“Nitush, please give me the strength to ensure this,” cried Nitai Stern’s mother following his levaya. Nitai was 21 when he fell in Gaza, one of the victims of mistaken IDF tank fire. He was buried on Tuesday in Yerushalayim’s Har Herzl Military Cemetery.
Nitai dreamed of serving in Golani, and despite being assigned to the Combat Engineering Corps, he was unrelenting and finally made his way to the Golani Brigade.
His last conversation with his parents was on motzei Shabbos, telling them “I love you and I will be out of touch for a few days.
His parents, Sarah and Reuven were in their Pisgat Ze’ev, Jerusalem home when the officers came to notify them that their son, a Golani Brigade soldier, fell in the line of duty. The Sterns announced there no anger or malice towards the tank crew that fired at the building.
Nitai was a student in Yeshiva Bnei Chayil in Jerusalem. He is survived by parents and four siblings.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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Dear Sarah and Reuven Stern,
I am a Jew who lives in New York.
I have traveled to Israel many, many times.
My family members have done the same.
And our friends.
Collectively, we Americans have come to Eretz Yisrael:
For Summer vacations.
And Winter break.
For Wedding Celebrations.
And Bar Mitzvahs.
and even just for a Bris.
For Chanuka
And Purim
And Pesach
And Shavuous
And Succos.
We all have learned Torah there.
And daavened there.
We traveled to Eretz Yisrael, even though there was an intifada going on.
Because we felt safe.
Wherever we went, there were soldiers, watching, carefully. Making sure there was no danger. We have waited at times while boys like Nitai had to check our bags at the Kotel.
To check our siddurim.
to check our tefillin bags.
to make sure there were no bombs.
Please forgive us if we did not say thank you to them. If we did not smile, and understand what they were doing for us.
When our sons are under the Chupah, we will have to remember Nitai, who never got there. When we break the glass, in memory of the churban… we will have to remember, the memory of your Nitai Stern. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu give you the strength to go forward.
Hamakom Yenachem eschem B’soch Aveilei Zion V’yeruashalayim.
A yid who cares, in New York