Young Israel of Bal Harbour hosted Lt. Colonel Rabbi Yedidiya Atlas for Shabbat Parshat Korach on Friday evening, June 19 and Saturday, June 20. Atlas gave three lectures on religion and a Jewish army in the Land of Israel. His lectures were delivered with a combination of passion and humor.
Rabbi Atlas is a fifth-generation American who made aliyah to Israel at age 17. A graduate of Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav in Jerusalem, he received his rabbinical ordination from former Israeli chief rabbi and Mercaz HaRav rosh yeshiva Rav Avraham Shapira, zt”l, and from the Beit Din HaGadol in Jerusalem, among others.
Atlas volunteered for the IDF during the 1973 Yom Kipper War. He was with the Golani Brigade in Lebanon in the 1978 Litani Operation and served in the Arazim Regional Brigade in Lebanon during the early 1980s. From 1998 to 2003 he served as rabbi of the Binyamin Brigade.
Rabbi Atlas has received many awards and commendations in his years with the IDF, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 for the many projects he developed to encourage and engage Jewish soldiers.
In September 2013 he was appointed head rabbi of the IDF Central Command and is currently in charge of special projects for the IDF chief rabbinate.
Young Israel of Bal Harbor is located at 9592 Harding Avenue in Surfside. Call 305-866-0203 for more information about its many projects, programs, and speakers.