Talmidim of the Meir Harel Hesder Yeshiva in Modi’in initiated a special project for Memorial Day, locating the kevarim of fallen chareidi soldiers in cemeteries and visiting those kevarim this year, placing neiros neshama and reciting Tehillim. They looked for kevarim of fallen chareidim who have no one to recite kaddish or tefilos on their behalf.
It is explained that for many chareidi families, the decision was made to bury their fallen in a regular cemetery and not a military cemetery and these kevarim are often not visited on Memorial Day. Official state ceremonies on Memorial Day are only carried out in military cemeteries. Hence, these hesder talmidim decided to visit those kevarim in the civilian cemeteries, kevarim they feel that will not be visited on Memorial Day.
Because these kevarim are spread around the country, hesder talmidim from Ofakim and Kiryat Ono are assisting. The talmidim light candles, recite Tehillim and then kaddish.
Rosh Yeshivat Meir Harel, Rabbi (Colonel, reserves) Eliezer Shenwald explains he views the day as a holy one, one of the holy days on the calendar of the State of Israel and feels those who fell in defense of the land should be remembered as the enemy does not differentiate from which sector a soldier came from. Hence the rav feels his talmidim should visit kevarim of the fallen chareidim.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
6 Responses
I am NOT attacking them for doing this chesed, however from a Yiddisha aspect doesn’t it make more sense to keep track of yahrzeits and say kaddish then?
I received this email today. it comes from a verifiable source, and it’s good enough for me. I hope fellow readers accept these words with love and sensitivity, and spread the message around;
“To Daven at a Tzaddik’s Kever” – Inspirational words by Rabbi Yechiel Spero
Transcript:
Hello everybody and welcome to Inspiration Daily. I want to share with you a beautiful story, a story about R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, and almost every story about R’ Shlomo Zalman is a beautiful story because he was a beautiful person. The story is that there was a bachur learning in R’ Shlomo Zalman’s yeshiva, yeshivas Kol Torah. He came over to R’ Shlomo Zalman and asked him, “Would I be able to have reshus to travel up north, to travel by the kevarim of the tzadikim”. Of course, up north there are many famous tzadikim where one can daven; Rambam, Arizal, and so many others. R’ Shlomo Zalman said, “You don’t have to go up north to daven, better you should learn”. So he said to him, “Isn’t there an inyan to daven at the kevarim of tzadikim?” R’ Shlomo Zalman said, “You don’t have to go up north to daven by the kevarim of tzadikim. When I want to daven by a tzadik’s kever, I go to a place where the soldiers who were neherag al kiddush Hashem, and I daven by their kevarim. So if you want to daven by kevarim of tzadikim, you can go there”.
This very beautiful story told over by R’ Lau about R’ Shlomo Zalman gives us a little bit of inspiration on a day when the many kedoshim who died in battle, we commemorate their memory on this day of Yom Hazikaron. If I can just add, quite possible, maybe even probable that some of our listeners and readers do not come from circles where this day is commemorated. But I don’t think there will be anyone who would disagree that today we shouldn’t be “noseh b’ol eem chaveiro”. There are people who lost their husbands, fathers, and or children today. They are b’tzaar, so we should shed a tear for them as well. Have a great day and a great rest of your week.
I think the photo reflecting the view that Nachal Charedi and other Tzahal programs for Chareidim are, by definition, spiritual dangers — a view which is greatly debated and is NOT the topic of the article — was in poor taste.
Dearest YWN. I am horrified to see this nauseating picture you chose for the article. Do you lack even the slightest bit of sensitivity?? Is today Purim!? (For those who don’t understand – the picture displayed above is a fake tombstone ‘in memory of the religious soldiers who sold their soul to the devil by joining the army) you should be terribly ashamed. Today is a day when thousands of broken yidden in Eretz Yisrael cry bitter tears remembering their family members who were killed in terror attacks or while defending Eretz Yisrael and you put up this sickening political tombstone to mock the blood that was spilled by Yidden who were Moser Nefesh Al Kiddush Hashem!!! Who cares what your personal opinion is of the draft law??
#4- Well said. I sincerely hope that a YWN moderator will respond and, hopefully, apologize.
The photo is not correctly matched to the article. As to the fake tombstone being sickening, why aren’t people allowed to express their opinion that a chareidi ought not join the army? You disagree, fine. There are plenty of other disagreements between different groups with different opinions. Some people think chareidim in the army is sickening. Are they not entitled to their opinion? If you don’t like that opinion, don’t patronize the website that promotes it. BTW, the fake tombstone does not mock the blood that was spilled by Yidden who were Moser nefesh al kiddush Hashem. It bemoans the charedi young men who enticed away from the Beis Hamedrash to join the army. I hope people still have a right to freedom of speech.
Incidentally, this website is looking and sounding more and more every day like Israel National News. That is the site owner’s right if that’s what he wants. Or if it’s what the advertisers want. But at least be forthcoming about it without ambiguity or deception (“Yeshiva” World News?). Some articles that have appeared over the past few days reflect an unabashed national religious outlook. In addition, every article mentioning what the chareidim do or don’t do for holocaust day, memorial day, independence day, is portrayed with an undertone of mockery, derision, disdain, disgust, etc. depicting the chareidi tzibbur as negatively as possible. Again, if the owner and advertisers of YWN wish this — it’s their right. But it’s not chareidi. So, stop the pretenses and ‘fess up to being a national religious website, that may also include some news items about the chareidi tzibbur and lifestyle (INN website also does this; most of the “articles” there portray chareidim negatively). I too have a right to my opinion (which is not even mine, but the opinion of my rabbeim); I hope YWN will evince enough intellectual honesty to publish this comment. Thank you.