Faced with the refusal to include Hy”d, the Yudkin family decided to leave the tombstone blank
IN the middle of an existential war and a societal clash around military service, the inscription on one matzeivah has sparked a storm that highlights the gulf between the IDF and the chareidi values of some of its soldiers. The case that ignited this controversy is that of Captain Yisrael Yudkin, a deputy company commander in the religious Netzach Yehuda battalion from Kfar Chabad, who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip on May 22. Following his death, the Defense Ministry proposed to the Yudkin family that he be buried in the Mount Herzl military cemetery, something they explained was considered an honor. However, the family’s hopes were dashed by the proposal’s outcome.
“At first, there was a back-and-forth about what to put on the tombstone,” Tzipi Yudkin, Israel’s mother, told Mishpacha. “The problem arose when we requested Hy”d, as has been the custom for centuries when a Jew is killed at the hand our enemies. They refused.”
Tzipi explained that the refusal did not come from the IDF — “they always maintained a good dialogue with us and respected us” — but from the Defense Ministry. “There was no one to talk to, they treated me very disrespectfully.”
Faced with the refusal to include Hy”d, the Yudkin family decided to leave the tombstone blank, a situation that painfully persists.
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