Jailed Israeli soldier freed after pork sandwich arrest, as army admits 'being wrong'

[compl3x]

An Israeli soldier who was jailed earlier this week for eating a non-kosher sandwich has been freed after the army agreed to release him following a wave of public pressure.

 

 

The soldier, who recently immigrated to Israel from America, was initially jailed for 11 days after eating a sandwich containing pork, which is forbidden by Jewish dietary law, public radio reported.

 

 

News of his punishment spread quickly on social media, sparking a public outcry which prompted the army to revoke the punishment, admitting it had made a mistake.

 

 

"The bottom line is that we were wrong," army spokesman Brigadier General Moti Almoz said on his official Facebook page.

 

 

"The punishment, which was given to the soldier, was cancelled and he will be released home.

 

 

"On the one hand, the IDF [israeli Defence Force] will continue to keep kosher, but we not poke our noses into soldiers' sandwiches."

 

 

Brigadier General Almoz said there were tensions within Israeli society but that the army had a "place for everyone".

 

 

Public radio said the offending sandwich was given to the soldier by his grandmother who lives on a kibbutz and who had offered to take his place in jail.

 

 

Army radio quoted one of his uncles as saying he was "stunned" by the decision to jail his nephew over the contents of his lunchbox.

 

 

Known as "kashrut", Jewish dietary law bars consumption of certain foods such as pork and shellfish and prohibits the mixing of meat and dairy products.

 

 

Animals must be slaughtered ritually under the supervision of a rabbi.

 

 

As an official Israeli institution, the army is bound to respect such dietary rules in its mess halls.

 

 

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-03/jailed-israeli-soldier-freed-after-pork-sandwich-arrest/6519696

 

 

 

Wow. 11 days in jail for a sandwich. 

 

"What are you in for?"

 

"Rape, attempted murder. You?"

 

"I ate a ######ing pork sandwich!"

 

"You monster! You don't keep Kosher? For shame!"

[PsYcHoKiLLa]

[FMH]

You can't mix dairy products and meat also? That's news to me.

[Liana]

Israel is just jealous and secretly wants to eat bacon.

[Noir Angel]

Religion: Contributing to oppressive idiocy all over the world.

[theyarecomingforyou]

We're talking about a country that engages in apartheid and gender segregation, so I'm really not surprised. Religion is such a blight on the world.

[neufuse Veteran]

All this hatred towards pigs... pigs want to be eaten equally too you know!

[Tomoko]

Jail? I thought it was just a religious taboo, I didn't realize they took it that seriously.

[redfish]

Jail? I thought it was just a religious taboo, I didn't realize they took it that seriously.

 

They don't.

 

Strictly orthodox Jews take it seriously as a rule for themselves, but even for them, its not really something they believe people should be compelled to do. They see keeping kosher as a way to be holy, but, for instance, they don't think there's anything wrong with non-Jews eating pork, and they don't expect non-observant Jews to keep kosher either.

 

The military isn't religious either. There's gender equality in the military; women have mandatory service like men, and are deployed in combat roles. Gays can openly serve.

 

The story is just about human stupidity. The background here is that kitchens on army bases keep kosher as a matter of rules and regulation, and the soldier was accused of violating regulations because he was eating it in the mess hall. But it was a stupid abuse of authority and that's why it was reversed after public outcry. There were much better articles about this.

[compl3x]

If he was the only one consuming it then why does it matter where he was eating it? Are they really that fanatical about separating themselves from pork products that they believe even being in the same room as it contradicts kosher laws?

 

 

 

The story is just about human stupidity. 

 

 

Correct. The stupid insistence on forbidding a food that is entirely safe to consume.

[redfish]

Correct. The stupid insistence on forbidding a food that is entirely safe to consume.

 

Then average Americans are equally stupid for not eating dogs and cats.

 

And no, the incident really has nothing to do with religion, which doesn't forbid someone from eating near someone else eating pork.

[theyarecomingforyou]

If he was the only one consuming it then why does it matter where he was eating it? Are they really that fanatical about separating themselves from pork products that they believe even being in the same room as it contradicts kosher laws?

Yes.

[Shadrack]

Their solution sounds like the Jewish version of don't ask don't tell.

[neufuse Veteran]

Then average Americans are equally stupid for not eating dogs and cats.

 

And no, the incident really has nothing to do with religion, which doesn't forbid someone from eating near someone else eating pork.

I'd say though that the cat and dog thing is not religious based... that is one key difference we don't have food laws here based on religions, we seem to of based ours off of what we consider a "pet" or not...

[compl3x]

Then average Americans are equally stupid for not eating dogs and cats.

 

 

Touch

[Ryoken]

Sounds more like the person that locked him up was out of touch, enforcing a rule that was never meant to be enforced like that, at least not in more modern times. Problem with the Military is unlike Civilian courts, they don't have the same kind of process.. His Superior officer was likely the one to have him locked up, and no one above really looked at it, and doubtful they even knew any of the details, if they knew at all. (Anything the superiors would have seen would have been a note about 'Failing to comply with code of conduct' or something like that, rather than 'Ate a pork sandwich')..

