Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Chabad Outfit To Endorse Military Chaplains
An ultra-Orthodox organization will start endorsing chaplains for the United States military, ending the 88-year-long monopoly on endorsements held by the multi-denominational body that had vetted all previous candidates.
The Aleph Institute, an organization linked to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement previously known for helping Jewish prisoners, was approved last month by the Department of Defense to endorse chaplains. Endorsing agencies provide a required seal of approval for any religious leader who wants to join one of the three branches of the military. The Miami-based Aleph Institute will join the Jewish Welfare Board's Jewish Chaplains Council, which, since 1918, has been the only body endorsing Jewish chaplains. The chaplains council is run by the Jewish Community Center Association and brings together the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements to vet candidates.
The approval of a Chabad-Lubavitch body is particularly notable because Chabad rabbis — known for their eagerness in reaching out to unaffiliated Jews — are currently not able to become chaplains because of a military regulation banning beards. The new body will endorse rabbis from other corners of the Orthodox world, but it is also likely to lead any efforts to overturn the military's prohibition on chaplains having beards. In the past, Orthodox rabbis have quietly complained that the Jewish Chaplains Council did not seem interested in working to change the rule. The chaplains council also has been under pressure because of a general shortage of Jewish chaplains in the military.
http://www.forward.com/articles/7507
An ultra-Orthodox organization will start endorsing chaplains for the United States military, ending the 88-year-long monopoly on endorsements held by the multi-denominational body that had vetted all previous candidates.
The Aleph Institute, an organization linked to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement previously known for helping Jewish prisoners, was approved last month by the Department of Defense to endorse chaplains. Endorsing agencies provide a required seal of approval for any religious leader who wants to join one of the three branches of the military. The Miami-based Aleph Institute will join the Jewish Welfare Board's Jewish Chaplains Council, which, since 1918, has been the only body endorsing Jewish chaplains. The chaplains council is run by the Jewish Community Center Association and brings together the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movements to vet candidates.
The approval of a Chabad-Lubavitch body is particularly notable because Chabad rabbis — known for their eagerness in reaching out to unaffiliated Jews — are currently not able to become chaplains because of a military regulation banning beards. The new body will endorse rabbis from other corners of the Orthodox world, but it is also likely to lead any efforts to overturn the military's prohibition on chaplains having beards. In the past, Orthodox rabbis have quietly complained that the Jewish Chaplains Council did not seem interested in working to change the rule. The chaplains council also has been under pressure because of a general shortage of Jewish chaplains in the military.
http://www.forward.com/articles/7507
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