Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem of Jerusalem, Rabbi Aryeh Stern, spoke to Israel National News - Arutz Sheva during an event for religious Zionist rabbis held at Heichal Shlomo Synagogue in Jerusalem, about the importance of the unity of the nation - especially this year.
Firstly, Rabbi Stern referred to the special significance of the event, with the participation of rabbis from all types of religious Zionism. "The meaning is that there are rabbis and there are students who listen to them and there are hasidim who follow their path and everything together is important because the way of Torah is to find many ways to be in the service of G-d, and in the end, we are all united in G-d's love and faith. This is very much reflected in the holiday of Sukkot and the importance of unity."
However, he does not deny the fact that there are difficult feelings that make unity seem distant, and even more so after the violence on Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv. "It is clear that these feelings, in one way or another, exist in everyone. There is a difficult atmosphere after the disruptions to the Yom Kippur prayers in Dizengoff Square, but we are believers that situations can be fixed and we ourselves are commanded to look for ways to fix them. We need to pay more attention to the issue of unity in Israel and create more encounters between sectors."
"The important thing is to turn to everyone - even after such acts - and also to make concessions in order to maintain unity. Rabbi Kook, for example, was very passionate about his beliefs, and he overcame his natural inclination, in order to love everyone; the effect of this is ultimately much more beneficial," Rabbi Stern concluded.