President Isaac Herzog referenced recent clashes at prayer services in Tel Aviv on Friday, calling for Israelis to put their differences aside and act with respect and love during the Hakafot (dances with the Torah) on Simchat Torah which begins on Friday evening.
“Even as children in the non-religious Tel Avivian neighborhood we celebrated the joyous and unifying tradition of Hakafot with mutual respect, as did thousands upon thousands of others like us throughout the country,” wrote Herzog on X (formerly Twitter). “These are real, honest and intimate events of the love of Israel, which have become the inheritance of all sections of the nation.”
“This year, during the Tishrei holidays, we experienced with great pain a number of incidents of prayer being prevented; Events that seared the heart and were unimaginable and unacceptable.”
“In preparation for the Hakafot that we will observe tonight and tomorrow all over the country, I am personally addressing you, citizens of Israel, to each and every one of you, and calling on you to act with consideration, inclusion, respect, and love for Israel during the Hakafot and in general, and to allow us all, together, the feeling of the holiday and joy. No provocations, no disturbances, no fights.”
“Let's decide - enough raising your voice, enough raising your hands! In the joy of the Torah we must put our differences aside and return to the pure and blessed joy of the beginning of the new year and with it the round of reading the weekly parshas.”