Yahrzeit for van den Bergh
THERE were tears of joy at the graveside of the only Jewish soldier in the Beersheba cemetery on Tuesday, after an unlikely set of events led rabbis to realise it was his yahrzeit and hold an ad-hoc service.
THERE were tears of joy at the graveside of the only Jewish soldier in the Beersheba cemetery on Tuesday, after an unlikely set of events led rabbis to realise it was his yahrzeit and hold an ad-hoc service.
British soldier Seymour Jacob van den Bergh died fighting in Palestine on the 11th of Cheshvan in 1917, the same Hebrew date of this week’s anniversary.
And after a story of twists and turns, a relation stood by the graveside and paid tribute to him, recited a memorial prayer and Kaddish, and then took part in a spontaneous singing of Am Yisrael Chai.
Australian Defence Force chaplain Rabbi Dovid Gutnick had been due to speak and say a prayer at the main commemoration event, but when he arrived at the cemetery he found there was a large tent covering most of the site to protect attendees from the sun.
“Once I saw the tent, I thought it was going to make it tricky if there are Jewish people buried there because I am a Cohen,” Rabbi Gutnick said.
Rabbi Gutnick realised that he couldn’t go under the tent to participate in the service, but having discovered the coincidence of van den Bergh’s yahrzeit, he was able to organise other rabbis to say prayers on the anniversary of the Jewish soldier’s death.
After the main commemoration, Sydney’s Rabbi Yossi Friedman, Adam Segal, who made aliyah from Melbourne last year and Martin van den Bergh, an English rabbi who is also a relation of the deceased, went to the grave and said the memorial prayer and Kaddish.
“Life has a way of teaching you that there is a story that is far bigger than your own little self-interest,” Rabbi Gutnick said.
“This was a reminder that there is something much bigger going on.
“This was one of those wonderful life journeys that took me to where I needed to be.”
The service was a last-minute affair, attended by about 40 people including Israeli policemen, and took place as music blasted from the speakers in the cemetery, as it was not part of the official program.
Van den Bergh said, “It felt fabulous, very emotional.”
Segal contacted van den Bergh after hearing from the Australian rabbis about the yahrzeit discovery.
“It was quite a blessing that he arrived from London yesterday,” said Segal.
“He had an invitation but wasn’t going to come today, yet based on our conversation he came and it was a very special thing. It really was. It was incredible.”
He added: “It’s wonderful to be able to come together on the 100th yahrzeit and recite the Kaddish – I don’t know that Kaddish has ever been recited at this grave before.”
While Rabbi Gutnick might have lost the opportunity to say a prayer at the main service, he did deliver a prayer in Hebrew at the Australian-only service early on Tuesday evening.
Rabbi Gutnick spoke at the Park of the Australian Soldier in the presence of Malcolm Turnbull, Bill Shorten and other dignitaries.
The event ended with a barbecue, organised by the Pratt Foundation, which donated money to establish the park in 2008.
“It’s been a remarkable day,” Jeanne Pratt told The AJN. “Beersheba has been an important cause for us.”
JOSHUA LEVI AND NATHAN JEFFAY
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