Recently, I had the pleasure of
meeting a very special young man. Gabriel Yair Shabtai, 29, was married in
Israel about six months ago. On December 7th, he returned
from two months of active reserve service in the IDF. Think about
that; he had been married for only four months when he got a late night
phone call on Simchat Torah informing him that he had been called up. In Hebrew
this is called millu’im, the reserves.
Israel needed him to get on a plane and come as soon as he could. I asked him
if he hesitated. “I didn’t hesitate for a second. I have a responsibility to
the Jewish nation. I am not just a son, a brother, and a husband; I am also a
soldier, and Am Yisrael is my family.
“My wife, Sarah,
was shocked and afraid but also very proud. She was having an Israeli
experience in Baltimore. She deserves a medal for being so supportive.”
* * *
Gabriel’s story
goes back to his childhood. How he got from there to here is very interesting
and inspiring.
“I am my father’s
child,” he begins. Gabriel’s relationship with his father, well-known
Baltimorean Menashe Shabtai, is how he defines himself. “I grew up with a
father who always told stories of his life in Israel and his service in the
Israeli navy. He worked hard to support our family of five sons. He worked hard to support our family of five sons,
Nathaniel, Jeremy, Benjamin, Eviatar, and me, and one daughter, Smadar,
who is the youngest. He wasn’t always home, and as a child, I sometimes
wished he had more time for me. But as I grew up, I learned to appreciate his
determination to support us and his love for Judaism. My father always has a
smile on his face. Only as I grew up did I comprehend and appreciate his
positive personality, no matter the difficulties. Our mother, Naomi, is the
glue that held us together and kept her five boisterous boys on the right
path.”
Unlike his four
brothers, who attended Yeshivat Rambam, Gabriel graduated from the Baltimore
Lab School, a charter school in Baltimore City for students with learning
differences. Because he didn’t attend a religious school, Gabriel did not get a
strong Hebrew education. After high school, Gabriel got a job in construction
from a shul member, Rubin Flax. He worked with his hands and was successful in
his job. But, Gabriel tells us, “There is a phrase ‘off the derech.’ This has two meanings for me.
My parents may have thought that I was off their path. But I felt that I was
also off my own derech. The path that
I was taking wasn’t working for me.”
Here is his story
in his own words:
*
* *
“Yom Kippur 2013
was a day that changed my life. Although my father is at Hertzberg’s shul seven
days a week, he asked me to go with him to Beit Yaakov, the Sefardic synagogue
of Rabbi Goldfeiz for Yom Kippur. I went out of respect for my father. But the
service is very long, and I could not read the Hebrew prayers, only the English
translations.
“Hashem guided me
to go out of the main room and into another room. I picked up a book, The Garden of Emunah. I sat down in that
side room and read the book. There were many things in that book that impressed
me, but one line made a major impression: The book said that the Jewish People
are a herd of sheep, and Hashem is our shepherd. When a sheep wanders off from
the flock, the shepherd uses various methods to entice the sheep back. At that
moment, I felt it was time to reflect. I am not on the path I need to be on.
“I started to think. I thought
about Moshe Rabbeinu. He did so much for Am
Yisrael, and he wasn’t able to enter Eretz Yisrael. I have the zechut to go to Israel. I knew at that
moment that I had found a path that Hashem and my parents would be proud of. In
2014, there was a Gaza war, and it was the catalyst for my deciding that now
was the time to make aliyah. I made
all the arrangements without telling my parents. One month before I was to
leave, I told my parents that I was making aliyah,
and my plan was to join the IDF. They cried and were proud of my decision.
Since I was born in Baltimore but my father was born in Israel, when I made aliyah, I was not an oleh chadash,
a new immigrant. I was an ezrach oleh, a returning citizen. I had partial
Israeli citizenship from my father; I just had to get the paperwork in order.
“When I arrived in
Israel, in 2014, I had a year to acclimate before I was drafted. My first task
was learning Hebrew. I went to Kibbutz Sdeh Eliyahu, where I started from alef beit and advanced quite well. I
then joined a mechina, an army prep
program. At the time, it was run by a Baltimore native, Nathan Altshuler, and the
program was called Kol Ami. Those two months gave me the basic skills I needed
before I was drafted. Shortly afterwards, I was drafted into the IDF. I tried
out for special forces and was accepted into a unit called Palchal Nachal.
We wear green berets. I got into explosions and heavy weapons. My specialty is
blowing up things. I spent two years and eight months in the army. Some
non-Israelis who volunteer can serve less time, like a year-and-a-half, but the
special forces units typically require full service.
“When my service
was up, I did what many Israelis do, and I traveled. But instead of going to exotic
countries, I bought a used van and toured the United States. Then I came back
to Baltimore with plans on moving back to Israel. In February 2019, I went on a
date with an amazing girl named Sarah Mendelsohn, and instead of moving back, I
decided to see where the relationship would go. It turns out that the amazing
girl ended up as my wife. We got married in Israel on June 29, 2023 in Gush
Etzion, surrounded by all friends and family from both Israel and the States.”
