For God and Country?

Religious Student-Soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces

AvElisheva Rosman-Stollman

Häftad, Engelska, 2015

Del i serien Binah Yitzrit Foundation Series in Israel Studies

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Beskrivning

In many modern armies the religious soldier is suspect. Civilians and officers alike wonder if such a soldier might represent a potential fifth column. This concern is especially prominent in the public discourse over the presence of religious Orthodox Jews serving in the Israel Defense Forces. Will they obey their commanding officer or their rabbi? With research collected over almost a decade, including hundreds of hours of interviews, Elisheva Rosman examines this question of loyalties and reveals how religious soldiers negotiate a place for themselves in an institution whose goals and norms sometimes conflict with those of Orthodox Judaism.For God and Country? focuses on the pre-service study programs available to religious conscripts. Many journalists and scholars in Israel are suspicious of the student-soldiers who participate in these programs, but in fact, as Rosman’s research demonstrates, the pre-service study programs serve as mediating structures between the demands of Religious Zionism and the demands of the Israel Defense Forces and do not encourage their students to disobey orders. This was especially apparent during the disengagement from Gaza in 2005. Many in Israeli society predicted student-soldiers would defy their orders, per the instruction of their religious leaders, but this did not happen as expected. In high profile cases such as this and in matters encountered daily by religious soldiers-the mixing of the sexes, for instance-Rosman has discovered that the pre-service study programs can successfully serve as agents of civil society, both able to curb the military’s efforts to meddle in civilian affairs and vice versa.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2015-05-15
Mått:152 x 229 x 19 mm
Vikt:454 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Binah Yitzrit Foundation Series in Israel Studies
Antal sidor:320
Förlag:University of Texas Press
ISBN:9780292758520

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Mer om författaren

Elisheva Rosman is Assistant Professor of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University and a founding member of the Association of Civil-Military Scholars in Israel.

Recensioner i media

This highly original and sophisticated study goes far beyond traditional two-dimensional descriptions of ideologies to uncover how religion fits in with other elements of society. . . . It is not often that a book based on the methodologies of political science is so useful to students of religion. In this case, it can offer a starting point for similar studies in different contexts. This is a fascinating study . . . both path breaking and profound. (Religious Studies Review)

Innehållsförteckning

IntroductionPart 1. Structures and Institutions Chapter 1. Greedy Institutions, Mediating Structures, and Empirical Examples Greedy Institutions and Mediating StructuresReligion and the Military as Greedy InstitutionsChapter 2. Military Attitudes toward Religious Soldiers: Five Case Studies The Iranian Armed ForcesThe Turkish MilitaryThe United States MilitaryThe Indian Armed ForcesThe International Context and the Israeli CasePart 2. Being a Soldier and a Religious Jew: Dilemmas and Solutions Chapter 3. Military Service from Ideological, Halakhic, and Value Perspectives Halakhic and Practical Problems during Military ServiceA Collision of ValuesIssues of IdentityChapter 4. The Hesder Yeshivot The Nature and Structure of the Hesder ProgramProgram Characteristics and Military Service as a Hesder StudentCurriculum and FacultyPreparation for Military ServiceDemographicsStudent ExpectationsMilitary Service in the Hesder ProgramContact between the Hesder Yeshiva and Students in the MilitaryChapter 5. The Shiluv Program The Nature and Structure of the Shiluv ProgramProgram Characteristics and Military Service as a Shiluv StudentCurriculum and FacultyPreparation for Military ServiceDemographicsStudent ExpectationsMilitary Service in the Shiluv ProgramContact between the Shiluv Program and Students in the MilitaryChapter 6. The Mekhinot: Preservice Preparatory Seminaries The Nature and Structure of the Mekhinot ProgramCurriculum and FacultyPreparation for Military ServiceDemographicsStudent ExpectationsMilitary Service after Studying in the MekhinaContact between the Mekhinot and Students in the MilitaryChapter 7. The Gar’inim Program: Jewish Orthodox Women and the IDF Religious Zionist Women, Torah Studies, and Military ServiceThe Beginning of the Women’s Gar’inim ProgramThe Nature and Structure of the Gar’inim ProgramCurriculum and FacultyPreparation for Military ServiceDemographicsContact between the Midrasha and Students in the MilitaryStudent ExpectationsChapter 8. Mediation in Practice Coed Service: Ha-Shiluv Ha-Ra’uiDisobeying Orders for Ideological ReasonsDisbanding Hesder UnitsChapter 9. Problems for Individual Religious Soldiers during Military Service Halakhic Problems during Military ServiceErosion in the Observance of MitzvotFeelings toward the Military EnvironmentStrategies in Problem SolvingChapter 10. Senior and Junior Officers’ Views on the Study ProgramsChapter 11. Mediation as Communication: The Programs’ Role in Conveying Messages between Students and Superstructures Messages Communicated by Students through the Study ProgramsMessages Communicated to Students through the Study ProgramsTensions between the ProgramsPart 3. Summaries and Conclusions Chapter 12. Study Programs as Mediating Structures Uses of MediationMultidimensional MediationThe Contribution of Mediating Structures in the Israeli CaseThe Limits of Mediation: When Mediating Structures FailChapter 13. Comparisons and Conclusions Theoretical ImplicationsImplications for General Civil-Military RelationsUnderstanding Civil-Military Relations in IsraelMethodological AppendixGlossaryNotesBibliographyIndex