Rabbi Eli Sadan speaks his mind
Feted but controversial Rabbi Eli Sadan explains his views on homosexuality, the role of women in society and the home, and his views on IDF enlistment for young religious women
Rabbi Eli Sadan is truly the father of the pre-military academy institutions. Through founding the Bnei David pre-military academy in Eli he established a model for preparing youth for the army, and at the same time created an institution that is renowned for its high number of graduates who enlist to combat units in the IDF, including many who go to elite units and go on to become officers.
But Sadan and Bnei David have come under extreme scrutiny in recent months due to comments made by senior members of the educational staff, including Sadan himself, which have generated consternation in the secular community and in the army.
In one speech, academy cofounder Rabbi Yigal Levenstein described homosexuals as perverts, while in another he disparaged young women who enlist in the army. In a lesson given three years ago, which recently came to light, Sadan made comments about the role of women in society and the home, which were condemned as chauvinistic and even misogynistic.
To many, these comments and others were totally incommensurate with the values of modern Israeli society and the IDF in particular, where so many of Bnei David’s graduates enlist, fight, command and advance in rank and influence.
What underpins these remarks is a strongly conservative ideology regarding family life, and a belief that the only path to happiness in life is through a heterosexual marriage resulting in children and grandchildren. This is combined with an obsessive conviction that homosexuals are hopelessly miserable and should seek to become straight.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post in the offices of Bnei David, Sadan argued in defense of his positions that there is a cultural war in Israel being waged by LGBT