(VIDEO & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

On Wednesday, 18 Tammuz, 21 chareidi paratroopers conducted their first skydive after finishing a parachuting course in the Palmachim airbase in central Israel. All 21 skydived successfully. The chareidi soldiers are members of the second round of recruitment of the Chareidi Chetz Platoon from 202nd Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade.

Rabbis from the Netzach Yehuda Foundation, accompanying the chareidi paratroopers, said that “with all the grueling training the soldiers underwent, they kept to their strict prayer schedule and Torah study. It goes without saying, of course, that the new platoon observes halacha strictly. They are busy with what is called a ‘drop’ from the sky but we see them as actually ‘going up’ spiritually.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)