Yesterday on a visit to Tel Hashomer Medical Center in Israel, I met some of Israel’s bravest young men in a remarkable and powerful visit that I will always remember. These young men are all at the prime of their lives in their early twenties or a little bit older and were all severely injured in last Summer’s bitter war in Gaza. Some were injured while fighting the terrorists who were shooting missiles at Israeli cities and some were injured while destroying tunnels that had been burrowed to attack Israeli communities.
This visit was incredible in so many ways, and below I would like to share a few thoughts about what made this so powerful and inspiring.
It’s not every day that you go through a building which is full of young men at the prime of their lives who are all fighting a new battle as they struggle to recover through a combination of physiotherapy, exercise, sheer willpower and positive thoughts, and amazing support of family and friends and friends.
You might expect a mournful atmosphere, full of pain and sadness which of course there is an element of, but what stands out in a striking way, is the unrelenting smiles or these young men who despite having often lost so much, including limbs, speech, paralysis and more, just smile and exude the most beautiful personalities in the world. Their faith in G-d, Israel, and a strong belief that what they did was all 1000% worth it, and a focus on making life as special as possible and moving forward are all an incredible part of who they are.
One moving moment occurred when we met a soldier whose parents had originally been called to say goodbye to him as he was brought in to the hospital and was close to death. Today, this young man has made tremendous strides forward and G-d willing he will continue to do so. We spent time talking to him and his mother and although he cannot talk to us, he nevertheless understood 100% of the whole conversation and dynamic, and communicates with smiles and eye communication in such a powerful way that you almost know exactly what he is feeling and communicating.
His smile and faith, despite dealing with so much will stay with me forever, as well the sheer dedication of his mother who has not left his side for 10 months!!!!
What was most moving was when we took a picture together with another young soldier who was paralyzed and after we showed him the picture, he motioned to us until we understood that we should go and show the picture to his friend too. Here was a young man who is stuck in the wheelchair and cannot talk, and yet what is he thinking about, his young friend!
One after another, we met these amazing men, including high ranking officers who were seriously injured, a young Bedouin Golani soldier, and many other determined young men, some who are even determined to return to their units. Along the way, we met their mothers and wives who are by their sides in an unrelenting way. G-d bless these mothers and spouses, I am sure they are often what helped their loved ones pull through.
It was a painful visit, but we walked out inspired beyond what we could have ever imagined, and happy knowing that we were able to say thank you from Boston’s Jewish Community, share a small gift with each soldier, and let them know that the whole Jewish world loves them and thinks about them.
So many soldiers and their mothers, shared with us their deep thanks that 10 months after the war is over, we are still thinking about them and that the global Jewish community remembers them.
One common theme that we heard from so many of them and their parents, is keep praying for us, so many of them are alive thanks to miracles and told us that they feel that it is only thanks to the prayers of the Jewish people worldwide, that they survived, and asked us to make sure that we keep doing it for them and for their friends.
Before we left, we met the recently elected head of Israel’s Gaza Border Communities, a man who lost both of his legs in a Mortar attack last summer, and has made a comeback in an amazing way!
Mi Keamcha Yisroel!
Visit to Sedorot
The visit to Tel Hashomer was coordinated by Chabad Terror Victims Association, an amazing program that is run by Rabbi Menachem Kutner of Chabad, which has personal relationships with some 3000 Israeli families who suffered a loss or injury in a terror attack in the last 10 years. At Tel Hashomer, each soldier that my brother and myself visited with Rabbi Kutner, was already a personal friend of Rabbi Kutner through his ongoing visits and support to them and their families.
Our next visit was to the town of Sedorot in Israel’s south, less than 3 miles from Gaza. This town has been hit by thousands of rockets from Gaza and has suffered its serious share of hardship and terror. We went to visit a family with several children who unfortunately have fallen on very hard times financially along with having an older son still dealing with the after effects of a rocket attack last summer. One of their son’s is celebrating his Bar Mitzvah in a few weeks, and they don’t have any money to do anything for their son or even to buy Tefillin. Chabad of Sudbury along with generous friends in Sudbury and beyond helped sponsor the boy’s Tefillin along with some other gifts for the other kids in the family and we were able to personally deliver it to the boy and his family.
Along with some friends of the family and the local Chabad Rabbi we entered the house and danced with the boy the most elated and joyful dancing and then we presented him with his gifts which he was overjoyed about. His huge smile of appreciating didn’t leave his face for the entire visit and the parents couldn’t express their thanks enough to know that others are thinking about them and that Jewish communities across the ocean, keep their town and its families in mind.
While we were in Sedorot, we saw the tremendous amount of Bomb shelters at every bus stop, in school playgrounds, in stores, in homes and even the world’s only train station that is also fully protected from rockets. Driving by homes, we saw shrapnel damage, old rockets even sticking out of roofs of houses, and then at a stop at the local police station, a collection of hundreds of rockets that were fired at their city.
The locals have an amazing stamina and bright attitude despite thE economic hardships that have resulted. Just yesterday, they had a rocket attack that landed nearby.
It was also beautiful to speak to the Chabad Rabbi in Sedorot and hear about the growth in the community and amazing to see the amount of new construction going on as hundreds of young couples continue to move to the town.
Follow Up
I have friended some of the soldiers that we met and plan on staying in touch with them and continuing to visit them on future trips to Israel. My dream would be to bring a group of 6 – 8 such soldiers on a vacation to Boston where they could be hosted by our community. If you would like help out with that, please let us know. The soldiers would love to do this and this has been done by 14 other Chabad communities in the States so far.
I would like to give a tremendous thanks to Chabad Terror Victims Project and Rabbi Menachem Kutner for facilitating the visits to the soldiers and the visit to Sedorot which proved to be an unforgetabble experience. G-d willing in the future, I would like to do such visits each time I am on a visit to Israel until the time when G-d willing everyone will be better and we will have no more wars or terror.
Please visit CTVP on Facebook and give them a like at https://www.facebook.com/ChabadsTerrorVictimsProject and if would like to consider donating to this important cause, visit their website at http://www.ctvp.org/ and make a donation online.
Bart Nuboer wrote...