Air Force Bases in Halakhah

by R. Gil Student

I. Military Encampments in Halakhah

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 halakhic 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 Lord, your God, 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 halakhically 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-Chinukh (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-Chinukh 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, Hilkhos Eruvin 1:3). In another place, he writes that a military encampment is exempt from an eruv (op cit., Hilkhos Melakhim 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, Hilkhos 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 halakhah, explains that this means they must be enclosed within halakhically valid walls, including appropriate fences or even strings, as stated by Rambam in Hilkhos Melakhim mentioned above (Ha-Tzava Ka-Halakhah: Hilkhos 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 (Heikhal 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 halakhically 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 halakhically 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 halakhically considered a military encampment. An air force base is subject to the Torah’s laws of encampment, including the need for enclosed sanitation facilities.