Chabad Soldier Faces Charges for Refusing to Shave
A young Lubavitcher man serving in the Israeli Air Force was ordered by his commander to shave his beard or face charges of insubordination.
From Yeshiva World News:
As Gedolei Torah Shlita and Admorim Shlita meet in an effort formulate a united policy concerning how the chareidi tzibur addresses the IDF draft, another case against a chareidi soldier is in the news. This time, a Chabad soldier is facing charges for refusing to remove his beard. When asked to comment, the IDF Spokesman’s Office stated “The commander involved are reviewing the situation”.
It is becoming increasingly clear to many that the ‘sharing the burden’ effort is nothing more than a sham, an effort to compel bnei Torah to serve in the IDF in the hope of distancing them from their chareidi lifestyle.
In this latest case, the soldier is serving as a student in the air force in the Tel Nof Base. The soldier explains that his commander, of the rank of lt.-colonel, decided that all of his subordinates must be clean shaven. The soldier, Yitzchak explained that he does not shave for religious reasons. His commander was unimpressed and explained that failure to comply would result in charges of insubordination against him.
His parents explained that while some chareidim are okay with shaving, it is known that Chabad is stringent regarding shaving or trimming one’s beard.
The lt.-colonel is not interested in the young soldier’s religious beliefs and filed charges against him. Yitzchak phone the IDF Chief Rabbinate hotline to report what was happening to him. He was told that an officer of the rank of lt.-colonel or higher has the right to order him to shave but he is not compelled to comply, for the law permits him to maintain his beard in line with his chareidi lifestyle.
The IDF Spokesman adds “The right to have a beard in line with one’s religious beliefs is contingent on one’s commander. When one transfers from one unit to another one has to often request permission anew.
Yitzchak is expected to present his case before officers in the coming days.
Shocked
Tel Nof has a large population of soldiers who live in Rechovot and are frum. I used to live there and you could see them walk around in uniform and full beards….
Not the way to do it
This is not the way to encourage frum young men to join Tzahal rather than avoid service, just the opposite.
Garbage
I was in the IDF never had a issue,
Ahem
If he is in the pilot training course, then he would have to and if he doesn’t he will find himself kicked out. If he is not, then the matter will be sorted out fairly soon.
Jp
My father had a beard in the airforce. He was in the airforce since the age of 16 when he was in a special boarding school and served during the Yom Kippur war. There is no basis for shaving in the ID then so why should there be now?
bully
some lieutenant just wants to flex his muscle and show whose boss and what his opinion is of chareidim.
Ahem
The Crown Heights know it alls are giving their opinions that have zero basis.