Documentation of the prayers: taken at the end of the holiday by a gentile. Credit: www.hespress
Rabbi Pinto's surprising answer to the world champion | Many hundreds participated in Yom Kippur prayers at the home of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto in the Moroccan capital Rabat.
At the end of Yom Kippur, after the Havdalah ceremony, Rabbi Pinto gave a Torah lesson during which questions were welcomed. One of those who asked questions was the Israeli martial arts champion Haim Gozali, who had prayed the Yom Kippur prayers with Rabbi Pinto.
Gozali, who is known as a right-wing activist and a trendsetter on social media, informed Rabbi Pinto about the riot that took place in Tel Aviv in the midst of Yom Kippur, in the minyan held in Dizengoff Square. Opponents of the legal reform stopped the prayer because of the partition dividing between men and women.
Gozali told Rabbi Pinto: "I am fighting with ‘Jewish anti-Semites’ online, because they stopped the prayers in Tel Aviv."
Rabbi Pinto’s reply surprised him: "Don't argue about it, tzaddik! What for? How will it help? Will it make them stop? No. It will make them continue. When there is a wound - if you scratch it, it itches more. They are nebichs. They are also good people. All kinds of things entered their minds."
Rabbi Pinto further told Gozali: "You know what? People like you are guilty of everything. Why are you fighting with them? What are you arguing with them? They are nebichs, they grew up like gentiles. Do not fight with anyone. Just show them love and respect. Answer them nicely."
He explained: "They stopped the prayer this year? If we fight about it - they will continue to be a nuisance. If we ignore it - next year they won't go out of their house. We need to act wisely. Don't fight. Now the evil tendency to start a controversy started. Just let it pass."
"If we knew how to answer them nicely - in two years they themselves will come to pray," Rabbi Pinto concluded his words to the martial arts champion.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel