Religious Jew's Beard Prevents Him from Becoming an Army Chaplain

Rules are Rules
by Adam Kredo

Washington Jewish Week

12.20.10 - 10:30 am

WASHINGTON -- Menachem Stern's bushy black beard is at the center of a federal court case.

Stern, 29, a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi from Brooklyn, N.Y., filed suit recently against the U.S. Army saying that a no-beard restriction violates his religious freedom.

In January 2009, Stern had applied to become a chaplain in the Army, which has been historically short on Jewish spiritual leaders.

That June, his application was accepted, according to a lawsuit filed Dec. 8 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., with one condition: He must shave his beard to comport with Army regulations prohibiting facial hair.