Rambo HaKohen?

Parshat Ki Tetze (דברים כ) describes the halakhah of the כהן משוח למלחמה, the kohen who is anointed and appointed for war. This morning on the מסילת ישרים train minyan - I witnessed a modern day of כהן משוח למלחמה. A new breed of battle priest who is poised to lead Israel into the 21st Century and beyond. A religious leader who knows that you have to be cruel to be kind in the right measure. That's right, I am talking about a gun-toting kohen. But that's not all, this is a fully armed kohen who is blessing the Jewish people at the same time!

All kidding aside - it certainly caused me to pause and think, when I saw this 20 year old kohen trying to decide what he should do with his rifle as he got ready for Birkat Kohanim. Ultimately he laid the rifle at his feet and then raised his hands to bless the minyan. It is all part of my Religious Zionist dream: to daven shacharit on the train, and to have birkat kohanim by an armed soldier. I think Ben Gurion and the Netziv (or any other Zionist gadol) would have been proud.