A hachnasas Sefer Torah was held in the office of IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz for a special Sefer, the Sefer carried by Rabbi Shlomo Goren as he approached the Kosel as it was being liberated during the June 1967 Six Day War.

Taking part in the event were members of the Goren and Shapira families along with officials from the Defense Ministry, the IDF Rabbinate, IDF Education Corps, and rabbonim and public officials.

The Sefer Torah was donated in the past by the family of Baruch Shapira Z”L and it was used by the IDF Chief Rabbi. The Sefer was at the historic moment when the Kosel was liberated from Jordanian occupation. The Sefer is now housed in a special Aaron Kodesh that bears the inscription;

Translation of inscription:

Eliezer and Pesya Shapira arrived in Israel in 1295 in the shadow of the pogrom that struck their family. They understood the only proper response was to establish their family in the nation that belongs to the Jewish People and has Hebrew as its national language. Baruch, their son, volunteered in his youth in the Etzel followed by service in the British Army during WWII. Upon his return he entered the Palmach and was on the front lines during the War of Independence. Private Baruch Asher (Bouzla) Shapira z”l fell in these battles on his way to Yerushalayim.

In 1948 Eliezer and Pesya donated the Sefer Torah to the IDF to perpetuate the memory of the eldest son, Baruch.

“The Sefer Torah was carried by Major-General Shlomo Goren ZT”L, the first IDF Chief Rabbi and founder of the IDF Rabbinate in many events that are part of the history of the IDF and the State of Israel; all the wars and many operations as IDF Chief Rabbi and Chief Rabbi of Israel. The Sefer Torah received international notoriety for being the first on Har Habayis and at the Kosel following the liberation. Rabbi Goren carried this Sefer Torah during what war earning historic significance and a place of honor in our collective memory and legacy of honor and heroism, of Am Yisrael in its land”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Photos: IDF Spokesman)