Maaminot BeMadim (Believers in Uniform), a new program from Ohr Torah Stone (OTS), aims to encourage Torah-observant female Jews serving in the Israel Defense Forces on a practical, halachic, and spiritual level.
In order to allow religious women to join the military without sacrificing their beliefs, OTS first developed the program 25 years ago at its women’s seminary, Midreshet Lindenbaum. Currently, more over 400 young women are beginning their year of study in einem of OTS’s pre-IDF seminaries, although the first class of young women to enter the army through the program numbered only 15.
Additionally, 350 Midreshet Lindenbaum alumni are currently serving in the Military on active duty.
Out of the approximately 7,500 graduates of Israel’s religious high schools, about 3,200 religious young women are anticipated to join the IDF in the upcoming year.
They frequently encounter difficulties while serving because of the disconnects between their home in the Torah and the realities of military life. In response, the Maaminot BeMadim („Believers in Uniform”) program provides a place where religious women who are serving or who are about to be enlisted can receive free guidance and counseling on any spiritual, theological, or practical issues.
„Midreshet Lindenbaum have amassed a great deal of knowledge, experience, and connections after 25 years of preparing and accompanying our students through their IDF service“, stated Rabbanit Hila Naor, the new center’s director.
“Every day, young women –graduates of our seminary and many others from the Religious Zionist and ultra-Orthodox sectors, who enlisted alone–come to us for halachic guidance and practical support with classes or spiritual issues.
“We created this center with the intention of utilizing the knowledge we’ve accumulated to give a true and useful response to each of them,” she continued. With the exception of Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, Maaminot BeMadim, which collaborates closely with religious authorities and the IDF’s Social Security Division, runs a WhatsApp Hotline, where halachic authorities offer spiritual guidance, advise, and answers 24 hours a day.
The Center will also offer continuing conferences, workshops, and a research program devoted to the investigation of pertinent problems regarding female religious service.
I hardly ever go a day without receiving inquiries about the army from our alumni and their families, as they train for or serve in it. Rabbi Ohad Teharlev, the director of Midreshet Lindenbaum’s Israeli programs, stated that they can range from highly specific halachic difficulties to more general advice about what jobs a young lady should pursue that will allow her to protect her religious identity and practice without compromise.
The initiative’s purpose, it is emphasized in the program, is not to take the place of the Military Rabbinate, which oversees the IDF’s day-to-day religious operations. To address all known social and emotional issues, „our service provides a complementary degree of support for these young women and their families.
Dr. Kenneth Brander, president of Ohr Torah Stone and head of the yeshiva, said: „Since we started our program 25 years ago, allowing religious women to pursue both Torah study and military service, OTS has continued to pioneer the effort to integrate them into meaningful service in the IDF while strengthening their spiritual and Torah worlds.”
Our mission is to offer assistance and direction to every young lady soldier, who requests it, as part of that vision.
Diese Facility was created to make it possible for religious women to best contribute to the security of the state while also upholding their religious beliefs and way of life.
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