behavior

Neither the warrior or soldier is an ideal in Judaism. Armies and wars are not what we are about. Judaism pursues peace. The courageous persons and our true heroes are those who conquer their inclinations, not those who overpower our enemies. It is bad enough that we are forced into battling the Arabs to survive. No one wants this. This is not why we are here. We have no directive to go kill Arabs. We need only survive against this threat. When compelled, men have an obligation to go to battle to save and protect the people. But, this is not the function of woman. We do not want to drag her into the mud and blood of the battlefield. It is bad enough that men have to suffer as soldiers and be forced to kill other human beings. We should bring our women into this as well? Women are our saving grace. They are, by nature, more peaceful and kind, less agressive and more compromising. Wars, by and large, is a stupid and deadly man's game. Women, level-headed as they are, have deftly avoided spearheading armed conflicts. Can anyone name even one woman general in history? And if you name one, that proves that she is an exception. If Mankind is to be saved from killing ourselves out of existence, it will because of naturally peaceful women. Why defile them?

You sound like a typical Israeli leftist of the Dana Olmert, Macshom Watch sort. Roni Zuckerman is more of a man then you will evr be.

How long would Israel exist without the means to apply deadly force in the manner in which you decry? I'm asking this as a strong supporter of the right of Israel to defend herself. "Surviving against this threat" as you put it, occasionally involves killing arabs, at least those dedicated to destroying your homeland. Warriors such as Roni are the reason you can sleep safely at night; you should truly be thankful that someone can stomach the cold reality of what has to be done to protect your people. There you sit, supprounded by countries whose leaders daily claim that Israel should not exist and that the Zionist state should be wiped off the map. Without the IDF, they would make their threats a reality. How is it there under the sand, Mr. Ostrich?

I do not glorify war. I glorify the sanctity of life. But pekuach nefesh dictates that we preserve life and in our case, unfortunately, that means we must fight for it. Women are not defiled by practicing pekuach nefesh, but elevated in contributing to the saving of our people when extreme situations dictate. How many women fought in 1948 when we struggled to establish our State? Would you have closed them out of that enterprise?

"Warriors such as Roni are the reason you can sleep safely at night;..." The reason I sleep safely at night is because it is G-d Who protects me.

Of course G_d is the ultimate reason for everything in the universe, no denying that; He protects all those who have faith in Him. However, He acts in a multitude of ways. Is not the skill with which Roni protects her country a gift from G_d? Would you have your countrymen and women lay down their arms and be overrun and slaughtered? Do not doubt for one second that your "neighbors" would facilitate just that without the steps Israel has taken to defend itself. Would G_d have his chosen people leave the Holy Land and be annihilated in the process? Nice attempt to take the moral high ground, though. I do admire your obvious faith; I also believe that Israel's extremely measured and restrained (yes, restrained, it is true) defense of its very existance is not inconsistant with Biblical teachings.

AN ISRAELI WOMAN JET FIGHTER PILOT. HOW FAR WE JEWS HAVE COME SINCE THE FOUNDING OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL. IT IS TRULY WONDERFUL. WHAT A GREAT EXAMPLE FOR YOUNG ISRAELI GIRLS. EVERYDAY ISRAEL DOES AMAZING THINGS THAT LEAVE ME IN AWE.

For the record, the IDF does not actually need women in combat roles and rarely uses them in such a capacity except in occasional high-profile, good-for-the-media instances like this one. In fact, the vast majority of girls in the army perform roles such as instructors, administrative work and intelligence activities. Although their basic training is separate, they soon come in direct contact with the males thereafter. That there are women in the army in the first place is not because there was a military need for them (there are plenty of men out there who can perform the same functions) but because of several non-military reasons including ideological (equality between the sexes and a desire to create a new Israeli Jew with a new "secular" value system) and for not so kosher reasons. All the altruistic reasons offered don't wash. By the latter, I think that there was an interest in making females more readily accessible and available for the boys. Before you and others jump on this statement, remember that we are speaking of boys and men who have their needs, too. Bringing girls close at hand, within the same environment, offers them a healthy outlet for their energies. This is not a "how dare you say that" statement, but a realization of a fact of life. It would be interesting for someone in the forces or political echelon to finally admit that this was and is part of the reasoning for having women in the army. But I believe it is. (shhh. please keep this quiet, you know. it is a bit of a secret.) In no small way this is why rabbis object to enlisting women. They understand this reason as to why the army wants them!