26 Mar MUCH MORE THAN A COSTUME

When a convert stands
in the mikvah about to
immerse, undergo a
radical transformation,
and be born anew, the
Beis Din asks a series of
questions. One of the
most poignant is one that long seemed to many
of us to be an antiquated question: “You know
that Jews have been subject to persecution,
antisemitism, and attempted extermination
throughout the millennia. If you become a
Jew, you will join this hated, targeted people.
Are you prepared to share in the destiny of the
Jewish people both for good and for bad?”
At every single conversion I have had the
privilege to be involved with, the candidate
responded to this hypothetical question in the
affirmative. Until recently, this question has
felt like a technicality, something we must
confirm in theory but would likely never be
relevant in practice. After all, while joining
the Jewish people means giving up
cheeseburgers and bacon and other physical
pleasures, it wouldn’t likely mean giving up
one’s life.
On December 8th, Staff Sgt. Yonatan Chaim
H”yd, 25, was killed fighting in Gaza. He died
a Jew, but he wasn’t born that way. Yonatan
Chaim, originally from Hilton, New York, was
born Jonathan Dean, Jr. After studying the

Holocaust in college, he converted to Judaism
and in 2020 he moved to Israel. His cousin,
Joelle Marie Muscolino, described him as
“sweet, amazing, loving, smart, caring,
talented, passionate, uniquely fabulous.” She
said that he had “lived in Israel for a bunch of
years now and had made it his home, a home
where he was loved and celebrated for
everything that he was, without judgement, to
live freely and happily as Yonatan Chaim, just
as his loving heart, soul, and body so deserved
to…He felt compelled to protect Israel, the
land who had given him so much, from the
brutality of the terrorist, evil, savage attacks
by Hamas and Islamic Jihadists. He died
bravely fighting to defend Israel’s Democracy,
the Jewish People that call her home just like
he did, and for Judaism around the entire
world.”
When Yonatan Chaim stood before the Beis
Din to convert and was asked if he understood
that by becoming a Jew he too would be the
target of antisemitism, subjected to hate, he
likely never dreamt how serious and real a
question that would become, that it would in
fact become for him a question of life and
death.
Antisemitism is the world’s oldest hatred. It
has existed since the inception of our people.
In different generations it takes different
forms, today manifesting in both its classic

forms and in its expression as “anti-Israel”
sentiment. For 2,000 years our enemies have
sought our demise, they have systematically
attempted to exterminate us and, aside from
rare exceptions, for the most part we were
passive victims and martyrs to their plots and
plans.
But we are living in a new era, we are living
with the miraculous modern State of Israel.
No longer will our people go like sheep to the
slaughter. No longer are Jews defenseless and
helpless. Israel has one of the strongest armies
in the world and like Staff Sgt. Yonatan Chaim,
the selfless, brave and tenacious soldiers fight
to defend not only our brothers and sisters in
Israel, but Jews around the world.
As Purim approaches, a time ordinarily
characterized by tremendous joy, happiness,
and light, many are struggling with how to
observe it against the backdrop of sadness and
darkness as one war continues to rage on and
another one looms. One of the specific
questions that has arisen concerns dressing up
as Israeli soldiers for Purim this year. On the
one hand, what a demonstration of who our
heroes are, what a way to show whom we
admire, respect, and want to emulate. On the
other hand, it might be perceived as insensitive
that those who put on the uniform as a costume
wear it for one day and have the luxury to take
it off, while others must wear it for weeks or
months on end, fighting in it and risking
their lives in it on the front lines. It has
further been suggested that yet another
consideration for Americans might be the
impression it could leave on our neighbors if
we seem to be glorifying or celebrating war
by “dressing up” in an army uniform.
Several years ago, in his responsa, She’eilas
Shlomo (4:87), Rav Shlomo Aviner, Rosh
Yeshiva of Ateret Cohanim and Rav of the
community of Beit El, addressed the
following question: Is it proper to recite the
beracha of Shehechiyanu on purchasing a
new gun? Rav Aviner provides a long
Halachic explanation and defense of why he
feels a shehechiyanu is warranted while
conceding the need to own a gun is sad and
unfortunate. His closing argument touched
me deeply and I share his words with you:
The fact that we have guns shouldn’t elicit
sadness that we still have wars and conflicts.
Indeed, the opposite is true, it should elicit
happiness that we have merited to be an am
chofshi b’artzeinu (free nation in our
homeland), that we have an established
Jewish government, we have an army and a
police force, that we are no longer the
punching bag of the wicked nations, but
rather we have the capacity to protect
ourselves. Would it even occur to you that
when the War of Independence began and
we had weapons in our hands to defend
ourselves after 2,000 years of Jewish blood
being spilled freely, that one shouldn’t recite
shehechiyanu with joy and gladness?! That
joy continues to carry us and protect us from
then until now. And for that reason, a
Shehechiyanu should be recited when an

Israeli soldier puts on his or her IDF uniform
for the first time.
Rav Aviner ends his responsa by quoting his
Rebbe, Rav Tzvi Yehudah Kook zt”l who
wrote: “Fighting to protect our homeland is a
mitzvah, the mitzvah of all Klal Yisroel.
Therefore, everything connected with it, every
gun and every weapon that is our response to
our enemies, everything associated with
establishing and protecting malchus Yisroel,
Jewish sovereignty, it is all kodesh.”
Similarly, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein related
that once when he returned to America and
was visiting with his father-in-law, Rav
Soloveitchik, he posed a series of questions
from students who were serving in the IDF.
One student worked in the tanks division and
his job was cleaning out and maintaining the
tanks. Often his uniform got covered in oil and
grime and he wanted to know if he needed to
change before davening Mincha, something
that would be terribly inconvenient and
difficult. The Rav looked at Rav Lichtenstein
and wondered out loud, “Why would he need
to change when he is wearing bigdei Kodesh
(holy clothing)?”
I have heard from some in Israel who believe
Americans should abstain from wearing an
IDF uniform this Purim and I have spoken to
others who think nothing would show more
love, identification, and support. Each person
and each community will decide for
themselves but one thing should be clear: The
IDF uniform is not simply a costume, and it
should never be confused with a symbol of
warmongering. It is the holy garb of a holy
nation charged with a holy mission. It is worn
by the defenders of a people that pray for
peace more than any, by those who value and
celebrate life more than any, who fight with a
moral clarity and go to extreme measures to
protect innocent lives, more than any other
army or people.
We daven for the fulfillment of the words of
ְו ְִכְִּתּ֨תּ֨ו ַחְַרְבֹוָ֜ת�֜ם ְלְִאִִּ֗ת�֗ים- :Yeshaya prophet our
ַוֲַחֲִנִיֽתֹֽוֵתֵיֶהֶ֙ם֙ ְלְַמְַזְֵמֵ֔רֹ֔ות ֹלֹא-־ִיִָּׂ֨ש�֨א ֤גֹ֤וי ֶאֶל-־ּגֹו֙י֙ ֶ֔חֶ֔רֶב
beat shall they And “ְ,ו ְ ֹֽֽלא-־ִיְִלְְמ֥דּ֥ו ֖עֹ֖וד ִמְִלְָחָָֽמ�ֽה׃
their swords into plowshares and their spears
into pruning hooks: Nation shall not take up
sword against nation; They shall never again
know war.”
But until then, Shehechiyanu v’kiymanu that
we merit to live in a time that with the help and
protection of Hashem, just like the Jews we
will read about this week, we can fight for and
protect ourselves.