An Israeli soldier’s story

January 21, 2009 - 9:50 AM by David · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life, War

IDF soldiers mourning at the funeral of a fallen comrade.

I know… the war is over, and we’re supposed to be getting back to our own unique brand of Israelity. But I ran across one more story which I hope is worthwhile to share in the hopes of providing a glimpse into what a young Israeli kid turned soldier has to cope with on his lightning journey from boy to man.

Our rabbi’s oldest son Didi, an army medic, was part of one of the first units to enter Gaza in Operation Cast Lead, and was lightly injured in the face by shrapnel. In the midst of his four-day hospital stay, Didi’s close friends Nitai and Dagan were killed in one of the war’s regrettable ‘friendly fire’ incidents.

Let’s let Rabbi Schlesinger take over.

After being discharged from the Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, Shira drove him home to Efrat to change into his dress uniform and then to the Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery to take part in Nitai’s and Dagan’s funerals.

I never knew that Nitai’s parents had such a warm kesher (connection) with Didi. At the funeral, Nitai’s parents, aunt and siblings hugged Didi, thanking God that he was only injured. Didi spent all of Tuesday and Wednesday sitting Shiva with the family. He was part of them.

I returned home on Thursday to see Didi for the first time since I had left for the States. I saw my child in pain – my child was bereaving. He could barely smile and wasn’t ready for conversation. He was clearly in a Shiva mode. He had lost his spark….

Om Saturday night we drove up to Pisgat Ze’ev, a very large neighborhood in Jerusalem (the size of a city) to do a Shiva call. As soon as we walked into the Stern home, Reuven, Nitai’s father noticed that Didi had arrived. He called out “Didi, get over here!”.

Didi went over to Reuven, they hugged and cried – and then Reuven let go and said lovingly “Beat it kid, before I break down.”

Shira and I waited among the many Menachamim (consolers) to get close to the family. We finally got close in order to offer our condolences – when Nitai’s parents Reuven and Sarah both looked at us and asked:

“Are you Didi’s parents?”, we answered “yes” and then they both exclaimed together “Mazal Tov – you have received a gift from God – you have a lot to be thankful for.”

We were overwhelmed with a combination of joy and extreme sadness.

As the rabbi’s wife, Shira, wrote soon after Didi’s injury, “Life/reality for these young handsome strong wonderful “boys,” because they are boys/children that have to grow up so fast and so suddenly, is so different here than anywhere in the world. The pride that they feel within the unit with their friends is so intangible, that only they can understand.”

Didi will always carry a small piece of shrapnel around embedded in his cheek as a reminder of the war in Gaza. But he, and all of the boys and men who fought in this war, will likely carry around something else far deeper in their soul.

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