As many of you know, our beloved son Yoni served in the Israel Defense Force, in the religious unit, Netzach Yehudah. He finished his service but was called back for the Gaza Campaign. He was assigned to Yechidat Tzrikat Rabbanut, which he explained to me is that part of the army that goes out after someone is killed and retrieves his remains. It is a very big mitzva and requires bravery under fire, when enemies are still out there. They comb an area to bring the kedoshim to kever Yisrael and to save women from being agunot.
To pray for his safety, my family divided up Sefer Tehilim and undertook to finish the sefer daily. But Hashem gave me the zechus to do something else, which I will cherish forever and take with me to the Kisai Hakovod as a malitz yosher on the Yom Hadin. It all began with a phone call from Rabbi Yissocher Dov Eichenstein, asking me to come to his shul, Mercaz Torah U’Tfilah, and lead tehilim after Maariv. He said that since I have a son in Tzahal (Israeli army), I should lead the tehilim. I only knew the Rebbe casually, and this was the first time I had ever entered his shul.
That motzei Shabbos, he called me and said that he was worried that soldiers were going out without the proper protective gear. He remembered this from previous campaigns. He asked me to find out what the story was. Thus began an odyssey that opened my eyes to many things.
I emailed Yoni and also a number of rabbis whom I know, asking if indeed soldiers were going into harm’s way without bulletproof vests and other safety gear. The official answer from the top echelons has been consistent: No one is sent out into battle without appropriate gear. This is the policy of the Israeli army, as it is of the U.S. army. But when huge numbers of reservists are called up, especially back-up units that do not directly go into battle, the story is not the same.
Yoni responded: “We do not have bulletproof vests. The older vests are very heavy and not practical in war, and the IDF has had to cancel training and other things due to lack of funds. This war is funded on debt so our country can survive.”
They needed vests! Our original idea or our committee was to raise money to buy the Baltimore boys protective vests. How naïve we were. Yoni set us straight. He wrote, “I won’t wear a bulletproof vest unless my entire unit has them, so I do not think your idea is practical.” He followed up with the phone number of the commanding officer of his unit, adding, “That’s the number of my magad. He knows who I am, so Rabbi Eichenstein can call him directly and mention my name and see what’s possible. We are very busy dealing with the 13 chayalim (soldiers) who were killed. When it cools down, I will ask the magad.”
Rabbi Eichenstein called the magad that very night and was up much of the night discussing with him exactly what they needed and which factory in Israel is approved by the army to provide them and how to work with the factory on the cost per vest. The magad said that, optimally, he needed 80 vests but could use whatever number we provided.
At that point, we hoped to buy 10 or maybe 20 vests. I need to explain that, until recently, Yoni’s unit was not considered one that needed vests, because they are protected by other troops when they do their holy work. But, of course, if a bullet hits you, it doesn’t help that there are other troops nearby. Yoni is a locheim, a fighting soldier, a sharpshooter, trained in multiple weapons. He and others like him were assigned to this unit for this campaign because they needed people with his skills to work under the conditions of this war. This is not a part of Netzach Yehudah but a mixture of many units: Golani, Givati, and Netzach.
In consultation with the Rebbe, I wrote about our campaign to members of the Vaad Harabbanim, and he spoke to a number of the Rabbanim of Baltimore. We were amazed, time and again, by the response. So many people wanted to participate. Then we put an article on the local website Baltimore Jewish Life, and it was picked up by Yeshiva World News. What started as collaboration among a few shuls in Baltimore generated an enormous response from across the country and beyond. By June 23, the committee reported that “in just 48 hours, we were able to gather the funds to supply the first unit with all 80 vests, and we are now identifying other units with similar needs to be met.” As money was received, we could wire it to Israel and order vests.
Night after night, our committee of volunteers met at Dr. Michael Elman’s home. Besides Rabbi Eichenstein and myself, Rabbi Zvi Teichman immediately came on board and offered his shul’s website as a way for people to contribute online. In addition, there were several younger askanim, the future leaders of this community, in my opinion, who dropped their business dealings and worked night and day, literally, on this. They were in contact with Israel, with various units, with suppliers, etc. Rabbi Eichenstein called me and said that we needed a CPA to oversee the money, so that everything would be transparent, and I asked a busy CPA, who also devoted untold hours gratis to this endeavor.
