Ahead of Lag BaOmer, Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef addressed the security dangers in the north of the country and the attempts by certain groups to bypass police blockades and reach Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's tomb in Meron, contrary to the guidelines.
He clarified that these actions are not a matter of piety, but a serious violation of Torah teachings. He strongly rejected claims that ascending the mountain under fire is "mesirut nefesh" (self-sacrifice) for the sake of the tzadik.
According to him, the Torah commands "and you shall live by them" - not that one should die because of them. He stressed that when security experts unanimously determine there is danger, the halachic obligation is to heed them.
"A person must not put himself in danger claiming 'God will protect me.' What is that supposed to be? What kind of claim is that - people have lost their senses over these matters. They are not thinking logically... In the Shulchan Aruch, when a doctor determines that a patient must eat on Yom Kippur, he must follow the doctor's ruling. So will he then say he is observant of the commandments...? Me, for the sake of Yom Kippur... If something happens to this man, not only will he not die sanctifying God's name but he will lose his life, plain and simple," warned the Rabbi.
"All the more so here: when there is a larger group of people and, heaven forbid, something happens, first there is a greater chance they will be harmed as I said, and second the public will not be able to escape and they will trample one another and the disaster will return again; therefore one who guards his life should distance himself from this, not to ascend to Meron under any circumstances," he concluded.