After years of weighing the two differing versions of the Yizkor prayer, a decision has, finally, been reached. IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz decided that the prayer for fallen IDF soldiers, recited at official funerals and memorial services, will open with the phrase "May God remember" and not "May Am Yisrael remember." Granted, this decision will not win support across the board. This is natural, and as a matter of fact, immediately triggered a debate between the religious camp, which supports the decision, and the secular camp, which opposes it. This echoes a long-standing dispute that has existed within Israeli society since the founding of the state. Back then, tempers flared between the religious and the secular on how to refer to God in the Declaration of Independence, with them eventually settling on "Tzur Yisrael" (the Rock of Israel) as a compromise. As a matter of fact, this debate goes back to the early days of the Zionist settlements. The Yizkor prayer represented the desire to create a new secular-national religion, and it was Berl Katznelson, editor of Davar, who took the traditional Yizkor prayer and updated it in memory of the Tel Hai fighters who lost their lives defending the settlement in the winter of 1920, chief among them Joseph Trumpeldor, So in that sense, Gantz's action is not so revolutionary. Rather, it restores the prayer's original position - namely, as a religious prayer. But it is safe to assume that the outrage among secular people does not stem from this, but rather, from the attempt of religious elements in the military to try to shape it according to Jewish-religious values, which run against secular world view (there will always be someone sure to cite the chief of staff's religious background). Firstly, it is worth mentioning that this decision was made after various polls were conducted, gauging the degree to which Israeli citizens hold religious beliefs. It turns out that 70 percent affirmed their believe in God; this would presumably apply to IDF soldiers as well. As far as these people are concerned, if there is someone who remembers the souls of the dead, it is God. Moreover, reciting "May God remember" does not impose a belief or a demand to change a world view. And just like we have the right to ask a Druze or Muslim soldier to accept the state's anthem and flag, which represent the Jewish nature of the state, even if these symbols supposedly run against their religious beliefs, so too can the secular accept the chief of staff's decision rather than view it as something designed to compromise their identity. However, if they are still uneasy about it, here is a proposed compromise: the meaning of the of the word "God" is a judge, according to the verse in Exodus: "Thou shalt not revile God, nor curse a ruler of thy people (JPS Bible)." Thus, the secular can view the prayer as being directed to a higher moral entity that allegorically represents justice in the world. Namely, we ask that the justice of Jewish national existence, for which these soldiers fought and for which they fell, will be what they are remembered for and what reminds us of this. I would assume there are no disagreements on this.
