Thursday, August 4, 2011

Its Official: May Israel Remember

Ynet is reporting that the army has decided that the official "Yizkor" text should read “The Nation of Israel will remember its sons and daughters," and not “May G-d remember His sons and daughters”. You can read the background Here. 


The real surprise here is that just about everyone was expecting them to reach a compromise text, where both Israel and God appear. This lack of a compromise could be interpreted in several different ways:


1. The religious establishment really didn't care that much about the issue. This is highly likely, since in the months of following this story I never once saw any religious writer argue the matter passionately.


2. This could be a counter reaction to the perceived rise of religious influence in the army. 


3. Alternatively, this might be a symptom of the relative weakness of the current Head of the IDF Rabbanut, compared to his  charismatic predecessor. There is a strong faction in the army which feels the rabbanut has to be "put back in its place" after its emerging strength under the former Chief Rabbi.  

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