The Israel Navy this week completed its 96th submarine training
course, with the new graduates receiving the rank of sergeant after a
difficult 16 months of training, now certified to man and run a naval
submarine. According to a Kikar.net report, there are a number of
shomer shabbat sailors included in this graduating class, and their new
lifestyle, like many other soldiers in an array of IDF units, compels
rabbonim to probe different aspects of halacha, such as when does
shabbos end in a submarine far out at sea.
Members of many IDF
units have indeed addressed such questions, especially the graduates of
the mechina pre-IDF yeshivot, which place an emphasis on shmirat
shabbat in combat situations, and there have been seforim published
over the past two decades addressing the halachic difficulties
encountered by infantry and other soldiers who may find themselves in
combat positions, but not necessarily pikuach nefesh, having to learn
how one observes shabbos under such conditions.
The Mechinot boast graduates in all branches of the military, land,
sea and air, and the schools provide a rabbinical base for soldiers and
officers to contact to address practical day-to-day halachic questions
that arise.
Of course the same holds true for hesder soldiers, who generally
come with a more grounded yeshiva education. What separates and perhaps
facilitates the service of hesder soldiers is the fact that they serve
in segregated units, with one another, while mechina soldiers are
integrated into the general military population. (Original News)
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