Rabbi Goren:
A few days before the outbreak of the Six-Day War, when the entire country was tremendously tense, the army on high alert, citizens digging trenches and fortifying their homes, with the outcome of the conflict still unknown,
the chief military rabbi, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, stood before members of the Jewish community in Australia. He had arrived there on a mission but was compelled to leave upon hearing about the situation in Israel, not before addressing them.
Facing Jews in the diaspora who were deeply concerned about the fate of their brethren in Israel, Rabbi Goren made a promise:
“We will yet merit to liberate Jerusalem and return to the holy places. I will yet merit to pray at the Western Wall.”
How did he know this would happen?
Rabbi Goren didn’t know—it was something he felt. From then on, wherever he went, whether addressing soldiers or civilians, he made sure to describe the vision of us returning to the Western Wall.
His wish, the wish of generations past, came true. Rabbi Goren was among the first to reach the Western Wall, where he blew the shofar, blessed the return to the city and the Wall, and commemorated those who had fallen in the battle leading to that moment.
Today, we mark thirty years since Rabbi Goren’s passing, but his words, spoken upon reaching the Wall, will continue to echo and embrace our soldiers wherever they may be:
“The Divine Presence, which has never departed from the Western Wall, now leads the armies of Israel as a pillar of fire, lighting our path to victory and surrounding us with clouds of glory before the entire nation and world…”
