IDF Chief Rabbinate overstepping boundaries on soldiers' Jewish identity, says ex-manpower head

Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Elazar Stern says it's important to maintain delicate balance of deepening soldiers' Jewish identity while steering clear of religious coercion.

By MATTHEW WAGNER
Elazar Stern 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Elazar Stern 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Former OC manpower Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Elazar Stern said Thursday that the IDF Chief Rabbinate was aggressively expanding its influence among combat soldiers, taking over in the process areas traditionally held by the IDF's Education Division. "The Chief Rabbinate has been expanding its activities outside religion and religious services to fields specifically under the purview of the education division," said Stern. "This is problematic because when a rabbi says something secular, soldiers automatically stop listening." Stern made the comments in reaction to a report Thursday in Ha'aretz that the IDF's Chief Rabbinate and the education division were involved in a power struggle for influence within the IDF. Stern spoke to The Jerusalem Post during a conference on Jewish identity at Beit Morasha's Ernest Schwarcz Institute for Ethics, Judaism and Government, where he was awarded an honorary mark of distinction for leadership. Stern, who was replaced three months ago by Maj.-Gen. Avi Zamir, said that as head of manpower he had always been careful to ensure that the Chief Rabbinate did not overstep its boundaries. "There are people in the Chief Rabbinate - not [OC Chaplaincy Corps Rabbi Avichai] Ronsky, but others who work under him - who are trying to increase religious influence on soldiers. They are doing things without coordinating first with the education division." Ha'aretz reported that the rabbinate's most controversial activities were headed by Lt.-Col. Tzadok "Duki" Ben-Artzi, head of the rabbinate's Jewish Consciousness Department, which operates under the motto "Jewish consciousness for a victorious IDF." Most of Ben-Artzi's activities focus on fostering Jewish combat spirit among combat units. The Chief Rabbinate, unlike the IDF education division, is permitted to receive funding from nonprofit organizations. As a result, the rabbinate is able to fund weekend events that are attractive to IDF officers interested in providing rest and relaxation for their soldiers free of cost. But anonymous IDF officers voiced concern that the Chief Rabbinate was using "religious brainwashing" against soldiers. Stern, an Orthodox Jew, said that in the IDF, which brings together a diverse group of soldiers both religious and secular, it was important to maintain the delicate balance of deepening soldiers' Jewish identity while steering clear of acts that smacked of religious coercion.