I grew up with my parents in a regular family in a Chabad house in Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon. I have 11 brothers and sisters, which is considered a small family. Today, almost all of my siblings are married. I grew up following the regular path of a child from a Chabad Lubavitch family.
In elementary school, I learned Talmud and Torah, without English or Maths. From eighth grade, I went to yeshiva for 10 years. At 23, I got married. My wife also comes from a Chabad family in Italy. She made aliyah after our wedding.
I continued to study, and passed the test at the Chief Rabbinate to become an official rabbi. I combined my studies with law and became a lawyer at 28, working as a state attorney.
I never thought I would ever serve in the army. It wasn’t something I planned or envisioned doing in my life.
"Balancing my spiritual life, religion, and faith with military service is not a problem," said the Charedi solider[Missing Credit]
However, during the Covid pandemic in 2020, the IDF opened a special program for the Charedim called "Shlav Bet", where you undergo three weeks of training before joining a reserve unit. I did a course for three weeks in the Home Front Command, but I was never called up for reserve duty.
In the summer of 2023, I became a military rabbi. When October 7th arrived, we heard sirens at my house. My eldest son, who was 9 at the time, came to me in the middle of the night, scared, and asked: "Dad, are you going to the army now?"
I told him not to be afraid, that no one would come to our house, and that I am not a combat soldier, I’m just a rabbi. If someone calls me, it means the sky has fallen.
But a few hours later, I received a phone call from the army, telling me I needed to come immediately because the situation was critical. "We need you," they said.
I was sent to the IDF’s Shura Base near Ramle, which had become a centre for handling casualties — both civilian and military — from the Hamas massacre. Since then, the base’s identification centre has processed more than 1,500 bodies. I was responsible for identifying the deceased using DNA samples.
During the three weeks I was at the base, I saw things I cannot even describe. There were piles of bodies. It was the most horrific thing I have ever seen. Beyond the imagination.
After my service at Shura, I returned to serve in the military rabbinate with the 10th Brigade and joined them three times in Gaza. There, I saw soldiers getting killed. I knew their names, their faces. People died who were my age, with jobs, families, and children. They left everything to fight for me and my family. Why should they fight for me when I’m not fighting for them? Why should their families never return to normal life?
"My children and extended family support me being a soldier"[Missing Credit]
A close friend of my wife had a son, a soldier who fell in Gaza. I saw how the family struggled with the loss and pain they went through — how they could not move on. And something inside me could not move on and return to regular life. When I heard about the option to join the new IDF division — the "Hasmonean Brigade" for the Charedim — I did not hesitate for a second.
It was not easy. I have four children, the eldest is 11, and the youngest was born just a month before October 7th. We do not have much financial support, as my wife’s family is in Italy. I left my job and career as a lawyer. My family and I paid a heavy price, but I have no regrets.
For me, balancing my spiritual life, religion, and faith with military service is not a problem. The most important thing right now is that the army needs more soldiers — Charedi soldiers — because that is the future of the army in the State of Israel. I want to show the world that it is possible to combine Charedi life with military service. We can be the best soldiers in the army while living one hundred per cent Haredi.
Regarding the question of whether the need to kill conflicts with the laws of the Torah — there is a law of "pikuach nefesh" (saving a life), if someone poses a danger to my life or my loved ones. As of now, I’ve just started training, so I have never killed anyone. I pray that I never find myself in such a situation.
The Hasmonean Brigade is the IDF's first strictly Orthodox combat unit. (Photo by Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)Flash90
Does the community support me? Some people do, and some do not. What matters is that my wife supports me one hundred per cent. Without her, I could not do anything. Of course, my children and extended family support me too, and I am sure that anyone who disagrees with my path will come to terms with it in the long run.
I am currently at the training base in the Jordan Valley. We are pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and we are training hard. The army does not make things easier for us or give us any mercy because of our age — I am 34, but we’re training like 18-year-old soldiers. We run and shoot like every other soldier. It is very hard, it is very painful, but I smile knowing that I’m on the right path and striving to be the best soldier I can be. I fight for my family.
Our schedule does not let us give up on Torah — it includes training and time for prayer. Not only is time allocated for prayer, but we must keep up religious observance. For example, the rabbi in the base’s kitchen ensures all the food is kosher.
I hope that when my children grow up, there will be peace in the Middle East, and they will not need to serve in the army. But when my son grows up, I hope he can envision himself in the army. I hope that in time, the army will be so full of Charedim that this decision will not be hard for him.
As told to Imogen Garfinkel
