148 Selected Responsa

command,“Stand not idly by the danger to thy brother”(Lev. 19:16). So Maimonides takes this verse in Yad, Hil. Rozeach 1:14. See also Naftali Berlin(Neziv) to Sheeltot Exodus 38, who says that one should strive with all his strength to save another up to the risk of his own life.

Does then the work of the chaplaincy tend to strengthen and preserve the life of the soldiers in their time of danger? There is some bearing on this question in the Chofetz Chaim ’s Mahanei Yisrael. In two rather touching chapters(38 and 39) he speaks of the Jewish soldier in the danger of actual battle and dwells upon the duty of prayer and confession and trust in God , assuring his readers that the sincere religious life strengthens the heart and will, in God ’s goodness, bring protection in time of danger. So, too, we would say that the soldier’s spiritual confidence enhances his morale and increases his inner strength and his safety. The chaplain, as he performs his task, fulfills a religious duty. The Gaon Achai said in Sheeltot(Exodus#38). It is a high spiritual duty to preserve the body and the spirit.

There is a further question which is dependent upon the on¢ which has been discussed above. The above discussion dealt with whether a man has the right to put himself into a place of danger, but there is also the question as to whether one has the right to put others in a place of danger. In other words, the question hithert has dealt with the Chaplain and his right to volunteer. The second question now deals with the committees of the various organizations and their right to organize the draft or the volunteering.

It should be clear at the outset that it is irrelevant to cite 11 this discussion the Mishnah in Terumot VIII, 12(Maimonides Yad, Yesodei Torah V, 6 and Isserles in Shulhan Arukh Yore Deah 157,1) namely, that if the Akum demand that a Jew be handed ove! to them for death(or dishonor) that we should not do so(excep! under special certain circumstances). Meir Eisenstadt (Imre Eis Yore Deah#52) shows quite clearly that entering military life i