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Joy in the Peretz Family. Or-Hadash Uriel – the eldest son of the fallen IDF Maj. Eliraz Peretz, who is named after his uncle, the late Lt. Uriel Peretz, who was also killed in action – last week celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in the shul named after his uncle in Jerusalem. The Peretz family members and many friends attended the moving ceremony alongside with his grandmother Miriam and his mother Shlomit.
The tefilin which Or-Hadash had received once belonged to his father. Or’s uncle, Elyasaf, the younger brother of Eliraz, was the one who helped him to put the tefilin on for the first time in his life. The Peretz family had also prepared a very special gift. Eliraz’s military backpack with a number of souvenirs inside: Golani beret, a Tanach, a flag of Israel, a siddur and even a letter which Eliraz had written to his wife when their first son was born.
Another surprise prepared for Or-Hadash was a film which involved different people from all over the country speaking about his father, Eliraz. The film was screened during the event. “This is not just a backpack. It is a backpack of life.”, said Miriam Peretz, the grandmother of Or-Hadash, “every time your life will become difficult and you will miss your dad – you should open this bag and everything you may find inside will give you strength.”
Eliraz Peretz, served as an officer and a deputy battalion commander in the Golani reconnaissance unit. He decided to join a combat unit despite the fact that his big brother Lt. Uriel Peretz who was killed in southern Lebanon in 1998. Eliraz himself fell in a clash with terrorists in Gaza in 2010. He left behind his wife Shlomit and four children. Or is the eldest grandson of Miriam Peretz. Since the death of her two sons she became a symbol of bravery and steadfastness.
“It is a jumble of emotions. On the one hand – a great joy because Or-Hadash Uriel came to celebrate a bar mitzvah, and on the other – a great sadness because his father, Eliraz, was not with him. But anyone who came here today did it for the only purpose – to make my grandson happy. When I saw him today, he reminded me of his father, Eliraz. We have seen today, that all the people of Israel came to celebrate and rejoice with us” said Miriam after the ceremony.
Marc Belzberg, the Chairman of OneFamily, which helps the Peretz family for years, has said: “It is a great privilege to accompany this great family, to rejoice and to cry with them at the bar mitzvah day of Or-Hadash, the eldest son of Eliraz and Shlomit. The Peretz’s story is known to every Israeli. Or-Hadash was at the age of six when his father fell and knows him mostly from his own memories and the memories of his family. No one has ever impressed me like Eliraz, of whom I learned today from the memories of his beloved ones.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo: Sarah Levin, OneFamily)
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One Response
Mazal tov to the son and a nephew of holy martyrs. Mazal tov to his grandmother, the mother of these two holy men that gave their live helping insure that עם ישראל stays in ארץ ישראל