers want to be officers?"
The 21 soldiers "took their time" in fulfilling their new orders, while at the same time calling their rabbis to apprise them of the situation. The rabbis, who have been making efforts to enable their students to serve in the army despite the increasing presence of female combat soldiers, spoke with IDF Ground Forces Commander Gen. Yiftach Ron-Tal, who in fact canceled the orders. The 21 soldiers are now free to choose to join the all-male battalion.
Arutz-7 spoke today with Rabbi Ze'ev Sharon, head of the pre-military yeshiva academy in Maaleh Ephraim in the Jordan Valley, and asked him to explain what happened:
"What happened is as follows," he said. "In light of the recent decision in the army to place girls in as many frameworks as possible, the rabbis of the hesder yeshivot and pre-military yeshiva academies asked for, and received, a Ground Force Command order stating that religious soldiers have the option of serving in separate frameworks. Thus, for instance, there must be an all-male battalion in the base in question. This is a standing order, and even the base commander must abide by it, as is known. The commander asked, however, to be able to fulfill it by having separate companies within a mixed battalion, instead of having separate battalions.
"This, however, we are simply unable to agree to; it stands in contrast to long-standing IDF orders that require the enabling of every soldier to serve in a framework that does not impinge on his religious way of life. This is why the army has always had kosher food, and time for prayers, and the like. If it wants to integrate girls, we can't say anything about this; but it cannot do this in a way that forces our students to violate their Halakhic [Jewish legal] standards."
"The real problem," Rabbi Sharon said, "is that 45-50% of the budding officers are religious or, shall we say, wearers of kippot [yarmulkes] - leading to a situation in which there really could be an entire battalion just for the religious, even though the religious are a smaller part of the overall population. We explained that the very education that leads them to serve as officers in the army also includes the ideal of separation between the genders."
Asked if the rabbis' strong stand on the matter could lead to a situation in which the religious soldiers simply refuse orders, Rabbi Sharon said,
"No, no, no, Heaven forbid. They will simply stop volunteering for these officers' courses, and will join the Nachal Hareidi instead. The army, I believe, wants us to be officers, and we want to do so as well, and we want to take part in every aspect of the army - but this cannot be at the expense of the Halakhah."
In other army news, Maj.-Gen. Elazar Stern, who took over the command of the IDF Personnel Wing several weeks ago, has ordered his officers to ensure that all documents written in their offices bear the Hebrew date - in accordance with long-standing but often ignored IDF regulations.