Revised regulations issued by the U.S. Air Force provide that the Jewish Sabbath shall henceforth have equal religious status for Jewish servicemen as does Sunday for their Christian comrades, it was announced here today. Commanding officers are directed, under the new regulations, to excuse Jewish men from duty on the Sabbath upon request, subject to the same military exigencies and requirements as to total duty time as apply in the case of Sunday religious observance.
“This step marked the first time in which the military establishment has effectively implemented the policy of official parity for the Jewish Sabbath,” the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations said in a statement. “Besides its great moral value, the ruling offers a major gain for Jewish religious life in the service. It will greatly facilitate Sabbath and Holiday observance by Jewish personnel.”
The new Air Force Regulation reads as follows: “Commanders, in fulfilling their responsibilities for the religious life, morale, moral, character guidance, and religious matters within their commands will, subject to military necessity, excuse from duty personnel who express a desire to attend religious services of their faith on week days which have the same ecclesiastical obligations as Sunday, and upon request, excuse these individuals from all normal duties on such days. When individuals are excused from duty, they will be required to make up lost duty time to equal the total duty time required for the week for military personnel of the unit involved.”
A similar change in Army regulations will be announced shortly. The revised version will read as follows: “In those instances where no military requirement prohibits, commanders will excuse from duty personnel who are required by the tenets of their faith to observe certain customs and/or desire to attend religious services on: 1. Sundown preceding Saturday and/or Saturday in the case of members of denominations which observe another weekly holy day; or 2. Weekdays which carry the ecclesiastical obligations of Sunday or which are recognized as having special religious importance.”
No change is deemed necessary in Navy directives as they are considered by Jewish organizations to provide already for religious observance.
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.
