Safed chief rabbi: Pray for destruction of Iran nuclear program

The Safed chief rabbi called for people to pray for the destruction of Iran's nuclear program.

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu attends to the funeral of Rabbi Elazar Mordechai Koenig in Safed on December 31, 2018. (photo credit: DAVID COHEN/FLASH 90)
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu attends to the funeral of Rabbi Elazar Mordechai Koenig in Safed on December 31, 2018.
(photo credit: DAVID COHEN/FLASH 90)

Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu called for people to pray for the destruction of the Iranian nuclear program in a YouTube video on Thursday.

Eliyahu starts off the video, part of a Daily Halacha (Jewish Law) series, by stating that it is a commandment in the Torah to pray when there is a need or difficulty.

"We know that now the talks in Vienna on the Iranian nuclear [program] exploded," said the rabbi. "Now we need there to be courage, heroism and of course the help of Heaven and success for Israel to destroy the entire Iranian nuclear [program], like [Menahem] Begin did in Iraq, like they did in Syria. Netanyahu also needed to do this, but he did not have the courage, he did not have the strength, they scared him. Now is the time."

"We are not the prime minister. We have to pray," added Eliyahu, recommending that people have the destruction of the nuclear program in mind in various parts of the daily prayers and that in the Shma Koleinu section of the Shemona Esrei prayer, people should add a special prayer that God should uproot and destroy "those who want to continue what Amalek wanted to do."

Amalek is the name of a nation that in the Torah tried to destroy the Jewish people, leading to a commandment for the Jews to "erase the memory" of Amalek.

IDF F-35s deployed for large-scale drill in Italy, June, 2021 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
IDF F-35s deployed for large-scale drill in Italy, June, 2021 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The rabbi additionally called for people to say Psalms on Shabbat in this regard.