SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Rabbi to become Army Chaplain, beard and all

Posted: Dec 09 2011 10:24 am

After a lawsuit, an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi has been given the right to become and Army Chaplain without having to shave his beard, as is standard military practice.

I don't know much about what Army Chaplains do, but from what I gather they don't see any actual combat.....they're there primarily to minister to the troops and such.

I'm neither a religious or a military man, so I'm not sure how I feel about the whole thing. On one hand, I'm not a big fan of religious beliefs trumping well-known policies and procedures, particularly when those policies and procedures have a legitimate reason behind them (discipline, safety). On the other hand, if the guy isn't going to be seeing any front-line combat, I don't think it's a big deal to let him keep his beard. And furthermore, I see little benefit in denying willing participants the right to serve.

I'm curious to see what any of our in house military people have to say about this.

http://news.yahoo.com/rabbi-become-army-chaplain-beard-173612195.html

Posted: Dec 09 2011 10:30 am

Well, the idea in shaving facial hair is that you will be able to wear a gas mask or other breathing apparatus if the need arises. So, if he is somewhere that gets attacked and he needs to wear a gas mask, maybe God will save him. Otherwise, I could care less.

Posted: Dec 09 2011 12:13 pm

They already allowed a Sikh to keep his beard. They even made a special turban for him to wear, so this isn't that big of a deal.

"Beards" are allowed under medical circumstances. My commander had bad skin issues from shaving, and he was allowed to have a beard, provided it was clipped to no more than 1/4 inch. His gas mask still sealed.

Posted: Dec 09 2011 04:28 pm

atomjacked wrote:

Well, the idea in shaving facial hair is that you will be able to wear a gas mask or other breathing apparatus if the need arises. So, if he is somewhere that gets attacked and he needs to wear a gas mask, maybe God will save him.

And my first thought was this quote: