Israel – Several religious soldiers requested last week to wear earplugs or listen to MP3 players during a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in which women were singing, as well as for upcoming ceremonies for Remembrance Day and Independence Day.
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The army refused the request but said that the soldiers could take a book of Psalms into the ceremony to read from if they wished.
The issue of religious soldiers being present in ceremonies with women singing exploded in September last year, when four soldiers were expelled from an officers course for refusing to return to an event in which women were singing.
The IDF General Staff subsequently issued a directive in January obligating all soldiers, religious or otherwise, to be present in all official army ceremonies even if they involve women singing.
Jewish law generally prohibits men from listening to a woman sing in person.
Initially reported by the Galei Israel radio station, the group of approximately 10 soldiers who requested to use earplugs or MP3 players are currently in basic training and are serving in a field intelligence unit.
The IDF confirmed the details of the story.
They enlisted within the hesder framework, through which national-religious men combine army service with yeshiva study.
The soldiers who made the request are from the Or Etzion Hesder Yeshiva, headed by Rabbi Haim Druckman, a prominent national-religious figure.
“The integration of different communities, while preserving their dignity, is an important and central value that guides IDF commanders and its soldiers,” the IDF Spokesman said in response. In official events like the one under discussion, all soldiers must attend without exception, the statement continued, “It is important to emphasize that women singing is permitted and accepted in IDF ceremonies and events, although consideration of specific communities and the nature of the event is also taken into account.”
Separately, leading national-religious Rabbi Dov Lior, municipal rabbi of Hebron and Kiryat Arba, ruled on Sunday that men should not attend theater performances in which women perform, even if the women do not sing and are dressed modestly.
According to Lior, who was writing in response to a question on the Yeshiva.org website, attending such events are not compatible with the Jewish concept of modesty.
Following the opening in September of a cultural center in Kiryat Arba, Lior said that only performances of educational merit or national values should be staged.
Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post
“The army refused the request but said that the soldiers could take a book of Psalms into the ceremony to read from if they wished.”
Alternatively, they could buy their own ear plugs if they feel so strongly on this issue.
Good. Let them learn or read tehillim. As long as they look at the sefer and don’t look at the women, there’s no problem with kol isha.
How about put the fingers into the ear to plug it?
that was done for many years when we were riding the City Bus to school and the Bus Drivers Radio was on.
or
Can they use the Transparent small ear plugs that’s not so much outstanding to others.
And then they wonder why charady will not join. Good job army. So in my mind they don’t care if they come or not. What they do care is to try and bring down the drum and make them fry
The best thing if all of the religious soldiers joined in the song that the lady was singing. In this manner they would not hear her and it would P.O. the rest of the crowd. It is not fair that only the religious soldiers should be P.O.’d
& then they wondering why the jewish bucrim not joining in the army, its just against the torha laws, isreal just wants to destroy our torah, shem on them
How does this mesh with yesterday’s statements from the IDF desiring more torah-observant/frum yidden to enlist? Seems to be self contradictory.
The Israel anti chareidi army. This is why chareidim don’t join, because the IDF tramples Halacha with impunity.
#2 its not good. Now they have good resins do avoid going to the army. If they where smart they would encourage but it seems not so why they complaints
Ear plugs won’t block all the voice. I can’t believe the army is being so inconsiderate of the soldiers’ basic Jewish belief in following Jewish Halacha. This army has to be taught a lesson and shown that it is the army of Hashem that defends Israel, not the seculars. It is because of sin that we were sent out of Israel before.
I agree that the IDF is discouraging frum men from joining. They are talking from both sides of their mouths. Netanyahu should step in and stop the army’s meshugas.
Incidentally, contrary to R. Lior,I think many gedolim would allow men seeing women perform if they didn’t sing and were dressed modestly as they have no problem with non-singing women at simchas.
Remember: it’s not over until the frei lady sings!
Okay, common sense…if you put earplugs in your ears (or your fingers or anything else) YOU CAN NOT HEAR! Yes you will not hear the female voices BUT YOU WILL NOT HEAR IF YOU ARE NEEDED IN AN OFFICIAL CAPACITY! Which is your priority to friends, family, country, life, HASHEM!
This is the kind of stuff that makes people look at religious Jews as kooks. Mind you, I didn’t grow up as a religious Jew and only came to this 15 years ago. In those years, I’ve heard a few women sing. And I can’t say it made me crazy in anyway. On the other hand, I’ve seen a lot of frum men go crazy over the issue. Rabosai, there are so many other big issues to deal with in Klal Yisroel just now. Why do we do this to each other?
I love Israel. We own the land because of the Torah but no way we are going to actually listen to it. I am in Israel getting ready to celebrate Yom Haatzmaut in Hakaras Hatov, and mourn the grossly uneducated and anti-religious government that exists now. We need the REAL Geula now !
My wife is requesting earplugs when I sing.
Seriously, though, in the back of the gemora (I can’t remember if it’s the rosh or maharsho) on the sugya of kol be’isha erva, it talks about the fact that we can learn torah when goyishe women are singing outside, because “it’s golus, so what choice do we have.” Maybe that should apply here (the soldiers should learn torah during the singing) because it’s like golus?
The IDF (and by extension secular Israeli society) can’t claim to desire the increased participation of Frum Jews in the IDF if at the same time the IDF denies the reasonable request of Frum soldiers to wear earplugs at a concert which they are forced to attend.
IDF leadership, starting with Ganz, is NOT interested in religious Jewish participation. Ganz and his ilk want to eradicate judaism and replace it with “israeliness”.
I always think of occurrences like this one as one more good news. While the loyal Jews (known to many of you as chareidim) always knew that they and their children don’t belong in the zionist military, when things like this happen, it slowly but surely wakes up the lesser Jews (known as modern self-identified orthodox and allegedly religious zionists) and drives them away from zionist institutions. One more point for our side!
Is listening to women sing going to make them more effective soldiers in the field? What is their point?
Attending a holocaust denial conference , malingning Israel in a German weekly news maGAZINE AND SPITTING on an 8 year old girl to me is not al pi daas torah or as Mensch who has witnessed the destruction of the European Jewry
Please take a step back from WHO you are, WHAT you are. Reread the posts without allowing any emotion to supersede an unbiased “goyish” mindset. We, as Jews in Israel, are finished if this is a true analysis of what is to come. Chasidim never serve to protect the land of Israel but believe they are Hashem’s chosen? My biggest problem with Obama…he is DIVISIVE! My biggest problem with any Jew who feels they are better than any other and use this to divide, ultimately lessen our strength, is destroying the exact words in the Torah!