Rabbis in the North: We told you so

Present situation said direct result of disengagement folly.

By MATTHEW WAGNER
"We told you so" was the message relayed by rabbis in the North as they provided moral and spiritual support to the victims of Hizbullah missile fire. One of them was of Kiryat Motzkin Rabbi David Druckman, who was indicted by Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz for incitement because he warned that unilateral disengagement from Gaza would cause a bloodbath. "Mazuz insists that I retract my comments as a condition for being pardoned," said Druckman, whose town is a suburb Haifa. "I find it difficult to do now." Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu called the Hizbullah offensive a direct result of disengagement. "The logical outcome of our desertion first from Lebanon then from Gaza and Northern Samaria is what is going on right now," said Eliyahu. Kiryat Shmona Rabbi Tzfania Drori echoed his colleagues' sentiments, saying the present situation is punishment for the "disengagement folly." "But we must look on the positive side," said Drori. "Look at how we have all banded together after so many months of dissent and antagonism. These attacks have caused tremendous damage and casualties. But they have also revived our national soul." Meanwhile, Chief Rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar drove to the North to visit towns pummeled by bombings. The chief rabbis led two hours of prayers in Safed's Hesder Yeshiva. Later they joined the funeral procession of Yehudit Itzkovitch, 58, and her grandson Omer Pesahov, seven, of Meron. Metzger said in his eulogy that Itzkovitch would undoubtedly beseech Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai on our behalf. According to Jewish tradition, Bar-Yochai, who lived in Meron in the second century CE, wrote the Zohar (The Book of Splendor), the mystical text on creation, holy emanation and afterlife. "Yehudit will tell him to help us overcome our enemies," said Metzger in a telephone conversation after the funeral. Metzger said he was devastated by the extent of damage caused to Safed by the bombing. "One of the missiles made a direct hit on the city's rabbinic court," said Metzger. "It landed in the middle of the court room, completely destroying the place. We prayed to God thanking Him for not letting it happen on a weekday when there are people inside." Metzger refrained from saying whether he agreed with the rabbis who blamed the disengagement for triggering the present attack.