Tommy Lapid
Tommy LapidFlash 90

Members of the burial society that arranged the funeral of former Minister Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, who died in 2008, revealed this week that they said a secret "Kaddish" prayer over his body, despite his son (now MK) Yair Lapid's request that they not do so during the funeral.

The Kaddish prayer is traditionally said over the dead during the funeral and subsequent mourning period.

Tommy Lapid was notorious for his open opposition to all things religious, working tirelessly throughout his distinguished political career to eliminate the influence of Judaism from Israeli public and state affairs.

"It happened when we brought his [Yair Lapid's] father's body to its final resting place," one of the members of the burial society told Yehuda Schlesinger of Israel Hayom, "The only request that Lapid made perfectly clear to us was that no Kaddish be said.

"But there is Jewish law, and according to that law we are prohibited from burying a Jew without saying Kaddish for him. We gathered ten of our own people for a quorum, we went into the room where the body was kept and said Kaddish. That was the solution. Nothing too public, but we couldn't not say Kaddish at all, as this is simply prohibited by Jewish law."

MK Yair Lapid heard about this for the first time this week. Sources close to him claimed that "it doesn't bother him, of course, that people say Kaddish. But regarding this specific instance, his father did request that it not be said, and the commandment to honor one's father is very important to him."