The campaign has registered significant demand (illustration)
The campaign has registered significant demand (illustration)Uri Lenz/Flash 90

In an attempt to fight the perennial media "demonization" of haredim by portraying them as insensitively ignoring the Memorial Day sirens, a new haredi campaign has been launched entitled "Quiet, we're remembering."

The campaign was initiated by Rabbi Ze'ev Roitman, who told Arutz Sheva that it is meant to connect all Jews in Israel by having them stand in silence for the siren. Some haredim have refused to stand silent for the sirens, saying that it is not a "Jewish custom," which is a point the campaign seeks to address.

"We wanted ahead of Memorial Day to do something to connect everyone in remembering the fallen, to give something that connects everyone through the Jewish tradition," Rabbi Roitman said.

In order to achieve that goal, the rabbi has instituted a scriptural passage that can provide a way for haredim to pay their respects to those who fell defending the Jewish state while staying completely within traditional Jewish customs.

"In the two minutes of the siren, people will quietly say the formulation which includes excerpts from the Psalms, Mishna and otiot neshama," said the rabbi, the last being arrangements of scripture with the first letters of each line spelling out the word "soul" in  memory of the departed.

Rabbi Roitman told Arutz Sheva that the passages are being distributed in hundreds of thousands of copies.

"We've received positive feedback from lots of places, including non-religious people and of course haredim," he said. "We've arrived at shopping centers, stores and schools and the demand is still great, we've printed up till now hundreds of thousands of copies."

"We want that during the time of the siren everyone will say something quietly, which will give content and meaning to the silence," the rabbi concluded.