Soldiers have a lot of concerns when they're on duty. They worry about making sure they stay alive, and they worry about completing their missions. For some members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), there is the added worry of keeping kosher while aboard ship in the Navy.
According to YNet, the number of religiously observant soliders in Israel's navy has increased in recent years, and many soldiers do not observe religious dietary laws when they cook for themselves on the ship. For those that want to remain kosher, this presents a challenge. After all, rabbis are not able to be sent out to the ships to purify the dishes and untensils that were made non-kosher through violations, such as mixing meat and dairy.
To fix this, the navy will launch a competition next week between the missile ship crews of a naval commando unit named Shayetet 13. Whichever crew has the fewest violations of Jewish dietary laws, called kashrut, will win a tour of a heritage site, a talk with a rabbi, a full-length performance by the house troupe, and a kosher barbecue. YNet explains, "Starting next week, the number of each crew's kashrut violations over the course of a month will be counted, and the one with the lowest number will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined through routine inspections of the ships."
The IDF is hoping that the contest will be an incentive for maintaining a kosher kitchen while on the ship -- even for non-observant soldiers -- and that it will also increase bonding and a sense of brotherhood at the same time.
A military source said, "Kashrut problems are very common. It damages the cohesiveness of the unit."
