Rabbis and Rebbetzins from the religious Zionism movement came to visit the civilian headquarters of the 'Brothers in Arms' organization. During the tour, which was organized at the initiative of Knesset member Matan Kahana, the rabbis received an overview of the activities of the 'Brothers in Arms' civilian service since the outbreak of the war.
Rabbi Benni Kalmanson, one of the founders of the Otniel Hesder yeshiva, whose son, the late Elhanan was killed while rescuing the residents of Kibbutz Be'eri, said at the meeting: "I am full of admiration for your activity, it feels great. It is important to mobilize to correct the story. I want to sit with my friends and start expressing remorse for not acting properly. I think you should also express remorse. If we don't have this conversation and go on a common path, I have a fear that it will be worse here."
Eyal Naveh, one of the leaders of 'Brothers in Arms', said: "The people of Israel are uniting, the Defense Forces are an iron fist, now is the time for leadership that can unite the people. The arrival of the religious Zionist rabbis to 'Brothers in Arms' is the call that we are all brothers and today only broad agreement and understanding of the fears and needs of the other side are the flag that stands before us. We will no longer allow any leadership to tear us apart from the inside, today we understand that the healing is also found 'below', in a better society - whose owners are its people."
MK Matan Kahana, who initiated the meeting, said: "Every citizen of Israel should ask himself: what do I intend to do differently so that after the war things will not look the way they did and what price I am willing to pay for that. If everyone only says what others need to change, we will very quickly return to the same bad place we were in before."
Rabbi Eitan Eisman, head of yeshiva and ulpanot of the Zviya network, whose grandchildren, Noam and Yishai Slotki, fell in the battle near Alumim on the Black Sabbath, said: "This meeting changed a lot for me in the harsh image I had of 'Brothers in Arms'. The hatred I had broke me completely, I don't understand how I felt the forces that came to attack us? We married your children, we lived together, what are you afraid of? That we will put veils on your heads? Now I see a completely different face, we want to reach out. We are educators, we have established institutions, we will reach out and be together."
Gigi Levi-Weiss from the Hi-Tech headquarters emphasized at the meeting: "The risk of leaving ununited is greater than it seems. We will defeat the external enemy, the internal enemy is dangerous and we will have to make difficult decisions. Whoever does not lead from unity cannot lead this nation, it is time to agree on game rules."
Rabbi David Pandel, head of the Hesder yeshiva in Sderot, emphasized: "As a resident of Sderot, I want to say that your acts of kindness are amazing and I invite you to my Hesder yeshiva. And yet - a political agenda must not be ignored, so I am suspicious. Democracy is not just that you rule, it's not just that the government is yours."
Among the participants in the meeting
Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, one of the oldest rabbis of religious Zionism, Rabbi of the city of Ramat Gan.
Rabbi Zalman Melamed, head of the Beit El Hesder yeshiva.
Rebbetzin Shulamit Melamed.
Rabbi Eitan Eisman, head of Yeshivas and Ulpanot of Zviya.
Rabbi Re'em Hacohen, head of Yeshivat Otniel.
Rabbi David Pandel, head of the Hesder yeshiva in Sderot.
Rabbi Baruch Gigi, one of the leaders of the Mount Etzion yeshiva.
Rabbi Uri Sharki, rabbi of the Ezra youth movement, chairman of Brit Olam - the global center for Bnei Noah.
Rabbi Benni Kalmanson, one of the founders of the Hesder yeshiva in Otniel.
Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, head of the Orot Shaul Hesder yeshiva in Tel Aviv.
Rebbetzin Esti Rosenberg, head of the Migdal Oz midrasha.
Rebbetzin Dr. Leah Wiesel, Head of the Midrasha at Bar Ilan University.
Rabbi Danny Mirvis, the global Mizrahi movement.
