B"H I never heard of a soldier dismissed from an officers' course because he didn't attend a rabbi's lecture. I think Lapid is inventing things in damage controll: The fact is there is - read my lips: Religious discrimination in the IDF against Jews. Intollerable!

No need to cater to those Haredi parasites.

We have no right to live in the HOLY Land if we don,t respect G-d laws.

and so is "Haim" from tel aviv

Any person who get aroused sexually by hearing a woman sing must be considered a sex-maniac and released from the army. If this keeps up then soon the haredim soldiers will refuse to hear a woman officer talk. I have a new suggestion regarding the palestinian issue, make 3 countries one for the secular Israelis, onefor the Palestinians and the third for the Haredim, this way everybody is happy !!!!

this comparison is, for lack of a better word, non-relevant. the religious soldiers not wanting to listen to a woman sing is a halachic (Jewish law) issue. Not wanting to hear a Rabbi speak is preference, and uninformed preference as well. even for non-religious Jews, the speech can be inspirational, which important for soldiers. the whole discussion seems foolish, and disrespectful of Judaism. It seems that a bit of respect of the religion and the people who are trying to practice it properly.

In my opinion, extremists on either end of the spectrum are undesirable for the army. But then such arguments are too subtle for Anti-Dati Crusaders like Lapid

to confuse morality and faith with social ideology. Morality and faith is timeless, social ideology is as transient as the moon. When a man chooses to live a degree of sexual purity it is his personal choice with his conscience, for his and his families benefit. What Yair is proposing is to act like the filthy nations that criticize us for everything, and secular Jews should boycott or eliminate what they don't like. If someone isn't interested no one should force them. This is what distinguishes Jews from all the other Religious violent trash surrounding us. Dumb and shallow thoughts, Yair.

Let's remember that Jewish Talmudic Law is not always the same as Biblical Mosaic Law because the Talmud is a Pharasical innovation.

#26 is wrong. The army is a place to train to fight the enemy, not a social club. No one should be forced to "enjoy" entertainment not to their liking. If someone does not want to hear a singer perform or listen to a lecture, it is within his rights. There are enough guard and kitchen duties that must be done. The funny thing is that Lapid is not defending the real victims. I know of plenty of Leftwing soldiers who chose not to listen to rabbinical lectures. They asked and their wish was granted without a problem. The crime here is that religious people were fired from their job because they did not want to hear some singer.

Yair Lapid has done his best work out of his fathers shadow and shows his ignorance whenever he wanders back into it. When Yair Lapid was just starting out, he wrote a long article for Yediot stating as fact such nonsense as how Yom Kippur is not mentioned in the Torah and that repentance is a Christain concept, not a Torah concept. If he had only checked with any religious 5-year old, he would not have shown his total ignorance of the Torah and his own religion. Lapid's argument here is the old anti-religious line that if a religious person is allowed any leway at all because of his religion, then it follows that everyone should be able to do whatever they want. Of course, this is just stupid. Being considerate of the needs of religious sodiers is a cornerstone of the Jewish state's army.

much about their religion except for the part where it talks about "Eretz Israel"

Waaa waa waa.

Is there some strange sexual problem that Charadi and Chardal men have. They are aroused by sitting in the same section of the bus as women, they can't have 5 year old girls in schools near their homes and the can't watch a female singer. I think the rest of us have enough control over our conscious and subconscious sexual desires without become aroused. Next step: mothers and sisters will need to live in a separate part of their homes.

This is an article written by a child. Lapid wants to go into politics? His platform incite hatred amongst Jews.

The article might make sense if the author could name one case where a soldier was ordered to attend a lecture by a rabbi, refused to do so, and was punished for refusing orders.

Mr. Lapid you are so low on the totem pole you are not even visible and rightly so..First of all not hearing women sing is not an option, it's a mitzvah from our holy Torah. Regarding secular soldiers hearing the rabbis speak is totally different. Why? Because 95% of secular Jews are that way because they have little to no experience with Torah and aren't able to make an informed decision. The rabbis talks are designed to make them conscious of their heritage so if they don't want Torah at least they will know what it is that they are rejecting/ Considering your personal background you have my sympathy. With your attitude you will never learn anything, ie, "Don't confuse me with the facts!"

the real issue is whether somebody's son or daughter is going to die in battle because some fine young commanders were thrown out of a course by some stupid other commanders. Period. Why spend money training good officers and then throw it down the drain because of this issue. Whatever was spent on the ones fired is now wasted. Let's all try to work together to respect one another and not be so thin skinned when someone doesn't like a singing performance or a religious lecture. I sing in public also and if someone doesn't want to hear me I would rather have him get up and walk out because I do it tomake people enjoy and not to make them suffer. When people don't like it I am not offended by their tastes but respect them. I wonder what the female soldier who was singing felt, has anyone asked her? Let's all get together and work harder for communication which engenders respect for one another. Stop bullying each other over these issues and get thicker skins that aren't so easily ripped open to bare our emotions. Thank you for reading this.

In other words a true Torah scholar who is confident in the position he holds and the arguement he is making would not need to hurl low level personal insults at his opponent. Since you do so in your post #51 this means that you are lacking in confidence and have no idea what you are arguing. Since that is the case why would you want me to agree with your position when you don't even respect it yourself!

Is there some strange sexual problem that Charadi and Chardal men have. They are aroused by sitting in the same section of the bus as women, they can't have 5 year old girls in schools near their homes and the can't watch a female singer. I think the rest of us have enough control over our conscious and subconscious sexual desires without become aroused. Next step: mothers and sisters will need to live in a separate part of their homes.

halachic matters are to be ranked higher than army matters... maybe... but not when you are in the army ? for what i understand, the point was, that the dismissed an order from their commander by leaving the ceremony... because they considered their halachic thing higher than the commanders order... so, you really think this is ok, when you are a soldier ? nope, its not... in the army is the state, the defense, your orders higher than everything else. if not, you are at the wrong place...

What about listening to a pompous self-important political speech given by Yair Lapid? Mandatory or optional? I'd rather listen to the fat lady sing arias from "Gotterdamerung."

Thank you!

Now Yair,let us be reasonable.we have a 4 thousand year tradition and this is the only reason you are even here.The UN with all their prejudice recognised that we are Jews.It is a thing that doesnt make sense,even philosophically,to say,I know that people want to kill me and so I live in Israel,they want to kill me for being jewish,but i dont care that I am Jewish.I come from Africa.Even there,the tribes have respect for their ancestors and the laws made by their fathers.

"If a soldier who stands at attention during a Holocaust Commemoration Day or Memorial Day ceremony cannot think of anything else but the level of sexiness in a female singer’s voice..." If, for religious reasons, a man doesn't want to listen to a woman other than his wife singing, we should allow it. This is not no women, this is Judaism helping a man focus on his (current or future) wife over other women. No one is suggesting that men be allowed to walk out when women are SPEAKING, as the author is suggesting about Rabbis, just when they are performing a song.