10 Mar AIR FORCE BASES IN HALACHAH

I. Military
Encampments in
Halachah
With the recent
stunning military
success in Israel’s
ongoing 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.