"There is great holiness to standing during the memorial siren... It is a mitzvah [religious obligation] to stand during the siren, as it shows gratefulness to - and appreciation for - the holy victims." So writes Rabbi David Lachyani, Rabbi of the Ziv Hospital in Tzfat. Rabbi Lachyani explained to Arutz-7 today that there are those who feel that standing silently during the siren is a non-Jewish custom,
"but in fact it is rooted in the Torah, when Aharon 'stood in silence" [Leviticus 10,3] when two of his sons died. Aharon teaches that the proper Jewish reaction to loss and death is silence, and therefore this is what we should do today as well. The minute-long siren, or two minutes, unites all of Israel in one action and one thought. I do not know of any other action that unites us to this extent."
Rabbi Lachyani said that he could understand the hesitations of those who fear this relatively new custom, or who fear that it is a mis-use of Torah-study time - but has constructive ideas on the topic:
"First of all, however, everyone can think his own thoughts during that minute, including a chapter of Psalms. But what we can truly do is to fill this minute with content. We know that the Ari Zal [the revered Kabbalist teacher of 16th-century Safed] said that one should say, before the daily prayers, that he accepts upon himself to fulfill the commandment of loving his fellow neighbor. We can do the same here, and I in fact wrote up a small prayer that I say before the siren. The prayer states that I commit to take upon myself, during the coming minute of silence, the Biblical commandments of loving my neighbor, of remembering what Amalek did, of remembering 'the L-rd your G-d, [who] gives you the power to act...'
"...and there are other commandments that we can observe during those two minutes: that of not speaking ill of anyone - just imagine that at that minute no one in Israel is speaking bad of anyone! - and the commandment of accepting G-d's justice, and of not separating ourselves from the public... We are always searching for an opportunity for all of us to unite in something very positive - and here it is!"
"but in fact it is rooted in the Torah, when Aharon 'stood in silence" [Leviticus 10,3] when two of his sons died. Aharon teaches that the proper Jewish reaction to loss and death is silence, and therefore this is what we should do today as well. The minute-long siren, or two minutes, unites all of Israel in one action and one thought. I do not know of any other action that unites us to this extent."
Rabbi Lachyani said that he could understand the hesitations of those who fear this relatively new custom, or who fear that it is a mis-use of Torah-study time - but has constructive ideas on the topic:
"First of all, however, everyone can think his own thoughts during that minute, including a chapter of Psalms. But what we can truly do is to fill this minute with content. We know that the Ari Zal [the revered Kabbalist teacher of 16th-century Safed] said that one should say, before the daily prayers, that he accepts upon himself to fulfill the commandment of loving his fellow neighbor. We can do the same here, and I in fact wrote up a small prayer that I say before the siren. The prayer states that I commit to take upon myself, during the coming minute of silence, the Biblical commandments of loving my neighbor, of remembering what Amalek did, of remembering 'the L-rd your G-d, [who] gives you the power to act...'
"...and there are other commandments that we can observe during those two minutes: that of not speaking ill of anyone - just imagine that at that minute no one in Israel is speaking bad of anyone! - and the commandment of accepting G-d's justice, and of not separating ourselves from the public... We are always searching for an opportunity for all of us to unite in something very positive - and here it is!"