Is This The Judaism We Want?

The Israeli Military Rabbinate, and official body of the IDF has Rabbis in army field units providing spiritual guidance and religious services to the troops.

According to chief army rabbi, Brigadier General Avichai Rontzki, officers and soldiers reported that they felt "spiritually elevated" and "morally empowered" by conversations with rabbis who gave them encouragement before the confrontation with the Palestinians.

A reservist battalion rabbi told the religious newspaper B'Sheva last week that Rontzki explained to his staff that their role was not "to distribute wine and challah for Shabbat to the troops," but "to fill them with yiddishkeit and a fighting spirit."

Yiddishkeit and Fighting Spirit !!! To me those are contradictory concepts. Fighting may be necessary sometime - but it is always a necessary evil. All the Rabbis of Judaism I have known would agree. But not according to these Rabbis of Zionism.

Here are some quotes from official army leaflets written by these army Rabbis and distributed by the IDF to its troops - to give them "spiritual sustenance and inspire them."

"[There is] a biblical ban on surrendering a single millimeter of it [the Land of Israel] to gentiles, though all sorts of impure distortions and foolishness of autonomy, enclaves and other national weaknesses. We will not abandon it to the hands of another nation, not a finger, not a nail of it."

and

"Is it possible to compare today's Palestinians to the Philistines of the past? And if so, is it possible to apply lessons today from the military tactics of Samson and David? A comparison is possible because the Philistines of the past were not natives and had invaded from a foreign land ... They invaded the Land of Israel, a land that did not belong to them and claimed political ownership over our country ... Today the problem is the same. The Palestinians claim they deserve a state here, when in reality there was never a Palestinian or Arab state within the borders of our country. Moreover, most of them are new and came here close to the time of the War of Independence."

and

"When you show mercy to a cruel enemy, you are being cruel to pure and honest soldiers. This is terribly immoral. These are not games at the amusement park where sportsmanship teaches one to make concessions. This is a war on murderers. 'A la guerre comme a la guerre.'"

and

"our enemies took advantage of the broad and merciful Israeli heart ... we will show no mercy on the cruel."

In addition to the official publications, right-wing groups also bring pamphlets into IDF bases. One such flyer is attributed to "the pupils of Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg" - the former rabbi at Joseph's Tomb. It calls on

"soldiers of Israel to spare your lives and the lives of your friends and not to show concern for a population that surrounds us and harms us. We call on you ... to function according to the law 'kill the one who comes to kill you.' As for the population, it is not innocent ... We call on you to ignore any strange doctrines and orders that confuse the logical way of fighting the enemy."

Praise God and pass the ammunition! Cruelty has now become a Jewish value! This is a real chilul hashem (desacration of God's name) and I hope all real Rabbi's (and all Jews) come out clearly against this perversion of religion, of Judaism, and of all that is decent.

See full story in Haaretz.