For God and Country?: Religious Student-Soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces PDF
Preview For God and Country?: Religious Student-Soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces
F O R G O D A N D C O U N T R Y ? binah yitzrit foundation series in israel studies F O R G O D A N D C O U N T R Y ? Religious Student-Soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces Elisheva Rosman-Stollman CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN Copyright © 2014 by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Cover Photograph: © 2013, Elisheva Rosman-Stollman Cover and text design: Kristi Shuey Series Editor: Wendy E. Moore Library of Congress Control Number: 2014941358 ISBN: 978-0-292-75851-3 Chapter 2 is based in part on Elisheva Rosman-Stollman’s article published in Armed Forces & Society (2008). This book was made possible by generous support from the Binah Yitzrit Foundation. For Aviad And for Tamar, Yaacov, Michael, Avital, and Meir When truly brothers, men don’t sing in unison but in harmony Shorts 1972–1973, W. H. Auden THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK T A B L E o f C O N T E N T S Introduction 1 PART I. STRUCTURES AND INSTITUTIONS 9 Chapter 1. Greedy Institutions, Mediating Structures, and Empirical Examples 10 Greedy Institutions and Mediating Structures 11 Religion and the Military as Greedy Institutions 17 Chapter 2. Military Attitudes toward Religious Soldiers: Five Case Studies 22 The Iranian Armed Forces 25 The Turkish Military 28 The United States Military 34 The Indian Armed Forces 39 The International Context and the Israeli Case 42 PART II. BEING A SOLDIER AND A RELIGIOUS JEW: DILEMMAS AND SOLUTIONS 45 Chapter 3. Military Service from Ideological, Halakhic, and Value Perspectives 46 Halakhic and Practical Problems during Military Service 49 A Collision of Values 56 Issues of Identity 66 Chapter 4. The Hesder Yeshivot 75 The Nature and Structure of the Hesder Program 76 Program Characteristics and Military Service as a Hesder Student 78 Curriculum and Faculty 80 Preparation for Military Service 82 Demographics 83 Student Expectations 84 Military Service in the Hesder Program 87 Contact between the Hesder Yeshiva and Students in the Military 89 Contents viii Chapter 5. The Shiluv Program 93 The Nature and Structure of the Shiluv Program 93 Program Characteristics and Military Service as a Shiluv Student 94 Curriculum and Faculty 96 Preparation for Military Service 97 Demographics 98 Student Expectations 99 Military Service in the Shiluv Program 100 Contact between the Shiluv Program and Students in the Military 101 Chapter 6. The Mekhinot: Preservice Preparatory Seminaries 104 The Nature and Structure of the Mekhinot Program 107 Curriculum and Faculty 109 Preparation for Military Service 112 Demographics 114 Student Expectations 115 Military Service after Studying in the Mekhina 118 Contact between the Mekhinot and Students in the Military 119 Chapter 7. The Gar’inim Program: Jewish Orthodox Women and the IDF 123 Religious Zionist Women, Torah Studies, and Military Service 123 The Beginning of the Women’s Gar’inim Program 125 The Nature and Structure of the Gar’inim Program 129 Curriculum and Faculty 131 Preparation for Military Service 133 Demographics 134 Contact between the Midrasha and Students in the Military 135 Student Expectations 137 Chapter 8. Mediation in Practice 141 Coed Service: Ha-Shiluv Ha-Ra’ui 142 Disobeying Orders for Ideological Reasons 148 Disbanding Hesder Units 162 Contents ix Chapter 9. Problems for Individual Religious Soldiers during Military Service 168 Halakhic Problems during Military Service 169 Erosion in the Observance of Mitzvot 171 Feelings toward the Military Environment 172 Strategies in Problem Solving 174 Chapter 10. Senior and Junior Officers’ Views on the Study Programs 180 Chapter 11. Mediation as Communication: The Programs’ Role in Conveying Messages between Students and Superstructures 190 Messages Communicated by Students through the Study Programs 190 Messages Communicated to Students through the Study Programs 196 Tensions between the Programs 206 PART III. SUMMARIES AND CONCLUSIONS 213 Chapter 12. Study Programs as Mediating Structures 214 Uses of Mediation 220 Multidimensional Mediation 221 The Contribution of Mediating Structures in the Israeli Case 227 The Limits of Mediation: When Mediating Structures Fail 230 Chapter 13. Comparisons and Conclusions 233 Theoretical Implications 234 Implications for General Civil-Military Relations 236 Understanding Civil-Military Relations in Israel 240 Methodological Appendix 243 Glossary 251 Notes 255 Bibliography 273 Index 299
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