Rav Goren Zt"l

Since the 24th of Cheshvan is the Yhartzeit of Rav Shlomo Goren Zt"l, i wanted to relate a small historical story regarding his role in the defense of Jerusalem in the war of Independence.

Rav Herzog, upon a request from the commanders of the Army, sent Rav Goren to the Rabbinic leaders of Meah Shearim and the surrounding communities in order to convince them that the Yeshiva boys should work on Shabbat to dig tunnels against invading tanks. Rav Goren convinced almost all of the Rabbis (an exception was the Brisker Rav who refused to help the war effort in any way and labeled the secular Zionist as rodfim) and almost all of the yeshiva boys in Meah Shearim were recruited to the war effort (working even on Shabbat). The results of this tunnel were of note. The Sunday following Shabbat the tanks attacked. 2 tanks flipped over due to the tunnels and the rest retreated.