Mi ke’amcha Yisrael – Who is like your people, Israel!” Generosity is just not the right word. No one asked anyone for a donation. All we did was put it out there, and the various shuls and the blogs made it go viral. People were anxious to participate. Many people expressed this feeling: We are sitting here safely, while our precious Jewish soldiers are risking their lives, and far too many of them are dying in battle. We want to do something tangible that is a matter of pikuach nefesh (saving lives).”
Most of the money came in through others, but I was contacted by people from all over the country who had heard that we were buying vests for the chayalim, and they wanted information and answers to their questions. Several people from out of town who called, told me that first they had checked with someone in Baltimore and were told that if Rabbi Oberstein was involved and his son says they needed it, then it was legit. I told Yoni that he was the “poster boy” of a campaign that was growing by the day. From rank amateurs, our committee, especially the young askanim, gained expertise and developed contacts.
After a week or so, we realized that we needed feet on the ground to check out the need and decide which of the many requests were pikuach nefesh and in the parameters of our campaign. So Rabbi Teichman, Azi Rosenblum, and Dovid Meir Loeb flew to Israel and spent three days and nights checking out everything and personally delivering vests to another unit identified as needing them urgently. They learned a lot about the culture of the IDF and got to know the commanding officers with whom they had conversed by phone and email. Once again, I want to stress that we were trying to fill a very specific need: reserve units that do not go into direct battle but are exposed to gunfire and who will be safer with vests. The committee observed this by visiting the bases and talking to various levels of the army.
None of us wanted to establish a new tzedaka; we were anxious to deliver what we could and to let the many wonderful organizations do what they do for our soldiers, which includes many services – but not bulletproof vests. The committee is very proud that with your help, we delivered 120 brand new, modern, ceramic bulletproof vests.
We have also repaired and outfitted over 250 vests with updated components. In other words, the heavy, out-of-date vests that Yoni referred to were made lighter, more ergonomic, and safer. This is much less expensive than buying new vests and enabled us to outfit many more soldiers, vastly improving their safety. All the money that came in was used for exactly what we told people it would be.
If you wonder whether these efforts were worthwhile, here is another email from Yoni: “Friday was very difficult. I worked with four other guys. The tank with us was firing the whole time. Oketz, the canine unit whose specially trained dogs help us find body parts, had to leave after a short time. I was feeling safer with the vest. I hope my work will soon be done and we can go home in peace. My prayers are with the missing Givati chayal.” (He was later declared dead.)
I spoke to Yoni when it was already Tisha B’Av in Israel. He told me that they had been moved back to their main base in Ashkelon but that orders from the military Rabbanut were that they must not fast and that they must wear their leather boots and be prepared for action if needed. The war was not over, and he told me that missiles were flying overhead constantly from Gaza and terrorist acts had taken place that day in Yerushalayim. He said that Tel Aviv was on high alert for a terrorist threat.
Like all of you, I daven regularly for Yoni and all of the chayalim. Feigi recites 30 chapters every night and then recites the tefila for Tzva Hagana l’Yisrael (Israeli army). We love our son and we love all the other soldiers of the State of Israel. I am happy that I had a share in doing something to help protect our boys on the battle field who are risking their young lives so that our people can live. I learned a lot from these weeks. First of all, I learned that ahavas Yisrael is not just a concept; it is a real value that we all share. Everyone was most generous – beyond generous, actually – to help the chayalim. I learned that the Jewish People, whether in Baltimore or elsewhere, want with all their heart and soul to keep our boys alive and safe. I have never seen a campaign where people were so anxious to participate. I got calls from little shuls asking if they could bring over a check for a vest or two vests. Individuals stretched their finances so that they could buy a vest. Everyone asked me about Yoni, and everyone was davening for him and all the others soldiers. There were no rifts; there was no left or right, Zionist or not. We were ke’ish echad belev echad – like one person with one heart. The unity and ahavas Yisrael that we witnessed during this summer should be a zechus for klal Yisrael all over the world and for Medinat Yisrael; may it be strong and safe.
Yoni wants me to tell you that he is proud to come from Baltimore, a community that truly cares and does for the safety of the soldiers of the Tzva Haganah l’Yisrael.
