For God and country? : religious student-soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces / Elisheva Rosman-Stollman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rosman-Stollman, Elisheva, author.

Series:

Binah Yitzrit Foundation series in Israel studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Israel. Tseva haganah le-Yiśraʼel.

Israel.

Jewish soldiers--Israel.

Jewish soldiers.

Soldiers--Religious life--Israel.

Soldiers.

Soldiers--Religious life.

Physical Description:

xii, 306 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Austin : Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 2014.

Summary:

In many modern armies the religious soldier is suspect. Civilians and officers alike wonder if such a soldier might represent a potential fifth column. This concern is especially prominent in the public discourse over the presence of religious Orthodox Jews serving in the Israel Defense Forces. Will they obey their commanding officer or their rabbi? With research collected over almost a decade, including hundreds of hours of interviews, Elisheva Rosman-Stollman examines this question of loyalties and reveals how religious soldiers negotiate a place for themselves in an institution whose goals and norms sometimes conflict with those of Orthodox Judaism. For God and Country? focuses on the preservice study programs available to religious conscripts. Many journalists and scholars in Israel are suspicious of the student-soldiers who participate in these programs, but in fact, as Rosman-Stollman's research demonstrates, the preservice study programs serve as mediating structures between the demands of Religious Zionism and the demands of the Israel Defense Forces and do not encourage their students to disobey orders. This was especially apparent during the Disengagement from Gaza in 2005. Many in Israeli society predicted student-soldiers would defy their orders, per the instruction of their religious leaders, but this did not happen as expected. In high profile cases such as this and in matters encountered daily by religious soldiers-the mixing of the sexes, for instance-Rosman-Stollman has discovered that the pre-service study programs can successfully serve as agents of civil society, both able to curb the military's efforts to meddle in civilian affairs and vice versa. Book jacket.

Contents:

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

Curiiculum and Faculty 80

Preparation for Military Service 82

Demographics 83

Student Expectations 84

Military Service in the Hesder Program 87

Contact between the Hesder Teshiva and Students in the Military 89

Chapter 5 The Shiluv Program 93

The Nature and Structure of the Shiluv Program 93

Program Characteristics and Military Sendee 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'mini Program: Jewish Orthodox Women and the IDF 123

Religious pianist 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

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 Program 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.

Notes:

Bibliography: pages ([273]-298) and index.

ISBN:

0292758510

9780292758513

OCLC:

861675777

Publisher Number:

99960004643