The daily Haaretz carries the following report on the front page of Thursday�s newspaper, ?exposing� the methodology of the IDF Chief Rabbinate, the story of how the military body is working to bring soldiers back to Yiddishkeit.
The report begins by explaining the Chief Rabbinate of the military has expanded its operational base, now entering into the sphere of education that was previously the exclusive turf of the IDF Education Corps, such as reaching out to combat units. The report accuses the IDF Chief Rabbinate of "harming the delicate fabric of relations? that exists between the Shomer Shabbos and non-religious in the military. Descriptions including "religious and political brainwashing? are used to describe some of the methods used by the military rabbinate.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has ordered an investigating, directing the head of IDF Personnel to ?define the borders� regarding the operational areas of the rabbinate and education units.
It is explained the Chief Rabbinate obtains funds from non-profits such as the LIBI soldiers� welfare fund, and this is use to pay for Shabbosim in Yerushalayim for units, a move which Haaretz explains officers cannot pass up since it enables them and their troops to enjoy an all expenses paid weekend that would usually be too expensive a possibility for the combatants. Shockingly, the Shabbos is held in a religious atmosphere, making it increasingly taboo according to the report.
IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Avi Ronsky comes under attack for his efforts towards bringing soldiers back to shmeiras mitzvos, explaining that the weekends in Yerushalayim are hosted in tandem with Elad, the organization which is working to reestablish a Jewish presence in areas of the capital now occupied by Arabs. The move is deemed unacceptable, reporting it include "political brainwashing? in addition to the "religious brainwashing? of soldiers and officers.
Interestingly, the program is headed by Military Rabbinate Lt.-Colonel Tzadok Ben-Artzi, a former IAF navigator who became frum and is now Shomer Shabbos. The same holds true regarding Rabbi Ronsky by the way, who too once led a secular lifestyle.
An unnamed senior officer quoted in the Haaretz report explained "the temptation on the part of the battalion commander is great? due to the Rabbinate�s ability to fund the weekends, something normally out of their financial reach.
In June, YWN reported (HERE) there were mounting tensions between the IDF Chief Rabbinate and Education Corps as the rabbinate began reaching out and expanding its projects, entering spheres that in the past were the exclusive operating areas of the education corps.
Seeing the void and in some cases the damage done by the material passed along by the education corps, the rabbinate has decided to act and begin passing along material based on a Torah point of view, deviating for the education corps general secular or even anti-Torah viewpoint.
(Yechiel Spira � YWN Israel)
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=24794
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