No Beards for YOU!
Many people believe that Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis are a perfect fit for the military because they are trained by a movement dedicated to reaching Jews wherever they may be, no matter how remote. However, a uniform regulation seems to be standing in the way of several prospective chaplains.
The Forward reports:
[Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi] Newman had a chance to try out the military in 2002, when he served as a part-time chaplain at the army base in Fort Knox, Ky. Army life seemed a good fit; he led services and organized raucous Hanukkah and Purim parties. Things were going so well, the chief chaplain on the base encouraged Newman to enlist in the army.
Only one problem; his beard.
Army regulation 670-1 is clear: “Beards are not authorized” and “exceptions or accommodations based on religious practice will not be granted.” The other branches of the armed services have similar regulations.
The Chabadniks are pretty firm on the issue as well. In Responsa 93, the third Lubavitcher rebbe ruled that shaving a beard is against Halacha. The official stance of the Army is that beards prevent the effective use of standard issue gas masks, but it also seems to be an issue of standardization and uniformity.
The full article goes into great detail about what is currently in the works to resolve this issue. It’s an interesting read.
You’ll probably need to sign in to read the article, but you can use bugmenot to bypass registration.
Well, the picture of Rabbi Chaplain J. Goldstein is testimony that, somehow, someway there is ‘a way around it’.
I have had the honor of making an acquaintance with Ch. Goldstein (via our dealings as the Jewish Prime Vendor for the DoD) and am amazed at his dedication, commitment and willingness to go the extra mile to benifit the Jewish servicemen/woman.
Dee
1- I recall a Chabad US Army chaplain (reserve) with a Patriot unit in Israel during GW1. Was this Rabbi Goldstein?
2- In order to accomodate bearded members of the population Israeli civilians with beards (and young children) were issued gas masks with fans forcing air through the filters that created overpressure inside the mask and thereby solving the sealing issue.
Does anyone else not shave on Saturday? (Unless I have duty or something)
I try not to (duty permitting), but I also have blonde hair so it’s a little easier to get away with if I run into the XO or something.
I don’t like to shave on weekends at all. I shave Friday morning and usually don’t again until Monday morning. The weekend is my weekly break from razor burn.
According to the article, the reason Rabbi Goldstein can have a beard is that he came in to the service with it 28 years ago, right after the AF was sued for religious discrimination and the military was feeling skiddish about prohibiting religious things. Eventually he was grandfathered in with regulation 600-20, which allows men who joined the service before 1986 to keep beards with which they entered.
Yes this is the same Chaplain Goldstein who serves with a Patriot unit in Israel during GW1 were they called him the Rav of the patriots
Ch Goldstein has an exception. There also used to be several Sihks who were allowed to keep their turbans. Reasons? Those were drafted were exepted. those who join voluntarily have to comply. It is part of the package that is agreed to upon entry to the military. A chaplain who joins the military is not agreeing to be a Rabbi, they are going to be there for all the soldiers. As such, they are first an officer, secondarily a Rabbi.
While I may understand that anyone may not want to compromise their religious practice, this will make it impossible for some members of both our faith and other to be effective military chaplains. They simply aren’t going to be able to do their jobs.
Just my humble opinion.