*
* *
“On October 7th,
my world was shattered, like most Jews around the world. I knew Israel would go
to war. I had a feeling they’d call in all of the reserves, and at 11:30 p.m. I
got the call. My commander asked me to get to Israel as quickly as possible. I
got my affairs in order; I took a leave of absence from my job and prepared to
fly back to Israel. Once people found out I was going, I was given many
donations and gathered some myself, too. I took seven large bags of donations. These
included things like thermal undergarments; socks; head lamps; hiking shoes;
tactical equipment, like bullet proof-vests; and magazines for bullets that you
insert into the gun. My closest family and friends paid for everything.
“On my mother’s side, my uncle,
who is not Jewish, is chief of police in a small town in Pennsylvania. He went
into an army tactical store with a list of supplies he wanted to purchase. He
told the owner that his nephew was a soldier in the Jewish army fighting
against Hamas. There were other customers in the store; every one of them
wanted to share, and they purchased items on the list. The owner of the shop
gave him some things for free as well. Not one of those people in that town was
Jewish, but they all wanted to help the Jews win.
“Before I even got to Israel, I
got to see the unity of the Jewish nation. On the day of my flight, one week
after October 7th, I was very delayed getting to the airport. When I
showed up, there were dozens of people singing Am Yisrael Chai and dancing. Chabad was there wrapping passengers
in tefillin. They must have known
that I was a soldier because as soon as I got out of the car, I was surrounded
by people singing and helping me with my bags. I hugged Sarah goodbye and went
into the airport. We got there in time, but there was a very long line. I
explained to the person that I was a soldier returning to duty. She asked to
see my tzav shemoneh, the call up
notice. I showed her on my phone, and she took me to the head of the line
immediately.
“They started weighing my bags,
and every single one was overweight. They told me they would waive the cost. I
got on the plane, and the flight attendant asked me if I was a soldier. She
upgraded my seat and announced my name over the intercom. I had heard stories
of soldiers flying to Israel from all over the world and El Al going to extreme
lengths to get them home. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the El Al
employees who helped me along the way.
“I got to Israel,
rented a van, and distributed the items to my unit. I was first stationed in
Kibbutz Snir for two weeks. Then we were sent to Kfar Giladi, near Metullah,
next to the Lebanese border. The experience on the Northern front is much
different than in Gaza. First of all, there isn’t press coverage 24/7. We are
fighting a war, but not every move is on the internet for the whole world to
see. We were being shot at daily by Hezbollah. We did a lot of work to prevent
them from invading Israel. I can’t go into all the details, but we did enter
Lebanon from time to time to eliminate Hezbollah infiltration. I was
heavily involved in using surveillance drones that can detect infiltrators with
thermal imaging. We would identify the location, and the target would be
eliminated. It’s a real war every day and night.
“The conditions
are not good. It’s cold and rainy up north. When you hear a tzevah adom alert (siren for missiles),
you have four seconds to get into a bunker or find some sort of safe place.
Sometimes, you don’t have time to get to a bunker. You hear a siren, or you see
the Iron Dome go off right on top of you. Sometimes, all I could do was hug my
buddy, say Shema Yisrael, and lie on
the ground hoping not to get killed. Baruch
Hashem, I served for 50 days straight in those conditions. Then our
unit was transferred out of the battle area and another unit took our place.
“The commander told me that I
could go back to my wife and family, and they would call me if they needed me
to come back. Of course, if they call, I will return. As we parted the
commander spoke to me personally. He told me how impressed he was with my
attitude. He told me that no matter what the situation, I had a smile on my
face and was positive. My faith and my demeanor inspired him personally as well
as the rest of the unit. That was my father; he always acts that way, and I
carried that same attitude.”
*
* *
I am back at my
job selling solar systems for Lumina Solar. For now, I’m still living in
Baltimore. Maybe one day, Sarah and I will move to Israel, but for now, any
time the army calls, I will be there.”
Gabriel exudes
positivity. He greeted me with a big smile and used two Hebrew words to
describe how he looks at life: osher
and emunah. “I feel like a regular
guy,” he said, “but I have osher,
which means positivity. I am happy with my lot. I am happy on my path in life.
I have emunah, faith in Hashem, Who
guides me on the right path. I am on my derech
and sameach bechelko, happy with my
lot in life.”
*
* *
Final thoughts
from Rabbi Oberstein: I gained so much from meeting Gabriel. As a father and
grandfather, I can identify very much with his life experiences and how he
found his path in life. There are many young people in our community who search
for their derech. Gabriel benefited
from strong identification with his father, and his emunah was always there. Hashem helped him find fulfillment. I hope
Gabriel will be a role model and inspiration for others on the road of life.
We, all of us, are
in a war right now. Antisemitism is evident. Israel must fight this war, and we
are all part of the struggle, each in his or her own way. Although I wish I
could get on a plane and go help, I do not think I could pick enough oranges to
make a difference. But my heart is in Israel.
Am Yisrael Chai.
