#0202_A_View_From_Haredi_Jerusalem
A member of the faction council: "The soldiers are holy, they came to save us".
Rabbi Azriel Auerbach [1], a member of the faction council [2], told his student three years ago that, "the soldiers on Mount Herzl [3] are holy, they came to save you".
The student referred to the well known story about Rabbi Azriel's father, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach [4]. According to the story, a student came to ask him about a trip to the ‘tombs of the righteous’ [5]. The Rabbi told him that instead of going to the ‘tombs of the righteous’, he should go pray on Mount Herzl. The story is raised every year on Memorial Day [6]. Rabbi Azriel Auerbach denies the famous story saying that it is not suited to his father, but still notes and emphasizes that IDF soldiers are indeed holy.
Behadrei Hardedim
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0202 Editor's Notes:
[1] Rabbi Azriel Auerbach (b.1937) is a prominent Rabbi and a member of the Jerusalem faction (see below). He is the son of the famous Haredi Rabbi and leader Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (see below) and the brother of the recently deceased Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, who founded and led the Jerusalem faction.
[2] The Jerusalem Faction: A group of Jerusalem based Haredim founded by the late Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach and his associates. This minority of Haredim vociferously oppose the law drafting Haredim to serve in the I.D.F. and refuse to co-operate with the army or state officials in any way. They are known to carry out protests expressing their extreme views.
[3] Mount Hertzl is Israel’s national military cemetery.
[4] Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (1910-1995) was one of the most prominent Rabbis of the 20th century.
[5] There is a Jewish custom for one to pray to God at the graves of Rabbis and sages.
[6] Israel’s national Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror takes place each year, the day before Israel’s Independence Day. As the Haredi relationship with the state of Israel and the army is complicated and diverse, so is the Haredi approach to this day. The Haredi approach to Memorial Day varies from direct acknowledgment and participation, through silent ignorance, to extreme opposition.
https://bit.ly/2JWy5Ny
#Jerusalem_Faction #Auerbach #Memorial_Day
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