The Yudkin family is fighting with the IDF to get the initials hyd inscribed on their son's grave.
Yisrael Yudkin, 22 years old from Kfar Chabad, was killed in battle in Gaza.
The family wants the traditional hyd on the grave. HYD stands for Hashem Yikom Damo - God should avenge his blood. The IDF is saying, sorry we don't do that. You can't put that on the top of his grave but you can put it on the side stone.
I'm not sure how but somehow this has also turned into a haredi/non-haredi issue, with many taking a side referencing this as being an issue on which to be considerate of haredim, if we want them to draft. I'm not sure why it is a haredi issue, let alone to be specifically on top rather than the side. Are haredim the only people who request hyd on graves?
The IDF is a bureaucracy. Probably the largest of all Israeli bureaucratic organizations, alongside Bituach Leumi. The IDF has its rules and guidelines. For whatever reason they don't put hyd on the grave, on top, and want uniform grave memorials. That's the way it is.
Honestly, this doesn't seem like a major issue, one that needs to be fought about, in either direction. I don't know why the IDF doesn't put hyd on (though I understand why as a bureaucracy they refuse to change the policy) and I don't know why the lot needs to fight it and be the exception.. If you want a military burial, follow the rules of the military burial. If you want to write your own epitaph on the grave, do a private burial.
In the end, I think this will be a trigger for the long run to push the idf to change policy-this policy and probably others, to be considered more culturally sensitive. Especially as the IDF will get more religious in the coming years...
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