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Lubavitcher Sues U.S. Army over Beard

By Adam Kredo for the Washington Jewish Week
Rabbi Menachem Stern, with his baby, Esther, says serving in the Army is “my calling and mission.”

WASHINGTON — Menachem Stern’s bushy black beard is at the center of a federal court case.

Stern, 29, a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi from Brooklyn, N.Y., filed suit recently against the U.S. Army saying that a no-beard restriction violates his religious freedom.

In January 2009, Stern had applied to become a chaplain in the Army, which has been historically short on Jewish spiritual leaders.

That June, his application was accepted, according to a lawsuit filed Dec. 8 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., with one condition: He must shave his beard to comport with Army regulations prohibiting facial hair.

An Orthodox Jew who is prevented by halachah, or Jewish law, from shaving his facial hair, Stern maintains the Army’s requirement that he be clean shaven is overly burdensome and violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, as well as the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

But rules are rules, the Army asserts, and Stern — like the 550,000 other enlisted personnel — must adhere to the military’s strict regulations if he wishes to serve.

Stern, however, argues that his journey through the Army’s bureaucracy has revealed widespread contradictions in the way its polices are applied to service members. Enlistees from other religions, he said, have been granted facial hair exemptions in the past.

From the outset, Stern explained in an interview, he made it clear that his beard is fundamental to his faith.

“By not trimming my beard, I represent the unadulterated view of the holy Torah, the way we believe a person should live,” Stern wrote in his original chaplain application. “It is the strength Jews have retained of traditions for thousands of years.”

After submitting his application, Stern then filed a formal request to be exempted from shaving his facial hair, according to court documents.

In his request, Stern points to Leviticus chapter 19, noting that as a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi, he is “strictly prohibited from shaving or removing” his facial hair “in any manner.”

On Sept. 1, 2009, the unshaven Stern was appointed formally as a reserve commissioned officer and instructed to complete the Chaplain Officer Basic Course.

The following day, however, his appointment was rescinded.

A missive penned by Col. Scottie Lloyd, the Army’s director of Human Resources and Ecclesiastical Relations, noted that Stern’s appointment was an “administrative error” wrongly sent. He did not qualify for active duty, Lloyd continued, “because of the military regulation prohibiting the wearing of beards.”

Rabbi Sanford Dresin intervened to advocate on Stern’s behalf. As executive director of chaplains at the Aleph Institute, a group that certifies and provides support for Jewish chaplains, Dresin thought he could run interference.

With just nine active duty rabbis serving as Army chaplains, Dresin believes the Army should bend its rule to accommodate Stern — as it has in the past.

Dresin — as well as Stern and his lawyer, Nathan Lewin of the Washington firm Lewin & Lewin — argue that the military is being overly rigid in its enforcement of the facial hair policy, as service members from the Muslim and Sikh religions have been granted similar exemptions.

“Do you think that one or two rabbis are going to destroy good authority and discipline in the army?” Dresin rhetorically wondered in an interview. “We are not asking for a blanket exemption. We are not asking that you change the regulation. We are just asking for equal opportunity.”

An Army spokesman declined to comment on Stern’s case specifically, but said in an interview that the Army’s guidelines are straightforward.

“We consider [people] on a case-by-case basis,” George Wright said.

Any exemption that is granted, Wright added, would apply during an explicitly delineated period of time, meaning that no enlistee can receive blanket immunity from the regulation.

Moreover, no applicant can be granted a pass before formal admittance into the Army, which means that Stern would have to shave his beard first before asking for permission to grow it back.

“I asked them [Army officials], ‘Do you want me to be a hypocrite?’ ” Stern recalled in an interview. “To shave it only to grow it back?”

Unruly beards, others maintain, are unseemly and make service members appear sloppy.

“It’s unbecoming really of a person in uniform,” said Rabbi Marvin Bash, who served as a Jewish chaplain at Fort Belvoir in Virginia and is rabbi emeritus at Congregation Etz Hayim in Arlington, Va. Large beards “somehow go beyond what we call ‘tight regulations’ [that] are neat looking.”

While Bash admitted that the military’s guidelines and policy for exemption can seem fuzzy, the beard ban itself is clear.

“I would either say [Stern trims] it or he’s out,” Bash said, explaining that in his opinion, “there’s no halachah that says you can’t trim the beard.”

Asked if he’d be open to trimming his beard, Stern was dubious.

“I believe my beard is neat,” he said. “I take care of it.”

While the Army has not formally responded to the lawsuit, Lewin said the suit is relatively “clean cut,” as a litany of documentation illustrates the Army’s unjust conduct. Lewin litigated and won a similar case against the Air Force in 1976.

For Stern, the case comes down to duty and mission.

“I believe this is my calling and mission,” he said. “I want to get into the service.”

