[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

MK (Yesh Atid) Rabbi Shai Piron begins with a story from the Holocaust, and how his grandmother survived and merited building a family. Rabbi Piron quotes Rabbi Jonathan Sachs’ statement that there is a word which does not have an equivalent in Hebrew, and that word is “tragedy”.

After highlighting the tragedy of the Holocaust, directly linking to the roots of his past, he speaks of how his family built a future in Eretz Yisrael. He mentions his father comes from Egypt and was a major personality in the Cairo Jewish community with a connection to Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita from those days.

He speaks of how his father, who was present in Knesset, became a “chiloni mehadrin” and how as children they found themselves traveling in a car to shul on Shabbos. Rabbi Piron explains that when he made his decision to lead a life of adherence to Torah and mitzvos, his parents accepted it with smiles and open arms, without any objections.

“Last Shabbos I found myself at a table with Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and his brother Naftali Lavi Lau, and once again I saw the profound connection between the people and the Promised Land.” He continues to share the stories he heard reflecting back to the Lau brothers and their miraculous escape from Dachau.

Piron quotes the Ramban and how he views living in Eretz Yisrael a mitzvah, one he believes in. He laments the loss of Torah values, and the need of redefining religion and state, and now, is the time. “One wishing to defend religion using yesterday’s tools endangers Yiddishkheit.”

Education is the key to the future. Despite the commitment by many teachers, we are falling behind and we must restore the People of the Book to its rightful place. He laments the reality in which many children are not given the proper opportunity to acquire the necessary skills to advance.

Piron calls for an all-encompassing curriculum containing the basics for all sectors in society without exception.

“Yesterday was 9 Adar, the day of the Machlokes between Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel, a machlokes L’Shem Shomayim but eventually led to tragedy and the Shulchan Aruch marks it a day of fasting. I don’t want to end disagreement, but it must be L’Shem Shomayim.”

He thanks the “Yesh Atid family” and Yair Lapid, for presenting an opportunity to redefine the meaning of being Israeli. Rav Piron ends with a perek Tehillim.

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(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)