West Bank – The Israel Defense Forces’ decision to prohibit Orthodox soldiers from boycotting events at which women sing has claimed yet another casualty, as secular-religious tensions continue to mount. Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, head of the Elon Moreh yeshiva and a prominent religious Zionist figure, has informed pupils of his intention to quit his post in protest against the General Staff’s decision.
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Levanon’s decision comes following a secret meeting between IDF Chief Rabbi Brig. Gen. Rafi Peretz and religious Zionist rabbis, at which the latter demanded Peretz’s resignation.
As a reaction to the General Staff ban on leaving events at which women soldiers (or other women ) sing, Levanon has decided to quit his post at the West Bank hesder yeshiva (which combines religious studies and army service ). Speaking to his pupils, he declared: “Soon there won’t be a head of this yeshiva.”
In explaining his decision, Levanon added that he wants to be able to speak freely about women singing, without the yeshiva or its pupils “being harmed by such pronouncements.”
Chosid shoteh! It’s called pekuach nefesh. I didn’t know that the prohibition on hearing a woman sing is one of the yeharog v’al yaavor sons.
the religious zionist and modern orthodox are finaly realizing that their experiment has failed. Judiasem is and always has been an all encompasing life style. One cannot dance at bothe weddings.
Kol HaKavod!
Wow! A man of integrity.
Couldn’t the government just pay him off with a new building, some draft deferments, higher stipends for his students, a promise not to audit his enrollment and a few hundred apartments for his community members?
Oh, sorry, that won’t work. Very foolish of me. I didn’t notice the color of his kipa.
Good, let him join the zealots in Beit Shemesh. We don’t need people like him.
Ma inyan shmita eitzel Har Sinai? What does is resignation have to do with women singing in the IDF? Is his yeshiva a Hesder yeshiva? If so, why does he not withdraw his yeshiva from the Hesder program? Is he a reserve officer? Why not just resign his commission? Can you do that in the IDF? I admire that he has the courage of his convictions but I don’t get the relavence of his action.
Yet another honorable man resigns over this putrid issue of religious men being forced to violate halochic issurim by the anti-Semitic state.
(I always suspected that there were at least some decent honorable men among the (allegedly) religious zionists, now my suspicion is confirmed.)
The desirable outcome of this fiasco will be that many more allegedly religious zionists and modern so called orthodox will realize that they don’t belong in the secular zionist military and stop enlisting.