of the military Rabbinate and its Chief is to serve the needs of the religious soldiers and to maintain kashrut in all military establishments. It is not their duty to go on missionary work. They have no right whatsoever to do this and it should be banned by General Staff order.

secular Jews, you have nothing to fear from your beautiful religion, culture, and heritage!!

We aren't talking about a false "belief" system like some religions. Judaism is the hope of the entire world and the Land of Israel is the test ground. We don't have the Romans chasing us down here for teaching others the truth of Torah. What are you afraid of, peace?

Masorti, Reform, and also secular jewish culture. No Jew should be afraid of those, either.

your nutzarim 'religion of paqid' (which, by the way, all rabbis everywhere reject), how's that going for you? oops, i may have misspoken there. if i have, could you please provide me with the name of one legit rabbi that says the nutzarim/paqid thing is kosher? i don't want to speak out of line so that would help set the record straight. thanks in advance.

pay taxes, learn to behave like human beings stop forcing religion on non belivers and let me live my life thankyou very much.

Nowhere in the Judaic sources are the people of Israel called a religion. We are a people, a nation. How many times is it written " Thou shall be unto Me as a people". The constitution was given at Mount Sinai. The response then was Na'aseh Ve'nishma. What is the response today? Did the army of Joshua doubt the veracity of the law? Did the army of David question the absolute truth of the law? Today, what makes a good citizen of the people of Israel?

Teaching respect for Judaism is certainly a Rabbi’s job and there is nothing wrong with him doing just that. But, as the Chief Rabbi of the Army he must also be tolerant of the beliefs of other soldiers who are not religious. The army should be free of all sorts of religious conversion pressures. This activity has no place in the Army every person has the absolute right to see religion as he sees fit. Respect for everybody should be the watch word.

The West is able to only relate to Israel because it is a secular democracy. The road Ronsky is trying to take the army and country will lead us to darkness and isolation. For people like Ronsky there is only one truth and that is at odds with democratic society which accepts many truths. I call for an end to the Rabbinate and the Army Rabbinate. Separation of synagogue and state now! We are not Iran!

And what exactly should motivate the soldiers to fight? They need to know about their Jewish heritage that is thousands of years old and the covenant with their forefathers that Israel belongs to the Jews. This is our inheritance. They should teach as much Torah as possible-that will instill in them the courage to fight against all odds in the world for our right to exist in Israel!

Funny, because the role of the military rabbinate in the French Army where I served and the Canadian Force where I do presently serve is to serve the needs of ALL jewish soldiers not only the religious ones. According to your standards it seems better to be a Jew in a foreign army than in a zionist one !

Heritage is a very important thing bit it has nothing to do with religion. Religion brings out the most base and gross primitive behaviour in men, it is counter to logic and reason. Not all peoples are able to be proud of their heritage. If the achievements of a Nation were obtained by plunder, slaughter and massacre of others, generally in the name of some "God", then this is a heritage not to be so proud of. I genuinely believe that Man's supreme folly is his invention of "God" and his "adherence and submission" to this imaginary entity. The Jews have played no small part in this folly which was further embellished by the invention of a "son of God" who then obviously had to have a "virgin mother" because it was inconceivable that "God" could produce offspring in a normal fashion. Oh I could go on for hours and hours about the nonsense in religion, all religions, past and present. I certainly am against missionary work of any kind. Teaching history and heritage is not preaching religion and nonsense.

Strange as it may seem to you I have already served my country in four wars, two of them as a full combat sodier. I did this with dedication and motivation which were not powered by religion or "God". I have always steered clear of Rabbis and other men of the cloth, especially when it comes to the military. A Pastor is a leader of a flock ( pasture, sheep ). I do not wish to be led by someone. I am an individual. I am not in need of a mentor or a pastor, my mind is not malleable. I would see no reason to serve in the French or Canadian armed forces but on the other hand if I had to fight again for Israel I would do so with vigour and will that would not be instilled in me by "God" Rabbis or pastors. Have a nice day Sir.

being in the army has its own challenges, there is no need for extra hastle from the rabbis. Each soldier is an individual who can lead his or her or life and make there own choices as they please.

I do get your point but I still think chaplaincy can serve ALL soldiers without being on a missionary mission.

I have just read the book by Howard Fast "My Glorious Brothers." It is a dramatized version of the book of Macabees. The Macabees sucessfully fought the Selucid Greeks for 25 years. Protecting Judaism as their way of life was their motivation. Our soldiers, even the secular ones, need to understand their own religion to be effective fighters.