Defense officials plan to recommend that the Yizkor text
that was the subject of a dispute last year be officially included in
Memorial Day services at military cemeteries.
The dispute centered around whether the words "Yizkor Elohim" ("May God
remember" ) or "Yizkor Am Yisrael" ("May the nation of Israel remember"
) should be used. In the end, the second version won out.
The decision to officially recommend the text was made after the text -
either version - was omitted from many Memorial Day ceremonies this
year, apparently due to confusion after last year's debate.
Though the Yizkor text for fallen soldiers is modeled after the
traditional Yizkor memorial prayer, it is not a prayer, but a text
penned by Labor Zionist leader Berl Katznelson in the 1920s. It was
never a required element in military memorial services, though it was
read at many services.
Last year a debate erupted over a version recited in military
cemeteries, which began with "Yizkor Elohim," although Katznelson's
original version began with "Yizkor Am Yisrael." The change, made after
the Six-Day War by IDF Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren, raised no complaints
until last year, when a secular bereaved mother raised the issue and the
media picked up on it.
A committee appointed by Chief of Staff Benny Gantz ruled in August
that the original version beginning with "Yizkor Am Yisrael" be used.
But instead the text was dropped from many of this year's memorial
services, to the consternation of many bereaved families, who filed
complaints with the IDF.
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