Jews & Guns

[Gawd]

Female soldiers leave IDF event after ordered to sit in separate section

About 100 female soldiers left the main celebration sponsored by the Israel Defense Forces marking the end of the Simhat Torah holiday on Thursday after they were asked to move to a separate women's section.

The traditional "Hakafot Shniyot" event, which comes after the holiday's formal conclusion and includes dancing with the Torah, was held in the Eshkol regional council area in the south. The commanders of the women soldiers decided to have the women board buses and leave after some objected to their being directed to a separate area cut off from the main event.

The separate women's section was set off by cloth sheeting, but according to one of those present "it was very hard to feel connected to the event there." The event was attended by about 500 people, including a mix of civilians and soldiers, among them, about 100 women soldiers. Those in attendance said before the request was made for them to move, the women had been dancing at one side, separately from the men and also separated by a long table. The women soldiers were then ordered by an officer from the military rabbinate to go to a separate, closed area about 50 meters away, following complaints over the initial setup.

Orthodox Jewish religious authorities call for separation of men and women in certain circumstances. For many observant Jews in Israel, however, it is the custom for men and women at Hakafot Shniyot to dance separately but without the women being relegated to another designated area. The IDF's chief rabbi, Rafi Peretz, as well as the commander for the IDF's Gaza division, Yossi Bachar, were present but did not intervene in the matter. The rabbinate has been under pressure recently to adopt strict interpretations of halakha, Jewish religious law.

The IDF Spokesman's office said in response: "As is the custom at these events every year, there is an area designated for women," adding that "no IDF official was directed to verify that men and women were separated." The IDF rabbinate is unaware of some of the complaints made over the issue and the matter will be looked into, the spokesman said.

Posted without comment........oh, what the hell....."IDF rabbinate"? "IDF's chief rabbi"? Religious events "sponsored by the Israel Defense Forces"? Israel needs to be dismantled with extreme prejudice.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/ne ... n-1.391426

[Gawdzilla Sama]

So fearful.

[Audley Strange]

Posted without comment........oh, what the hell....."IDF rabbinate"? "IDF's chief rabbi"? Religious events "sponsored by the Israel Defense Forces"? Israel needs to be dismantled with extreme prejudice.

You go for it, come back and let us know when you succeed yeah?

[JimC]

Gawd, I agree that such religious fetishes are stupid and delusional. However, that in itself is not a logical part of any argument pertaining to the state of Israel as a political entity. They could have a burst of secularism in their armed forces structure, and that would not alter arguments about the state of Israel as such...

Anyway, you will get just as weird and delusional practices in armed forces where Islam dominates...

Or Christianity, for that matter...

[Jason]

Yep. Dunno about the US, but the Canadian Forces have chaplains for Christians, Jews and Muslims. They're even considered officers.

[JimC]

Yep. Dunno about the US, but the Canadian Forces have chaplains for Christians, Jews and Muslims. They're even considered officers.

Same in Oz...

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Our catlick padre got decapitated in a chopper crash.
...Gotta laugh.

[Cunt]

Yep. Dunno about the US, but the Canadian Forces have chaplains for Christians, Jews and Muslims. They're even considered officers.

Are you in the Canadian Forces, PordFrefect? There has been a posting several times over for a chaplain at 440 squadron...I wonder if an atheist minister could apply...would have to be someone in the regular forces, I think...