21 May DAVENING IN A TANK

I. Where to Daven
Soldiers, like all
professionals, use
their extensive
training and
experience to inform
their behavior in the
field but ultimately they must improvise
based on real-life circumstances.
Tanks offer limited room for personal
movement. They do not have sleeping
quarters. However, during war a soldier
may not have the option to leave the
tank and sleep on the ground. He may
have to stay in the tank for days at a
time.
Tanks not only lack sleeping quarters
but also toilet facilities. When you must
remain inside your tank, you need to
improvise. From what I understand,
standard practice is to use old water
bottles and a metal box to hold the
waste until they can empty and clean
them. While this solves the logistical
problem for soldiers, it creates a
halachic problem.

You are not allowed to daven in the
presence of tzo’ah (excrement). The
Gemara (Berachos 25a) says that
you must distance yourself at least
four amos from tzo’ah before reciting
Shema. Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim
79:1) says that you must be four amos
not only from the tzo’ah but also from
the reach of its smell, and you must not
be able to see it. How do you daven
inside a tank when you are not allowed
to daven near tzo’ah?
During or after Operation Cast Lead,
known as the 2008-2009 Gaza War,
Rav Yosef Tzvi Rimon was asked by a
soldier this question. The soldier said
that he had not let the tank for a week
and a half. How was he supposed to
daven?(Halachah Mi-Mkorah, Tzava,
vol. 1, pp. 327-331) Rav Rimon notes
that on a trip to the US, he had been
asked whether soldiers during battle are
exempt from the obligation to daven.
He replied that he had never been asked
by a soldier about not davening. He
is only asked about how a soldier can
daven because soldiers want to do so.

II. Hospital Curtain
As mentioned above, you
have to distance yourself four
amos from the tzo’ah before
davening, even when it is
hidden from view. There is
not enough room inside a tank
for that. However, there are
other options. The Gemara
(ibid., 25b) says that if the
tzo’ah is in another domain,
you can daven without any
significant distance as long as you do not
smell the tzo’ah. Rav Shlomo Zalman
Auerbach was asked about a patient
in a hospital in which near his bed is
a container with tzo’ah in it (Halichos
Shlomo, Tefillah 20:6). He replied that
the patient can close his curtains and
daven if he does not smell the tzo’ah.
He points out (ibid., n. 10) that while
Mishnah Berurah (Bi’ur Halachah 87:3
s.v. mutar) requires a full mechitzah,
i.e. an actual divider from wall to wall,
here the curtain suffices because it hides
the tzo’ah from view. Since the verse
says “and cover your refuse” (Deut.
23:14), a curtain that covers sight of the
offending material is sufficient. This
assumes that the patient does not smell
the tzo’ah.
The same question applies when a
hospital roommate has a bed pan.
Rav Moshe Stern argues at length
that a curtain constitutes a sufficient
separation for these purposes even if
it is not a halachic wall (Be’er Moshe,
vol. 1, no. 3). Rav Eliezer Waldenburg
quotes Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv as
disagreeing but argues in favor of Rav
Auerbach’s view (Tzitz Eliezer, vol.
12, no. 11). Rav Waldenburg adds that
if the curtain serves as a wall, then any
smell is coming from another domain
and does not prevent davening.
However, if the curtain serves only as
a covering and not as a wall, then you
need to do something to disperse the
smell. Rav Waldenburg follows the
view that spices or incense that mask
the smell suffice. Others require a fan
or air filter to remove the smell.
III. Boxed In
Unlike a hospital, a tank does not
allow room for a curtain. However,
there is another reason to permit
davening in close proximity to the
tzo’ah. The Gemara (Berachos 25b)

says that you may recite Shema facing
tzo’ah that is in a glass container. Even
though you can see the tzo’ah through
the glass, it is covered and covering
is the key element. Based on this,
Rambam (Mishneh Torah, Hilchos
Keri’as Shema 3:9) rules that any
utensil that covers the tzo’ah suffices
as long as you do not smell the tzo’ah.
Mishnah Berurah (87:10) and Bi’ur
Halachah (87:3 s.v. ve-chen) discuss
different kinds of utensils which do not
work. However, if the utensil fully seals
in the tzo’ah, it definitely serves as a
covering for this purpose.
Based on the above, Rav Rimon writes
that the box used as a toilet in the tank
suffices to cover the tzo’ah. Since the
box is completely closed, the tzo’ah is
covered. If there is any smell then the
soldiers should turn on the air filter
to remove the smell. In that way, the
soldier may daven inside the tank
without concern for the tzo’ah.
While this is sufficient, Rav Rimon
offers an additional thought regarding
the smell. When is the smell of tzo’ah
so bad that it prohibits davening and
Torah learning? Some places smell
nice and others have various odors. Is a
farmer never allowed to daven because
there is a smell of manure throughout
the area? Are you never allowed to
daven on a kibbutz? Rav Rimon notes
that Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim

86:1) forbids reciting Shema near foul-
smelling water. Mishnha Berurah (ad

loc., no. 1) says that the smell must
be one that it is the way to (i.e. most
people) find it offensive. Rav Rimon
suggests that if that is the smell that
residents normally smell and are used
to, then it is permitted for everyone to
daven there. Perhaps that also applies to
the smell inside a tank to which soldiers
are accustomed. However, whenever
possible, they should put on the air filter
during davening.