ABSTRACT
The Jewish religion, the Israeli army and Israeli politics are three phenomena that are very characteristic of the contemporary State of Israel. And if they become mutually interconnected, we get a highly specific problem that can hardly be compared to any similar problem elsewhere in the world. One of the major Israeli figures who embodied a blend of these phenomena was Rabbi Shlomo Goren. During his life he served in several important functions which combined all of the phenomena – he became the Chief Rabbi of the Israeli army, the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel and a major-general in the Israeli army. He also became a symbol of how far the interconnections between these components can go – both in a positive and in a negative sense.
