Controversy At Funeral Of Fallen Soldier

Shoshi Greenfeld, the sister of Yehuda Greenfeld who one of the 12 reservists killed by a katushya rocket near Kfar Giladi, stirred up a controversy at her brother's funeral yesterday.

She requested that IDF Chief Rabbi Yisrael Weiss leave the funeral, citing his invovlement in the destruction of Gush Katif. In her eulogy of her brother she urged soldiers not to take part in the current war since Olmert sees it as a means of furthering his "convergence" policy.

Arutz Sheva has a video of the eulogy. Here are some excerpts:

“Yehuda'leh, my dear, loving, innocent brother, with your large azure eyes, your sweet disposition and your delicate soul. I will yet tell the story of your life, of your beauty. But at this time, I am choosing to tell the story of your death.

“In our final telephone conversation I said to you: 'Don't go to be cannon fodder. Olmert said that the operation is a preparation for his ‘Realignment’ Plan [to destroy most of the Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria unilaterally, as was done in Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron one year ago -ed.]. Come home. You have a historic opportunity to refuse, so that the pogrom of Gush Katif will not return upon your own home in Michmas [the Binyamin-region community where Yehuda lived -ed.].

"Come home!' I said to you, 'so that the retreats from Lebanon and from Gush Katif that brought us all this death, will end. So that the pogromchiks in the black uniforms that reminded our grandmother of Auschwitz - those who banished us from Gush Katif and cracked our skulls in Amona - won't arrive at your sweet home in Michmas as well, after the fighting ends with some sham cease-fire, and throw you and your family out of your home, and the remains of your garden be transformed into a training ground for murderers – leading to more murder and more killing.'

My opinion on the subject is similar to that of the Council of Yesha Rabbis:

The Council of Yesha Rabbis announced its objection to the treatment of former IDF Chief Rabbi Yisrael Weiss at the funeral of Yehuda Greenfeld Monday, during which the bereaved sister demanded Weiss leave the funeral due to his overseeing the Disengagement.

The council said that although Weiss ignored the call of the “Gadol HaDor Rabbi Avraham Shapira, “it is still forbidden to publicly humiliate him, as was done yesterday, despite the expulsion from Gush Katif.”

The statement said that although the family could not be held responsible for its actions in a time of great pain, the event constituted “a denigration of the honor of a Torah scholar, the IDF chief rabbi, who was the IDF's emissary at the funeral of the holy martyr yesterday.”