from the heart of jerusalem: rabbi binny freedman

We must never forget their sacrifices

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As we approach Yom HaShoah (Holocaust memorial day on 27 Nissan), Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day on 3 Iyar) and Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day on 4 Iyar), Rabbi Freedman recounts a visit by Cheryl Mandel to his Yeshivat Orayta Jerusalem a few years ago.

Cheryl Mandel’s son Daniel was killed on a mission to capture wanted terrorists in Shechem (Nablus) on the day before the eve of Pesach in 2003. He was serving as an officer in the elite recon unit of the Nachal Brigade.

Cheryl was in the kitchen cooking and getting ready for the Seder when the IDF officers showed up at her door with the terrible news. The Seder table was already set, and the next night, having come back from Daniel’s funeral just a few hours before, no one had the heart to remove his place setting, so his chair sat empty, his wine glass unfilled, and Haggadah unopened through a Seder that Daniel’s brother Jonah told me was more like Tisha B’Av than a Pesach Seder.

At the end of her presentation, after answering the boys’ many questions, she told us a story:

At the end of their training period in the Nachal recon unit, they had a “masa mesakem,” or final trek. This 90 kilometers (50 mile) march is one of the most difficult experiences in the Israeli army and is a test of endurance. The soldiers are gradually prepared for this grueling experience from the beginning of their army service. One of the heavier items carried in training is a machine gun known in slang as the “Mag.” The Mag is always given to a large solidly built soldier, as it is very heavy and difficult to carry; as such it also is an honor to carry it. The soldier who carries it has been training with it through his entire army service and is ready to carry it for 90 kilometers.

That day, the particular solider tasked with the Mag was sick, and collapsed a few kilometers into the march. Daniel, who was nearby, immediately ran to his aid when he collapsed, and his commanding officer said to him “Mendel (Daniel’s nickname in the army): Kach et haMag” (take the Mag). 

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