Page 107 - Tzurba M'Rabanan Volume1

ןנברמ אברוצ םיוגה תוקוח תוכלה · 105

Standing for the Siren in Israel on

Yom HaShoah and Yom HaZikaron

In Israel, a siren is sounded throughout the country every year on the days of Yom HaShoah and Yom
HaZikaron to remember those who perished in the Holocaust (Yom HaShoah) and soldiers and victims of
terror who have fallen in the various wars and battles of the State of Israel (Yom HaZikaron). During the time
the siren is sounded, the custom is to stop what one is doing, stand, and remain silent during the duration
of the siren in tribute to the fallen. In some religious circles, this has become a contentious issue, as some
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believe that standing silently during the siren is a violation of chukot hagoyim. Based on the sources we
have seen, it would seem that the Maharik/Rema would permit it, since there is certainly a logical reason for
such a practice, while the Gra might forbid it, as it may not be a practice that Jews would have initiated on
their own had it not been drawn from non‑Jewish sources. Against this background, modern poskim have
offered their halachic opinion on the matter.
Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook felt that not only is it not a violation of chukot hagoyim to stand silently for the siren,
but is even a mitzva to honor the fallen.

p Rav Tzvi Yehuda Kook, Techumin ת"וש ,ג ךרכ | ןימוחת . 33
Volume 3, p. 388 388 ׳מע ,קוק ה"יצרהמ

Standing during the siren for the fallen soldiers of the IDF הב שי ,ל"הצ יללחל הריפצה ןמזב הדימעה
is a holy mitzva of remembering the honor of the holy ones ראובמו .םישודקה דובכ ןורכז לש השודק הווצמ
and it is explained in the holy words of the Baalei Tosafot תכסמב תופסותה ילעב וניתובר ירבד תשודקב
in Masechet Avoda Zara (11a) that not everything that )"יאו" ליחתמה רוביד ,א דומע אי ףד( הרז הדובע
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is done by the gentiles has the status of “do not follow וב שי םייוגה ןיב רדוסמש המ לכ אלש ,שוריפב
their statutes,” unless there is nonsense of idol worship. וב שי םא אלא ,"וכלת אל םהיתוקוחב" םושמ
How much more so when this distinction is clear in a very
public manner. תחא לעו .םייוגה לש הרז‑הדובע ילבה םושמ
.םיברב הזמ השירפה תרכינ רשאכ ,המכו המכ

11. Concerning the origins of this practice, see www.haaretz.com/Jewish/.premium‑sirens‑on‑holocaust‑remembrance‑day‑why‑1.5350114.
[Addition of the editors of the English edition]
12. This is a reference to the comment of Tosafot partially cited above in source #12. [Addition of the editors of the English edition]

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