Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Halevy Becomes Tenth Man for Yom Kippur Prayer at Kfar Etzion
A story from the early days of the renewed Kfar Etzion settlement recounts a surprising event on Yom Kippur eve in 1967. Just minutes before the Kol Nidre service, only nine Jewish residents remained in the settlement, facing the prospect of observing the holy day without a minyan, the quorum of ten required for communal prayer. The situation was particularly poignant as the settlers intended to commemorate those who fell defending Kfar Etzion during the 1948 War of Independence.
As the sun began to set, a jeep arrived, and from it emerged Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Halevy. He announced to the astonished residents that he had felt a deep inner need to be with them for Yom Kippur. Halevy, who was not known to be religious, explained that he felt this was the right place for him to be on that particular day.
The story was shared by Rabbi Yehuda Leibman, marking 15 years since the passing of Rabbi Chanan Porat, a key figure in the settlement's re-establishment. Leibman described Porat as a visionary and a man of action who dreamed of and implemented the settlement of the West Bank and all of Israel. He called the story of the tenth man "a special story for Yom Kippur, for the pioneers of the Land of Israel with love."
Leibman recalled that shortly after the Six-Day War in late August 1967, the residents of Kfar Etzion met with Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, seeking official permission to resettle the area. Eshkol, in his characteristic Yiddish-inflected style, initially told them, "Well, little children, if you want to go up and pray, go up and pray." However, a young Chanan Porat insisted, "We are going up to pray and to stay." While Eshkol smiled and called them "big words," the settlers' determination ultimately led to the re-establishment of Kfar Etzion on the ruins of the original settlement.
Leibman concluded by expressing a hope that in contemporary times, Supreme Court justices would return to observing Jewish tradition and connect with the people and the Land of Israel. The story of Justice Halevy completing the minyan at the last moment brought immense emotion and reinforcement to the residents of Kfar Etzion on that Yom Kippur.