Read more: The Jewish Chronicle – Rules are rules

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14 Comments

  • rabbi marvin bash

    clearly you are not a chossid..we go by strict halacha! can’t you have some ahavas yisroel and stand up for a fellow Jew??
    GOSH

  • Meyer Lansky

    As much as I admire the man for wanting to enlist… as I too was in the armed forces. There is a reason why he can’t have a beard. As unfortunate as it is, he should just give up his quest or shave his beard.

    The military is the last place where you want to test social norms. Military life is a culture onto itself.

  • Ben Azai

    R’ Menachem is going to have to make a crucial decision: which is more important to him – his beard or his army job?

  • gghost

    I had a when ias the navy. The changed the regulations in 1970. When in retired from the navy in 1981,that still applied as long you kept it neatly trimmed.

  • The Truth!

    I would like to repost a comment made by Rabbi J. Goldstein on another blog regarding this article…

    I am Chaplain (COL) Jacob Goldstein. I thank those of you who posted positive comments on my Military bearing with my full untrimmed beard. Just to clarify some comments about the role of a Military Chaplain.
    1 – Army Chaplains do not bear arms under any circumstances. A Chaplain is assigned a Chaplain’s Assistant from Battalion thru Corps Level. Among the various duties a Chaplains Assistant is responsible for is to cover and protect not only himself but his assigned Chaplain as well. This is based on the US Interpertation of the Geneva Convention signed by our Government that a Chaplain and Doctor are non-combatants. We are fully trained in all aspects of military skills to include Airborne, Air Assault Pathfinder, Ranger, Special Forces, etc. Just not weapons.

    I must conform to Army physical training standards as does each soldier which means running , situps and pushups. If you are up at 5 a.m., you will find each morning besides Shabbos running in Prospect Park twice the inside roadway 6.4 miles.

    An Army Chaplain is responsible for the Religious, moral and morale issues for his/her Unit and 99% of the soldiers are not Jewish, yet you are responsible for them. In my case I am the Command Chaplain for my Command, located in the Caribbean, and Headquarters is at Ft Buchanan, PR. Not far from San Juan. I am responsible for all Religious issues for more than 5,500 soldiers and there are only 3 Jewish soldiers assigned to my Command. In summation a Chaplain is assigned to his Unit irrespective his faith belief.

    I can mask with my untrimmed beard as I have done numerous times. I would not have been allowed to remain in the Army if this wasn’t so.

    The Army’s regulation was made severely restricting after I was given a signed waiver by the Chief of Staff of the Army General Bernard Rogers in 1977,This Exemption was to the Restriction of having to be clean shaven for all soldiers including Chaplains. I fought to keep my beard based on religious practices as a Lubavitcher Chasid and was granted a Waiver.

    Rabbi Stern over a 2 year period tried to convince the Army leadership, that he too should be granted a Waiver, based upon my precedent and was rebuffed at the highest levels of the Army. When the Army granted the Sikhs a Waiver for their beards and turbins based on their religious requirement and not Rabbi Stern, the lawsuit was filed. Sould Rabbi Stern succeed in his lawsuit, it will not effect his standing in the Army. On the contrary, he will be respected. I know this from my experience, when I was told by a Officer that I will not make it past Major because of my beard and exception, I just shrugged it off.

    Today I am the most Senior Jewish Chaplain of the Armed Forces of the United States to include the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and the US Coast Guard. Having a beard was no detriment to my longevity or Rank. As long as you do your job professionally and correctly you will receive the respect of your peers and leaders.

    Jewish Chaplains must always make a Kiddush/Hashem, something I have always tried in my 35 years in Uniform.
    Posted by: jacob goldstein | December 13, 2010 at 01:25 PM

  • JEW

    on the one hand, its about time they allow frum people to keep their judiasm in the military. This is the one barrier that has prevented me from enlisting.

    But on the other hand, perhaps it is a good thing they refuse it. IF its not for position as a rabbi, what business does a frum bocher or girl have doing push ups in a goyish environment?

    Maybe god knows what he’s doing after all. the gzeireh against Beard and payos are not allowed in order to separate THEM from US bein YISROEL loAMIM, lehavdil

    Maybe this is a case for the Alter Rebbe and the Maggid of Kozhnitz (i think?)… where freedom of religion could be a big klipeh just as well, so i guess it will depend on who blows shofar first

  • yosef

    For those familiar with the diplomatic attempts, this yutz is going about it the wrong way.

  • 123

    to # 10. Which way is correct? If you’ve read Chaplain Goldstein’s post you would have noticed that he tried the waiver process- the same one the Seiks tried (and succeeded). Only once the waiver was denied, did he go about filing a law suit. do you think Chaplain Goldstein & others in his position aren’t in on this. This man is clearly NOT a moron, he went by regulation & now he is taking the next necessary trip.
    diplomacy aside, denying a waiver based on religion is infringing on his rights from the 1st amendment. i don’t doubt he will win… look at the history, Jewish chaplains (especially chaplain Goldstein) have been very successful in doing their job, keeping to their faith, and inspiring others. just because some choose to compromise their adherence to halacha in order to join, does not lessen the fact that what he is doing is right, upstanding, and should be applauded.