Israeli Government Committee Decides to Keep Hashem Out of IDF Yizkor Prayer

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idf-soldier1The Israeli ministerial committee on ceremonies and symbols said this week that the wording of the Yizkor for fallen soldiers should return to its original version at state ceremonies. The prayer recited at the official state ceremony on Har Herzl that marks the end of Memorial Day and the start of the Independence Day will begin “Yizkor Am Yisrael” (“May the people of Israel remember” ), not “Yizkor Elokim” (“May God remember” ), committee head MK Stas Misezhnikov (Yisrael Beiteinu ) said.

The Yizkor controversy has been raging for two months, ever since the secretariat of the Israel Defense Forces’ high command sent a letter to journalist Menashe Raz saying that “Yizkor Elokim” was the mandatory wording at army ceremonies.

That sparked an outcry by many bereaved parents, prompting IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz to appoint a special committee to look into the matter and decide on an official wording for IDF ceremonies.

The committee is due to submit its conclusions soon, and will apparently recommend a return to “Yizkor Am Yisrael.”

This wording, written by Berl Katznelson following the battle of Tel Chai in 1920, was used throughout the state’s early decades. In 1963, the IDF officially changed the wording to “Yizkor Elokim,” which is the opening phrase of the traditional tefillah.

But it only began enforcing this rule recently, under pressure from military rabbis.

The ministerial committee’s decision came in response to a query by MK Einat Wilf (Atzmaut) to Misezhnikov, the tourism minister.

“As per the government’s decision,” Misezhnikov wrote back this week, “the original version of the prayer (‘Yizkor Am Yisrael‘ ) … has been read at this ceremony from 1955 until today. Therefore, for now, I have no intention of changing this custom, or of raising the matter for discussion in the ministerial committee.”

In actual fact, the wording “Yizkor Elokim” has been used for the last two years.

{Haaretz/Matzav.com Newscenter}


6 COMMENTS

  1. Ok, please no comments without knowing the fact.

    And that last sentence is so absurd I’m not going to respond to it.

    But it is not a prayer. As was written in the article, it was written by Berl Katznelson. He was writing poetically. There is nothing wrong with the words yizkor am yisrael.

    And the real caveat is that during these ceremonies kadish is apparently said. Yes, Hashem’s name is mentioned in these ceremonies.

    People are making an issue out of a non-issue.

  2. #2 I’ll tell you what more can be expected. ALL people can have respect for soldiers who risk their lifes so that we can live and learn (their motivation behind it is irrelevant as is our view towards the Medinah in general). Frum people showing respect for soldiers wheither it is by davening for their safety

  3. Dear Yaakov Poster no4

    It is an issue! but is much more deeper that just the word Elokim in yizkor!

    It is that systematicly The State Of Israel and the Israeli society in general is removing The Elokim from their lifes…..even Nicaragua’s money says “in GD we trust”
    Hashem Yirachem.

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