The current war has allowed the IDF to make use of some of its most recent and impressive technological innovations, including the Arrow 2 anti-ballistic missile and the Eitan armored fighting vehicle. But the latest gizmo has come out of the military rabbinate, and is designed for prayer in the battlefield. It is, JNS reports,
“a portable holy ark containing a Torah scroll that army rabbis designed to be worn like a backpack and which can be converted into a small podium, or bimah,” on which the scroll can be read.
“When it comes to transporting a Torah scroll, an ark is necessary to prevent damage from humidity,” said Colonel Rabbi Shoham Orkabi, the head of the operational department of the military rabbinate. . . . Prior to the design of the portable holy ark, troops transported Torah scrolls in receptacles that were neither comfortable to carry nor waterproof, Orkabi added.
The case has short legs that allow it to be placed on the ground without getting water, mud, or dirt on the case’s body. The legs are also important to avoid placing the Torah scroll on the ground, which is forbidden in Judaism.
More about: IDF, Israeli technology, Prayer, Torah