 

Nice to see they reversed it.. Right move.. Will probably amend it to make sure that it's not a requirement so it never happens again.

[redfish]

Touch

[redfish]

[

[compl3x]

Horses, also, I forgot to mention... which btw aren't kosher. Dogs and cats aren't kosher to eat. A lot of the animals listed as prohibited actually most average people would find make sense at least intuitively. Predatory birds like eagles and owls are prohibited, and most people wouldn't eat eagles and owls. Insects are prohibited, and most people wouldn't eat insects.

 

Most of the things mentioned there would be either raised for a difference purpose or would be unpalatable. Horses are for travel and work. Catching or farming eagles and owls would be difficult compared to say, chickens. There are completely secular, rational reasons not to eat an eagle or an owl or a horse. As far as insects go, I think many people in Asia eat insects. The Australian aboriginal eats grubs.

 

 

Either way, orthodox Jews just want to keep to their traditions, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that.

 

That's entirely fine. But they are exactly that, traditions. They are dietary laws they have that they apply to themselves. I'd argue there is no health or safety argument, and yes, some Jews and Muslims have tried to argue that there is health and safety reasons for avoiding things like pork. This of course ignores the fact that millions of people worldwide eat pork everyday and aren't dropping like flies.

 

 

 They claimed the soldier's conduct was "unbecoming." Its hard even to say if the person who made this decision was religious or not.

 

Even if he or she wasn't religious they are obviously pandering to or trying to appease people who observe this religious prohibition. If the religious prohibition didn't exist this guy wouldn't have been in any trouble at all. There is no getting around the fact that this was because of religion.  Think of it this way, if he was eating a steak sandwich, there would have been no problem (unless he had cheese on it  )

[redfish]

As far as insects go, I think many people in Asia eat insects. The Australian aboriginal eats grubs.

 

Of course, but most Westerners wouldn't. Owls and eagles aren't easy to hunt or raise, but there's no reason to forbid eating their meat just because of that, but most people wouldn't eat it because its strange to do.

[compl3x]

I have eaten insects. They aren't really readily available, though. Maybe if they were they might be consumed more often. Indeed, some have argued that in the future we might need to eat them because conventional farming won't be able to provide enough food for everyone.

 

You're right, something being difficult to catch or farm isn't sufficient reason to forbid their consumption. Maybe the animals are viewed superstitiously. Maybe they are endangered. Maybe there was a practical reason not to do it to begin with but then over time other reasons were invented.

 

I got a bit interested and I went to the Wiki article about Kosher. Apparently, giraffes and their milk are kosher. Here is an animal which is fine to eat according to the law, but isn't because it is simply too expensive slaughter them and consuming them might endanger the species. In this case you have the reverse problem: the superstitious laws which dictate what is edible saying that something you and I would never eat is permissible, but there are rational reasons not to. 

 

We've probably gone pretty OT. lol.

[FloatingFatMan]

The admonition against pork is really very easy to understand if you apply a moment's thought.  The Middle East is a very hot region of Earth, a hundred years or so ago, refrigeration was virtually unknown and pork spoils VERY quickly if not kept chilled.  Ham & bacon require a fair bit of "processing" to preserve them so that they will keep, and it probably wasn't known how to do it back then.  Same applies to shellfish too, which is also banned.

 

Therefore the ban is purely practical. It's not really very smart to eat something that could easily kill you if it's not fresh!  It's just become a part of religion over time because it's easier to protect ignorant people if those in authority ban it.

[compl3x]

Trichinosis may very well have once been the issue with pork but I would argue that problem is pretty much non-existent in any developed country. When you consider that any meat improperly stored, prepared or cooked presents health risks the singling out of pork as "unclean" is disingenuous. 

 

 

 

In the 19th century some people attributed the pig taboo in the Middle East to the danger of the parasite trichina, but this explanation is now out of favour.^{[73]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo_food_and_drink#Pigs.2Fpork}

 

Additionally, when you consider the list of other things forbidden I don't know if the point you've made here is all that valid. Kosher laws state the only fish with fins and scales can be eaten. What rational basis could that have had? Hares aren't Kosher either. They aren't great survival food because of low fat content, but that wouldn't be a logical reasons to ban them outright.

[FloatingFatMan]

It does't take long for a sensible ban to become a religious taboo, and once it reaches that state, that's all she wrote. As for those others, all have similar explanations if you want to dig for them.  Just because people in those days didn't have our technology, that doesn't make them stupid. It some ways, they could well have known better not to eat stuff that was bad for you than WE do!

[FMH]

All this hatred towards pigs... pigs want to be eaten equally too you know!

<3 Faith in pigs restored.