The commander of the IDF delegation that assisted rescue efforts in Surfside, Col. Golan Vach, received an aliyah last Thursday as a baby girl was named after her grandmother Itty Ainsworth, z’l, who was killed in the building collapse.

Vach helped identify Itty and her husband Tzvi, z’l. He later paid a shiva visit to the family and told them that based on the remains, the couple had died on impact and didn’t suffer.

Vacha also participated in the Torah reading and the naming of the baby girl born to the Ainsworths’ son, Dovy, and his wife Sheva, on the day before the building collapsed. Out of gratitude to Vach for locating and identifying their parents, he was given an aliyah.

The baby was named Itty after her grandmother.

“We were honored to have the IDF general responsible for my parents’ search efforts attend the Torah reading and naming ceremony,” Dovy wrote on social media. “It was a powerful moment and Jewish experience to bring a new soul into this world days after one has departed. My daughter should follow in my mother’s ways, connecting deeply with so many around the world in a positive, uplifting, and spiritual way.”

“Thank you Col. Golan Vach and the IDF, who have been critically helpful and comforting through this process. General Vach is a special soul we will never forget.”