Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon took time out of his busy schedule on Sunday, in order to don the ritual teffilin, pray and write the first letter in a new Torah scroll dedicated to IDF soldiers.

Ya’alon hosted in his office a delegation of rabbis and Chabad emissaries and he was given the honor of writing the Hebrew letter “bet, the first letter in the word Bereisheet, which begins the Torah.

"We are confident that every soldier on behalf of whom you will write a letter in this special Torah scroll will feel safer. According to Jewish tradition, the letters of the Torah have a unique quality for defense and security, and we felt an obligation to turn this channel for the spiritual safety of soldiers," said Rabbi Yosef Aharonov, the chairman of the Chabad Youth Organization in Israel.

Photo: Shalom Lavi