24 Jun AIR FORCE BASES IN HALACHAH

I. Military
Encampments in
Halachah
With the recent
stunning military
success in Israel’s
initial attack on Iran,
it is an opportunity to celebrate the Israeli
Air Force by examining one aspect of its
halachic significance. The Torah has special
laws for a military encampment. The
question remains what constitutes such a
military encampment to be subject to these
rules.
The Torah outlines specific requirements
for soldiers: “When you go out to encamp
against your enemies… Have a designated
place outside the camp, and you will go
out there to excrete. Have a peg in addition
to your weapons; when you need to sit to
excrete dig with it, then use it again to cover
your excrement. Because the L-rd, your G-d,
is moving within your camp to save you and
to defeat your enemies before you, so your
camp must be holy; let Him not see within
you disgraceful objects lest He turn away
from you.” (Deut. 23:10-15) In practice,
this means that military encampments
require bathrooms that are fully surrounded
by walls. Otherwise, soldiers must carry

digging equipment and relieve themselves
outside the camp and cover it with dirt.
In addition to the biblical laws of military
encampment holiness, the Mishnah (Eruvin
17a) says that the Sages exempted a
military encampment from four rabbinic
laws. “1) gathering wood from any
place [with no concern that he is stealing
wood]; 2) washing of the hands [ritually
before eating]; 3) demai [separating tithes
from doubtfully tithed produce]; and 4)
eruv.” These requirements and leniencies
apply only to military encampments as
halachically defined, necessitating a clearer
understanding of what qualifies as such.
Do these rules still apply today or do they
only refer to ancient armies? Rav Shlomo
Ben Tzemach Duran (Rashbatz; 15th cen.,
Algeria) believes that the biblical law is
not about a military encampment per se
but about an encampment with the holy
ark, which accompanied the ancient Jewish
army. The sanctity of the ark requires extra
care and cleanliness. Rav Yitzchak of
Corbeil seems to write similarly (Semak,
nos. 83, 57). However, the anonymous
Sefer Ha-Chinuch (nos. 566-567) says that
the laws only apply to males, who fight in
the army, implicitly limiting the rules to a
military encampment. Rambam explicitly

links this law with a military
encampment, as implied by the
beginning of the passage, “when
you go out to encamp against

your enemies” (Sefer Ha-
Mitzvos, asin 192-193). Sefer

Ha-Chinuch adds that this law
only applies when the Temple in
Jerusalem stands. Based on this,
Rav Shaul Yisraeli (20th cen.,
Israel) argues that the law does
not apply today (Eretz Chemdah,
p. 65) but he seems to be a lone
voice. Similarly, the Rashbatz
is a minority voice while the
majority of authorities believe
that these laws apply only to a military
encampment. This raises the question: what
is a military encampment?
II. What Constitutes a Military
Encampment?
Is one soldier traveling on his own or even
a small team considered a camp? In one
place, Rambam writes that an encampment
requires an eruv(Mishneh Torah, Hilchos
Eruvin 1:3). In another place, he writes that a
military encampment is exempt from an eruv
(op cit., Hilchos Melachim 6:13). Rav Vidal
of Tolosa (14th cen.) distinguishes between
a military and a civilian encampment.
He argues that the Talmud Yerushalmi
says that a civilian encampment with ten
people requires an eruv. In contrast, the
Mishnah exempts specifically a military
encampment from eruv (Maggid Mishneh,
Hilchos Eruvin 1:3). According to Rav
Vidal, any grouping with fewer than ten
people is merely a caravan and not an
encampment. The Vilna Gaon (18th cen.)
writes similarly (Orach Chaim 158:21,
366:6).
Rav Yeshayah Karelitz (20th cen., Israel)
adds that the ten people of an encampment
must be in one place (Chazon Ish, Eruvin,
Likutim 6:1). Rav Yitzchak Kaufman
(cont., Israel), in his classic work on
military halachah, explains that this means
they must be enclosed within halachically
valid walls, including appropriate fences
or even strings, as stated by Rambam in

Hilchos Melachim mentioned above (Ha-
Tzava Ka-Halachah: Hilchos Milchamah

Ve-Tzava 10:2).
However, Rav Yitzchak Herzog (20th
cen., Israel) disagrees with Rav Vidal’s
interpretation of the Yerushalmi as
referring to a civilian encampment. Rather,
he understands the Yerushalmi as saying
that both a military encampment (of ten
or more) and a military caravan (of less
than ten) are exempt from eruv (Heichal
Yitzchak, Orach Chaim 49:8). Similarly,
Rav Shlomo Goren (20th cen., Israel)
argues that a military outpost fighting
a war, including a long-term ongoing

war, constitutes a military encampment
even with fewer than ten soldiers (Meshiv
Milchamah, vol. 1, p. 158). Therefore, even
a small military outpost that is encircled by
a halachically valid wall is exempt from
eruv.
III. Do Permanent Bases or Air Force
Installations Qualify
Note that the biblical text refers to an
encampment going out to war: “When you
go out to encamp against your enemies.”
What about a permanent military base?
Even during wartime, a base of operations
is the place from which soldiers leave to go
out to war. Some bases are further within
the country for training or internal security.
Are these types of bases exempt from eruv
and do they require enclosed bathrooms or
relief areas outside the camp?
Rav Yitzchak Herzog (op cit.) says that a
permanent military base where soldiers
engage in routine security operations is not
considered a military encampment going
out to war. Therefore, none of these laws
apply. However, Rav Shlomo Goren (op cit.,
p. 157) argues that soldiers in permanent
outposts or border positions, engaged
in routine security and patrol, constitute
military encampments going out to war
to whom these laws apply. Rav Goren (op
cit., p. 144) writes that this also applies to
soldiers training to go out to war.
What about air force bases? These
installations are often located far from
combat zones, but they serve as launch
points for warfare. Are they halachically
considered military encampments?
According to Rav Goren, they clearly
qualify. Rav Herzog’s position would leave
this question unresolved, as these bases
are permanent and distant, but still involve
outgoing military action. Rav Kaufman
(op cit., 10:7) argues that since soldiers
stationed there are actively deployed to war
and the base itself is a potential target for
enemy fire, then it is halachically considered
a military encampment. An air force base is
subject to the Torah’s laws of encampment,
including the need for enclosed sanitation
facilities.