by Rabbi Yair Hoffman
Two years ago, I was mesader kiddushin in Eretz Yisroel for a medical student. He is now a doctor, and an officer in the IDF. He recently attended a funeral at the Mt. Herzl Military Cemetary and this is what he wrote:
Dvir, a 21 year old soldier in Golani’s 51 battalion, was among the first to fall in the start of the war. He was the eldest of six siblings and a lone soldier. He loved to play the piano and to sing. He was the glue that held the family together and brought energy and laughter to their home.
Dvir’s sister said the siblings would decide whether or not to come home that Shabbat based on whether Dvir was going to be there. His youngest sister said he was her best friend in the world.
Dvir insisted, despite physical setbacks, to become a fighter in the IDF. He said he wanted to be part of something greater, and he wanted to connect to the heart of our nation and homeland and to the legacy of all the Jewish heroes who came before him.
When his family got up to speak at the levaya, there were, of course, tears. But there was also hope. The family was cracked but not broken.
Dvir’s mother stood in front her son’s grave. She thanked Hashem for the 21 years that they had had with him. She told her son how proud she was of him.
Dvir’s father stood up and spoke of the strength of our people, the strength of Dvir, and how, his name refers to the holiest part of the Beis haMikdash, Dvir went up as a sacrifice to Hashem, so that we may all live. Here was a family with so much faith and love, there is no doubt they will come out of this horror stronger than ever.
I will never forget Dvir. He shall always inspire me to be a better Jew, He shall inspire me to appreciate the land that he and thousands of others gave to me with their hearts and souls.
Notes can be forwarded to the IDF officer through [email protected]
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One Response
Hi my name is Gila bensusan,
Two years ago I was in israel for a gap year, one night I had to get back for curfew and I took the last bus that took me in the direction to my campus givat Washington, however the bus was stopping at Ashdod and I didn’t know where to get off and what to do, I don’t speak Hebrew well and was a bit helpless so I called my madricha who told the bus driver to let me know when to get off at the stop closest to my campus, dvir lisha was the boy who told me what stop to get off bc he was getting off at it to, when I got off he asked me where I’m trying to get to and I let him know to which he responded that’s very far how are you getting there, I didn’t know. In the end his brother was coming to this bus stop and he offered to take me to my campus, he went out of his way to make me feel safe by making sure I got home safely.
Yesterday I happened to scroll past an Instagram post of fallen soldiers in this current war, I recognised the photo however his name want written and so I did a bit of digging, I always remembered his name was Dvir, I found another Instagram account of fallen soldiers and this time with their name written next to their pictures and so i went back to our messages on WhatsApp and saw that it was him.
I knew his for less than an hour and never forgot how he helped me.