Israeli Rabbi Allows Soldiers with PTSD to Enter Synagogues with Their Service Dogs

Israeli Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, rabbi of the "Har Bracha" settlement and one of the prominent figures of religious Zionism, issued a fatwa described as "unprecedented" ahead of the major Jewish holidays, calling for soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to be allowed to accompany their service dogs inside Jewish synagogues during prayer.

Melamed, author of the series of books "Beneini Halakha", explained that service dogs accompany soldiers around the clock, including during bathing and prayer times, which makes preventing them from entering synagogues an obstacle to these soldiers performing their prayers in congregation. He compared in his fatwa the use of dogs to assist soldiers with PTSD to guide dogs for the blind.

The newspaper "Maariv" quoted the rabbi as saying: "Since hundreds of millions of people raise dogs in their homes, allowing them into the synagogue cannot be considered a great insult. In order to enable the blind and those suffering from PTSD to pray with the congregation, they should be welcomed with their dogs, provided that a space is designated for them at the back of the synagogue to avoid disturbing the worshippers."

However, Melamed emphasized that there is an exception regarding communities whose worshippers are not accustomed to the presence of dogs in places of worship, where bringing them in can be considered "desecration of the sacred" and a source of distraction, and in these cases, the opinions of rabbis who prohibit this can be adhered to.

But the rabbi called on these communities, saying: "It is better to educate the public to empathize with the blind and those suffering from PTSD, and to allow them to enter the synagogue with their dogs, especially since the perception of dogs is changing over time to become more acceptable and respectful."