1.
I want to apologize to Tzipi Yudkin. No, not for the terrible injustice done to her and her family in the shameful saga surrounding the text of the tombstone of Ben Yisrael (Yiddish!). It is not me who should ask for forgiveness, forgiveness and atonement for that, but the security establishment.
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The apology I ask is for the fact that when Tzipi Yudkin went on the campaign trail, I was skeptical. I saw her talking, shouting, using very harsh words, even threatening, and I thought it was a losing battle.
After all, this is a matter of government policy (outrageous, of course. And we'll get to that later), which has been implemented for generations, perhaps since the days of Ben-Gurion, with implications for the commemoration of thousands of fallen. There's no way a small woman, or even a large one, can defeat the system. Who can defeat a country?
Who can? Tzipi Yudkin can.
An ultra-Orthodox woman from a Chabad village who doesn't care about political correctness, who is loyal to her path, who acts out of immense pain, but no less out of Jewish heroism and pride. How sad to think of the thousands of bereaved parents, over the years, who would have liked to write "God avenge his blood" on the grave of their holy son, but it didn't happen. Who has the strength to both mourn and wage a desperate battle against an arbitrary system?
2.
It's been a few days since this story ended, but it's worth dwelling on. This is not a one-off incident, of one victim, one mother, one grave.
First and foremost, it shows the great anxiety of the security establishment about anything related to what is commonly called with disgust "messianism." Because, in fact, what is the problem with the three ancient words "God will avenge his blood"? Revenge? But God is the one who will avenge, not 'La Familia.' And on whom will He avenge? On our murderous enemies who shed the blood of the soldier buried here under her tombstone. That's great, isn't it? So it turns out that the Israel Defense Forces have a problem with this. Blood, revenge, God. Leave us alone.
The struggle to mention the name of the deceased in military cemeteries began in the early days of the state, as mentioned. The Ministry of Defense adopted the secular version written by Berl Katznelson for the fallen of Tel Hai, "Yizkor Am Yisrael," rather than "Yizkor G-d." This version was published in the official book of remembrance for the fallen of the War of Independence.
In an article written by Dr. Ilana Shamir of the Historical Research Documentation Unit at the Defense Ministry, she says: "The text aroused the wrath of the Chief Rabbi of the IDF, Rabbi Shlomo Goren. He claimed that it contained a 'malicious distortion' in that the name of God was omitted from it. 'I would like to request that this page be removed from the book and replaced with the sacred text, because this also severely offends the many parents of our saints-heroes. I removed this page from the book you sent me.'".
3.
In my opinion, today the IDF leadership is much more afraid of mentioning the name of God than in the days of Rabbi Goren. Read the letters of the Chief of Staff. Ask Ofer Winter, may God raise his rank.
And why is the IDF more afraid? Because the name of Heaven is much more present. We all see it in the videos of the fighters, in the prayers, in the songs, in the Torah scrolls, in the tzitzit, in the shofars.
But note: These very moving documents are not released by the IDF spokesman. On the contrary, the IDF spokesman is trying to hide the great spirit of our fighters. A few months ago, he published a photo of fighters from Division 98 at the end of a successful operation in Khan Yunis, blurring the patch that is common these days in the IDF with the word "Messiah" that was on the arm of one of them.
But reality cannot be obscured. The truth emerges from the field through WhatsApp videos filmed by the soldiers, and the entire Israeli people, both in Israel and abroad, are strengthened by the faith and messianic spirit of our fighters (and wait, wait, this is even before a large mass of ultra-Orthodox soldiers entered the IDF).
The Holy One, blessed be He, protects us, so who can do anything to us?
4.
And two more important angles in this seminal story, which are not related to the security establishment but to the great woman who stood opposite her.
The first angle: Tzipi Yudkin is a Haredi woman. In an era when a major part of the incitement and intimidation of the Haredi and the religious deals with the "exclusion of women" and the "story of a handmaid," the people of Israel have seen the strength and power of a Haredi woman. Anyone who is even slightly familiar with the Haredi public has encountered women of this type who "gird their loins with strength.".
I am not going to enter into a discussion right now about the role of women and what feminine power is, whether a career or raising righteous generations is blessed, or both. I am just pointing out that these Tzipi-Yudkin women, who run their families with a high hand, blessed with children (and the world along the way), leave even the greatest feminists, their number one, in the dust. And they do it simply and naturally. Without destroying the Hebrew language with new letters and punctuation marks. And without even calling their husbands "my man.".
And the second angle that touches on Yudkin's identity and is very relevant to the subject is her Chabad. This week marks the 30th anniversary of the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, zt"l. The Rebbe often spoke of the concept of "Gaon Yaakov." That is, to act from a firm, uncompromising, confident stance, even when you do unpopular things. To care for the integrity of the land and not give up even though you have to, to walk with a hat and tzitzit outside in the middle of Manhattan, to offer a Jew you see on the street to put on tefillin.
And of course, the Rebbe taught his followers and followers to be messengers. And a messenger is not just someone who is an official messenger who runs a Chabad house. Mission is consciousness. You can, like Tzipi Yudkin, run a business selling equipment for kindergartens ('Yudka', that's the name of the business, in case you need something), but if Providence puts you in a certain situation, you realize that you are not there by chance, and not there alone, but by duty.
And Yudkin entered this role with all her might, even though she had not been accustomed to the spotlight until that moment. This is her mission now. To fight without compromise for the sacred Jewish concept "God will avenge their blood." First of all for her son, but also for thousands of other fallen, God will avenge their blood.
I'll return for a moment to the point of "Gaon Yaakov," because it's something that I think can be learned from the Chabad members and was very prominent in Yudkin's conduct in the affair. She didn't come to be a hyphen from a friend. She's not a statesman (neither for the better nor for the worse). She didn't want to be loved. She didn't try to be understood by everyone. She didn't seek unity, she sought justice. In general, I know people who formulate their words more delicately than she does. But they don't overcome the injustices of the security establishment, or of any other system.
And maybe I'm writing all this mainly because I wish I, and all of us, would sometimes have the courage to not see eye to eye and simply cry out in the face of injustices and an unimaginable reality. That would be a lifesaver. I wish we would be a little more strict.
5.
After the affair ended in a (complete!) victory for the Yudkin family, Tzipi returned to her private life, to her business, to her large family of children and grandchildren, and of course to her personal bereavement.
But I find myself dreaming that the woman from the village will come back and intervene and sort out more outrageous cases like this, which unfortunately news about us is constantly making us excited. A kind of projectionist who jumps in to address issues that we all face and drive us crazy - but who maintain politeness and, God forbid, don't break the rules: for example, the Minister of Defense's instructions regarding opening fire on murderers who don't officially belong to Hamas. For example, the nutritious menu of the Nuhba terrorists. For example, the funding of the defense of those terrorists. For example, the outrageous release of the director of Shifa Hospital. Do you think she would have let that happen?
Or the recommendation to investigate Ben Gvir for "incitement" because of what he said about the residents of Gaza. Not to mention the humiliating interrogation of the hero of Israel, Saar Ofir, and other heroes who fiercely defended themselves on Simchat Torah and found themselves interrogated by the prosecutor's office. Yes, against Amit Isman, I want Tzipi Yudkin. Head to head.
And the list is long and frustrating. I want it even in the face of the IDF spokesman and his defeatist statements. Tzipi Yudkin knows how to win an idea. And also in the face of Yehuda Fox's political-state speech this week, which focused on settler violence (!). Tzipi will show them what it is. Every commander who entrusted his fate to a Jewish mother knew.
• The column is published in the newspaper 'Bisheva''
