Police are searching for an 18-year-old Ashkelon girl, Daisy Bochovza, who reportedly went “into hiding” to avoid military service after her local draft board rejected her claim that she was Orthodox and therefore exempt from service. Police searched her home early this morning without results.
The girl contended that both she and her family were Orthodox but the draft board claimed that she could not be considered Orthodox because she attended a secular school. A letter the girl wrote to Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi Isser Yehuda Unterman drew a reply reprimanding her for not having attended a religious school. But Unterman agreed that this was not sufficient grounds for denying her exemption from military service on religious grounds.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.