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Parshat Vaetchanan:
Kids Martial Arts
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MARTIAL ARTS
Program
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Deuteronomy
3:23-7:11; Isaiah 40:1-40:26.
Let
me
share with you
from last
year's
vignettes
in
war
Gaza,
which confirm the Divine
assessment of the
He
only
was
struck on his
two of his soldiers
leg, and he and
were
wounded
and knocked unconscious.
uniqueness of our
When the soldiers
regained conscious
their first words were, "How is
Elyosef? Please God, he's alive!" And
people.
ness,
One of the first sacred korbanot (vic
tims) of this war was Lt. Yuval Heiman,
when Elyosef opened his eyes, his first
•
born in Efrat, whose great -grandfather,
along with three other members of
the Heiman
family,
Independence.
fell in the War of
question was, "How are my boys?" An
army in which the first thoughts of the
commanding officer are for the welfare
of his
Yuval was circumcised and
men,
thoughts
and the first
of the men are for
"bar mitzvahed" in Efrat,
graduated with distinction
manding officer is bound to
from Ohr Torah Stone's
be successful.
Derech Avot School, won
many trophies and med-
day before my visits,
my daughter Elana was in a
Judaica shop where a mother
the welfare of their
•
als for excellence in sports
and volunteerism, and was
The
and her young son were
outstanding member of
an
com
inquiring about large, cro
the IDF's Officer Training
cheted kippot, which would
School. Yuval was slated for
cover
a
shining future as a great
Jewish leader, but then
the entire head. She
explained to the store owner
that her
...
When 1 entered the shivah home
one
son was one
of four
observant boys in their Gaza army unit,
year ago, Yuval's grandfather Yehuda
greeted me with a warm embrace. We
pot jostled-under the large army helmets
both wept
and made it uncomfortable for them.
silently. Then Yehuda caught
himself. "In this shivah house,
we
do not
and the usual small-style crocheted kip
The
owner
searched around
a
bit, and
weep; of course; we are overcome with
grief, but the dominant feeling in our
brought out four large kippot.
hearts is
pride and zechut, the privilege
of being able
in our generation
to
you said there were four observant
soldiers in the unit, so why would you
sacrifice for the
want 40
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Jewish future:'
Moshe and Zohara, Yuval's parents,
both explained that of course they cry
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but privately, at night into their pil
lows. The profound message
is the merit of living in the
of rebirth, of their ability
past generation
do
-
to
-
they convey
generation
which the
of the Shoah could not
take Jewish
destiny into their
hands and pave the way, albeit with
heartbreaking commitment and sacri
own
fice, for Jewish future and redemption.
Also, last year, 1 went to Sheba
•
Medical Center at Tel Hashomer to
visit
Elyosef Malkieli,
outstanding
commanding officer who suffered a
near-fatal wound in his leg. He and two
of his young charges were standing by
their personnel carrier when a hand
grenade was thrown in their direction.
Elyosef instinctively reached out to
deflect it away from a large group of his
soldiers.
an
"I need 40:' smiled the mother. "But
kippot?" inquired the store
keeper. The mother explained that when
the other members of the unit heard
her son's request for large kippot, they
inquired about the reason for wearing
kippa;
verse
her son
explained
in Psalms that
that there is
avers
Presence is above each
a
a
that the Divine
individual, and
this Divine Protection is
symbolized by
the kippa.
All the soldiers then
requested large
kippot for under their helmets, claiming
that they are all desirous of continued
Divine Protection, especially in Gaza.
The storekeeper managed to find 40
large kippot, for which he refused to take
any money.
"Who is like unto Your nation,
nation
unique
17:21). D
on
earth"
a
Memory Care Community
24005 West 13 Mile Road
Bingham Farms,
MI 48025
(248) 644-8100
most
(1 Chronicles.
Shlomo Riskin is chancellor of Ohr Torah
Stone and chief rabbi of Efrat, Israel.
IN
Ju!y 30
•
2015
43