Army Tells Rabbi to Shave

by New York Jewish Week

When Rabbi Menachem Stern spotted an ad in August 2008 for military chaplains, he says “I knew I had found my calling.”

Stern, 28, of Brooklyn, said he applied for a commission and “went through all the hoops for them. I had an interview with a chaplain at West Point, the chief of chaplains and his staff, as well as a physical — the full rundown they give to every new recruit.”

Last July, he said he was informed that the Accession Board had approved him. But he then received a phone call saying the letter had been mailed in error — he could not enlist because he wore a beard.

Rabbi Stern said he requested a waiver of that regulation and has “been appealing since then.”

“For me, my beard is part of my religious garb,” he explained.

“I don’t look for shortcuts. By not trimming my beard, I show that I represent the unadulterated view of the holy Torah. While there would be ways around it, and many of these ways are kosher, keeping to the original version of the Torah is the only way we as members of the Chabad Lubavitch community believe a person should live.”

On Nov. 28, New York Sen. Charles Schumer sent the Pentagon a letter inquiring about the appeal. Two days later, he received a letter saying an inquiry had been initiated and that he would be “further advised as soon as information becomes available.”

Rabbi Stern said he has heard nothing.

Rabbi Sandy Dresin, executive director of chaplains at the Aleph Institute in Surfside, Fla., which certifies Jewish chaplains for the military, said he has been pressing the Army to grant Rabbi Stern the waiver.

“The Army chaplaincy branch is not opposed to him having a beard, but the policy is made by the Army’s chief of personnel in concert with the chief of staff of the Army,” Rabbi Dresin said.

The regulation, which Rabbi Stern said was enacted in the 1980s, might at one time have been designed for operational purposes — such as the need for tight-fitting gas masks. But Rabbi Dresin said there are “some active duty Army [personnel] who have beards and “work undercover to blend into the population in Afghanistan.”

“We are not asking them to change the regulation, but rather to make a case-by-case waiver based on the needs of the military,” Rabbi Dresin said. “They need Jewish chaplains, and we are offering them.”

He pointed out that there are only eight Jewish chaplains in the Army now, a figure he said would “double within a year” if the Army accepted bearded Jewish chaplains.

“We have a large number of young, selfless rabbis who would come to active duty as long as the beard regulation is waived,” Rabbi Dresin said, referring to Chabad Lubavitch rabbis who serve in more than 70 countries.

“They are not fearful of going to war zones, because they are so dedicated and committed to reaching out to all Jews,” he added.