Amid row with IDF, rabbi 'ready to denounce refusal'
Melamed signals willingness for move after remarks caused Barak to sever army's ties with his yeshiva.
By Chaim Levinson Tags: Israel newsRabbi Eliezer Melamed has signaled a willingness to denounce the refusal of orders by Israel Defense Forces soldiers, after his declarations in support of the phenomenon resulted in the army severing ties with his yeshiva on Monday.
Other rabbis continued on Wednesday to try to reach a compromise between Melamed and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who ousted the rabbi's Har Bracha yeshiva from its hesder arrangement with the Israel Defense Forces.
The rabbis propose that Melamed sign a statement declaring that demonstrating in uniform is wrong, since it harms the army's cohesion. The heads of yeshivas in the IDF program, which combines Torah study with army service, will discuss the compromise at a meeting on Sunday, in the hope that should Melamed agree to the move, Barak would rescind the decree.
Melamed writes in his weekly column that he is still considering whether to sign.
"On the one hand, I identify with the content of the comments; but on the other hand, if the defense minister were to demand that I sign a passage of the Shema [testament of faith] or face sanctions, I would not sign because it is inappropriate for a person to sign onto a religious position while under pressure and coercion," he writes in the piece, which will be published on Thursday.
On Monday, Melamed lashed out against Barak, who he said had accused him of a "blood libel."
Meanwhile, Barak and his deputy, MK Matan Vilnai, met on Wednesday with Rabbi Haim Druckman, who heads the committee of hesder yeshivas. They told the rabbi that Melamed's seminary would indeed be booted out of the program.
According to a statement released by the Defense Ministry, Druckman met with the pair in order to deny reports that heads of hesder yeshivas will present Barak with an ultimatum over the matter on Sunday. He told the defense minister that hesder yeshivas saw IDF service as one of the fundamental principles of its worldview, with no conditions.
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Rabbi Eliezer Melamed. |
| Photo by: (Nir Keidar) |
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Barak acts as if Israel is a banana republic Barak is a Puppet of the US and the EU
ehud barak behaves like a fascist. unfortunately, it is not the first time. let's tell him he must give up his penthouse in tel-aviv and see how quietly he responds.
no where in the article does the Rabbi say he would come out against refusing orders, just against public demonstrations in the army! stop making things up! no serious posek (halachic authority) would tell someone they have the right to destroy a fellow Jews house because he is Jewish and some army figure told him to!
I am very disappointed ! I thought; finally a Rabbi with a Back, but it looks like that his monthly salary is more important to him than his believe.
he knows the side on which the butter is applied (on his sandwich)
When you grab them by the money, their hearts and minds follow.
We do not need orders to tell us refuse for we are united as a nation in face of our Islamic Arab enemies who seek to destroy us, murder our families and take our homes. Religious, secular, Left, Right, rich, poor, Ashkenazim, Sephardic we stand together, live together, as Jews, as Israelis, as brother and sisters. Do not get excited enemies of Israel we stand together against thee.
Why does this leftie corrupto have the power to sever connections with the best and most motivated soldier supply source in such an undemocratic way?
Why doesn't Haaretz explain what these rabbis say to these soldiers. This is how it goes (with a comedic flare) The non-jews are goyim to be slaughtered Yes?. Us Khazar's...I mean Jewish people...this land belongs to the Jews, even if the Palestinians are descendants of Jesus Christ that has NO relevance. We the Jewish people are superior to the Arabs, we make the most overpriced CPU you can buy even though the performance is 'slightly' better for that extra 5000 shekels compared to AMD Goyim Chips. Blah blah blah did I miss anything?
All the "Sacred Texts" were written by people with agendas and an ax to grind. They can be interpreted to justify any action, anywhere ,anytime. Clerics and wannabes, and their adherents and followers must be understood to be criminally insane before any progress in Human Affairs occurs.
21:13 Bank of Israel to change all bills within two years (TheMarker) and you call yourself a jewish state. tell your bank if israel that next two years are so uncertain for this planet as they werent since the dinosaurs left like luciferians will.