In the heart of one neighborhood in the Gaza Strip, between battles, fighters brought a Torah scroll into a temporary synagogue last week. The warriors danced with the book, prayed, and then returned to fight.
In the Iron Sword War there are quite a few precedents, but one of the most surprising is actually the issue of synagogues. One by one, members of the military rabbinate are erecting temporary synagogues to serve the fighters during the fighting. In private homes, a few meters from the sea, and even in government buildings – all are built in accordance with the demands of the fighters and officers in the field. Thus, since the beginning of the war, members of the military rabbinate of the 36th Division, which operates in the northern and central Gaza Strip, have built at least ten synagogues that operated for a limited period of time and served the fighters.
Fighters praying in a synagogue in Gaza,
Little normality
A source in the division says that this is a drop of normalcy in the heart of the combat zone: "The 36th Division built synagogues in the defenders, whether they were buildings where the forces stayed and built a synagogue with tables and a holy ark or even a tent in the shield that became a synagogue. There was even a synagogue at the entrance to a terror tunnel that was discovered after Hamas documented the site. There was an explosion, and the tefillin flew off and were not injured. At the University of Gaza, a synagogue with Torah classes was opened. We will also open a synagogue near Gaza's dock, which is a clear symbol of government," the source said.
"These are synagogues that were built on the fly, so they don't exist today. There were quite a few temporary and small synagogues, but there were at least ten permanent synagogues with tables and three prayers a day. This is the first time there are synagogues at the front. There are many things that happened for the first time in this war. The mass of the demand for prayers, for errands, for heritage lessons. There is a very special Torah scroll that passes through Gaza and is written by the soldiers in the field letter-by-letter.
IDF activity in the Gaza Strip, photo: IDF Spokesperson
"It gives strength to the fighters. They feel at home in such a remote place, that they have prayers and Kabbalat Shabbat and a Torah scroll. In war, people are looking for moments of routine, something familiar from home. Prayers are important. One of the battalion rabbis said that the fighters sang songs of the Third Supper, and one of the soldiers said that it gave him a lot of strength, because it reminds him of his father's house and family." The most sought-after things in terms of Torah objects are, of course, tzitzits, which are also sought after by female soldiers and non-Jews because they mark the soldiers as Israelis. In addition, books of Psalms and a prayer document for war are quite in demand.
Surprisingly, almost all of the military rabbinate's technological developments have run out due to high demand, the military rabbinate says. The most notable development that has sold out is the code that allows doors to be opened on Shabbat. "Masses of religious and traditional people who serve in rear positions and do not want to violate Shabbat ask for them," the rabbinate says.
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