During the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Reb Ephraim Mol, a Lubavitcher chassid, was in an Israeli army unit that had reached the Egyptian side of the Suez Canal. Tension was high, and there was a rumor that the Egyptians would employ chemical weapons against the Israelis. Together with the rumor came an order from the Israeli High Command that the soldiers shave their beards so that their gas masks would remain airtight in the event of a chemical attack.

Reb Ephraim was reluctant to shave his beard. “It’s only a rumor,” he thought. He went to discuss the matter with the unit’s commander. The officer respected his soldier’s commitment to halachic issues, but he also knew that an order is an order. He allowed him several hours respite, and took the question to a higher authority. After debating, the officers agreed that Ephraim should pose the question to the Rebbe, and promised to abide by the Rebbe’s advice.

From the front, Reb Ephraim contacted friends in Jerusalem, who forwarded his question to the Rebbe’s office. The answer he received was direct: “The Egyptians will not use chemical weapons and there is no need to touch your beard. However, ‘one must not rely on miracles,’1 so keep a pair of scissors in your pocket, just in case.”

The Rebbe also added a historical precedent. In World War II, the British had conscripted many Sikhs into their army. The Sikhs also do not shave for religious reasons. Despite the threat of chemical warfare, the British Army did not require the Sikhs to touch their beards.

In the following days, Reb Ephraim was constantly surrounded by other soldiers asking what the Rebbe had said. And indeed, chemical warfare was not employed on the Egyptian front during the Yom Kippur War.