I am sending a picture of a memorial that was recently unveiled at an overlook just outside my daughter, Chani’s town of Giva’t Ze’ev Hachadasha. The memorial is for D’vir Emanuelov, who lived in Giv’at Ze’ev. D’vir was the first casualty of the recent war in Gaza, and it was a double tragedy for the family as his mother had just lost her husband, D’vir’s father shortly before D’vir was killed. Dvir’s mother was distraught and would never leave her house. Finally a friend prevailed upon her to attend a concert at Binyanei Ha’uma in Jerusalem, and she sat in a seat in back of a family with children. She heard the mother call out to a three year old to sit next to his infant brother, D’vir.
Mrs. emanuelov’s curiosity was piqued. D’vir is not a very common name in Israel, and she asked the woman in the row in front of her how she came to name her child D’vir. The woman answered that when she was coming towards the end of her pregnancy, an irregularity was found in the baby and some doctors advised her to abort the baby. That day, she commiserated over the decision and on the news that evening, was a report of the first casualty in the Gaza war, named D’vir Emanuelov, whose parents had emigrated from the former Soviet Union. She made a deal with God that if she took the baby to term, and the baby was healthy, she would name the child D’vir after the soldier from Giva’t Ze’ev.
The incredulous woman’s eyes welled up with tears as she informed the woman that the baby was named after her own son. D’vir was her son, and somehow these two people sat together in a concert hall that seats thousands. This part of the story was widely covered in the Israeli press and you can find it on Hashkifa.com. Look for Yoel Gold’s messages, and you’ll find the story under D’vir Emanuelov. Chani takes a daily walk up the mile-long strip of mountain and passes the memorial twice a day. Only in Israel.
We are going from Simcha to Simcha. This Shabbos, we will be in Teaneck to celebrate my brother’s grandson’s Bar Mitzvah. So many OZ members have made aliya to Teaneck, and I’m looking forward to catching up with them. Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Stay safe. Be healthy. Be excellent.
Rabbi Allen Schwartz
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Rabbi Allen Schwartz Congregation Ohab Zedek 118 West 95th Street New York, NY 10025-6604 Phone 212.749-5150, ext 200 E-mail: ras@ozny.org Website: www.ozny.org
Congregation Ohab Zedek 118 West 95th Street New York, NY 10025
