Rabbi Shlomo Aviner and his assistant Rabbi Mordechai Tzion visited soldiers on the front in Syria ‘to strengthen their fighting spirits as reservists of the Military Rabbinate.’
Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, together with his assistant Rabbi Mordechai Tzion, paid a visit on Monday to Tel Kudna in Syria.
“The goal of the special visit to our holy soldiers at Tel Kudna in Syria was to strengthen their fighting spirits as reservists of the Military Rabbinate,” Rabbi Tzion explained to Arutz Sheva-Israel National News.
Rabbi Tzion recounted Rabbi Aviner’s words of encouragement: “The rabbi said that it is not clear from the Torah that the location we were in is considered ‘Syria,’ but it is probably the land of Israel.
“The rabbi also explained the Midrash that says that Jerusalem would extend until the gates of Damascus, saying that our yeshiva, Ateret Yerushalaim, is in the center of Jerusalem and we were on the road to Damascus – it’s an allegory.”
In an interview with Arutz Sheva a month after the war in Gaza began, Rabbi Aviner said that since the war broke out, he had met with soldiers to encourage them and spoke with them about the value of war for the land of Israel as a mitzva that demands sacrifice. He also spoke about the heavenly guidance, stating that “everything is from G-d and he is the one who decides when man will live and when he will die.
“I tell them that it’s not called hardships. Hardships are what happened to me when I was a baby, and they had to hide me so I wouldn’t be brought to a death camp. These are no hardships, but now we have an army, and we are fighting back. We have to explain that the army requires sacrifice, and this is not a new thing.”
