Rabbi Dr. Benny Lau
Rabbi Dr. Benny LauMeir Sela

Rabbi Dr. Benny Lau, the rabbi of the Ramban congregation in Jerusalem and head of the 'Bible 929' program, will speak at the memorial for the late former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at Ranin Square Saturday night.

The memorial will be organized this year by the Zionist Union party, after the private organizers claimed they were unable to raise enough funds to hold the ceremony themselves.

Rabbi Lau spoke with Army Radio about his decision to address the memorial for Rabin. "I don't feel any compulsion to go as the token representative of the knitted kippa community. Rather, (I am going) in the hope that we can produce something new in a different (tone of) language. The current discourse bothers me a lot. We are a diverse community with many forms of faith and many different opinions."

"We are allowed to go once a year to the square where they tried to destroy the state and murdered the Prime Minister.

"We have to stand up and say this one thing: this is our home, and we are fighting over that home. We can't give in to the schisms, the hatred, the violence of those who seek to silence and divide us. We will not let them destroy our home."

Rabbi Lau said that he was not affiliated with the Zionist Union, but he applauded Isaac Herzog's decision to save the rally at the last minute. "When Buji Herzog saw that the rally was falling apart he stepped up and said that there will be a rally, and I applaud him for for that."

Rabbi Lau said that Israeli politicians and leaders from across the spectrum should attend the memorial. "I believe that Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked should be there, along with Agudat Israel. My hope is that the people from Kedumim, Elkana, Ofra, and Beit El (communities in Judea and Samaria, ed.) will come with their children to stand next to the 'blue shirts' (left-wing and secular people associated with upscale Tel Aviv) to say "Yes. We serve together, struggle together, and live together." The purpose of this rally is to say 'we live together."