Halachic Multiculturalism in the IDF: Rulings of Official Religious Authorities in Israel Concerning "Women's Singing"

‘You need to understand the extent of the bubble we grew up in’: The religio‐cultural aspects of sibling's sexual dynamics—Perspectives of Orthodox Jewish adults

“…The context‐informed approach (Roer‐Strier & Nadan, 2020) stresses the importance of taking into consideration the myriad contexts affecting a seemingly discrete phenomenon. Although the Orthodox Jewish way of life is based on religious texts and traditions (as described in the Hebrew Bible and the traditional Oral Law), it is also based on additional contexts, including acts of interpretation, as Hollander writes: ‘It is a well‐known fact that halacha (the body of Jewish law) is a multifaceted system, containing various options … reality and his general worldview play a significant role in shaping his halachic deliberations and therefore different Decisors reach different conclusions’ (Hollander, 2014, p. 2). Moreover, additional elements have been incorporated into the Orthodox way of life due to environmental and historical contexts that do not derive directly from religion (Nadan et al, 2019), for example, the unique styles of dress imported from Eastern European countries by some Ultra‐Orthodox sects (Silverman, 2013).…”

Soldiers and Scholars: Ritual Dilemmas among National Religious Combat Soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces

“…At the time, the IDF command argued that while it is necessary to respect certain basic religious standards of all soldiers, it would be impossible to recognize the maximum religious standards for every solider (Harel 2011). The Israeli Chief Rabbinate, however, and many premilitary rabbinic seminaries called upon the IDF to find some solution for the religious requirements of some of their national religious soldiers (Nahshoni 2011; Hollander 2014). Israeli academics and left-leaning politicians have argued that calls for such religious “toleration” on the part of the IDF only work to further remove a female presence from Israeli civil society (Yefet 2016).…”

“…The military rabbinate recognizes these three separate contexts such that religious soldiers are instructed to remain during performances at state ceremonies, while commanders are asked to release soldiers during semiofficial brigade or regimental events. Commanders, however, are ordered to release religious soldiers from attending the third category of social events (Hollander 2014). While this ruling seems specific enough to include most instances of female vocal performances, there is often no clear line between semiofficial brigade events and recreational morale-building evenings.…”