Fifteen graduates of my husband's B'nai David preparatory schools fell in battle in the Gaza Strip in an iron sword war. Thousands more adults are still engaged in intensive fighting in the Gaza Strip.
The Ali Preparatory School is the mother of all pre-military preparatory programs, which has made it its mission to train national religious fighters for meaningful service in the IDF, including officers and leadership. It is now paying a heavy price in the battle for the people of Israel, but also proving anew how the ideal of giving one's life for the people and the land still exists today.
"Mobilized with all the people of Israel", photo: IDF Spokesperson
The Bnei David Preparatory School is one of the most recognized institutions of the religious sector, and among its graduates are some of the leaders of the fighting in the south, north, Judea and Samaria. One of the graduates of the Mossad is Maj. Roy Klein, z"l, who received the Medal of Valor for jumping on a grenade in the Second Lebanon War and saving his fighters while sacrificing his own life. Over the years, several additional educational institutions belonging to the Bnei David Preparatory School were established, but even today the preparatory school in the community of Ali is the leading body.
Battlefield
At the beginning of the war, a large sign was hung on the door of the preparatory school: "Battlefield - Fight," a sign that war is everywhere, whether on the battlefield or in the beit midrash. Lior Shtul, the director general of the preparatory program, says that as far as he is concerned, the entire preparatory program is recruited, whether by studying Torah, volunteering or assisting the hundreds of families of graduates of the preparatory program in the community of Ali and many thousands throughout the country.
Me. "Ready to give our lives for the country," Photo: AP
"We are on a mission. If the state needs me, I enlist," he explains. "Do they need us in Gaza? North? We don't ask questions. Where we are needed, that's where we are – in education, in routine, and now in war."
Stull's words are not theoretical. At the moment, no less than three of the heads of Bnei David's educational institutions are in reserve duty, some inside Gaza.
Thus, Rabbi Lior Neguse, head of the Derech Avot preparatory school, sent a word of Torah to Shabbat two weeks ago from the heart of the Gaza Strip, wearing a helmet and vest, between the battles. Last week, graduates of the preparatory school held a memorial service for their friend, Capt. Jonathan Netanel z"l, who fell in Operation Cast Lead, for the first time in the house where he was killed in the Gaza Strip.
"We are all at the forefront"
Today, the 15th fallen from the yeshiva, Capt. (res.) Neria Zisk, was allowed to be published. In addition, this week we also learned of the passing of Maj. Shai Shamriz z"l and Arie Rein. The Bnei David institutions also lost Eitan Naeh, Zvika Lavi, Netanel Menachem Eitan, Almanau Emanuel Palka, Yosef Malachi Gedalya, Dekel Swisa, David Meir, Dvir Lisha, Dr. Eitan Menachem Ne'eman, Yehuda Nathan Cohen, Moshe Yedidya Leiter and Eyal Meir Berkowitz At the same time, there are also quite a few injured graduates of the preparatory program.
Rabbi Eli Sadan. "This country has a special charm - this is our country", Photo: Jonathan Shaul
The head of the Bnei David Ali preparatory school, Rabbi Eli Sadan, sent the graduates and students a letter in which he strengthened them in their fight against Hamas-ISIS. "In light of Islam's abysmal hatred towards us, we are growing more and more aware that it is precisely by knowing our people and their faith roots that we will be able to be filled more and more with the life forces we need on our long journey. We cannot be satisfied with the will to live in order to live, life must have a deep and great meaning in order to be willing to risk our private lives for the sake of the life of the nation as a whole," he wrote. "This country has a special charm - this is our country, of the Jewish people who returned to their land after 2,000 years of exile, and we have the will and strength to preserve it, and we are willing to give our lives for it."
Stull says that the seminary for military veterans in the community of Ali is currently empty, since all of its students are on reserve duty. No less than 350 residents of the community who are Ali graduates are currently being drafted into the IDF, and the preparatory program has enlisted to help their women. "We have recruited women who haven't spoken to their partners in three weeks," he says. "The heroism of these women is not spoken of anywhere. As far as we are concerned, Ali is a fighting family – the alumni, the students, the women, everyone. It's a battlefield."
"The spirit here is great," says Stull. "Everyone understands that this is a war for home, and there is a spirit of unity among the people of Israel. It doesn't matter who is in power, it's completely irrelevant, we are mobilized together with the entire people of Israel. We are not special. We're all together, we're all givers, we're all at the forefront."
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