"Out of great pain will grow great salvation," wrote Rabbi Yitzhak Dor, the dean of the Horev Yeshiva in Jerusalem, in a letter he sent to the parents of his students on Sunday. At the beginning of the letter, he listed the names of the six graduates and rabbis from the yeshiva who fell in the last two weeks.
"On the eve of Yom Kippur, we laid to eternal rest our heroic and righteous graduate, Major (res.) Netanel Hershkovitz, Rabbi Dor wrote.
"On the eve of Simchat Torah, in Hoshana Rabbah, we laid to rest Major (res.) Aviram Hariv, who taught Torah and was an educator at the Horev Yeshiva several years ago. On Shabbat eve, our graduate and hero, Captain (res.) Alon Safrai, was laid to rest and the holy hero Sergeant Hillel Ovadia was laid to rest on Shabbat."
"While we were mourning the fallen, we heard about the death of our heroic and righteous graduate, Major (res.) Eliav Amram Abitbol. During the same incident, we also lost our beloved graduate and hero Master Sergeant (res.) Gilad Elmaliach in battle. This terrible news was joined by the death of the rabbi Captain (res.) Avraham Yosef Goldberg, father and uncle to students in the yeshiva, a wonderful and righteous man."
"In the first difficult year of the war, we had six casualties who were graduates of the yeshiva," he says, "It started with Nahal Brigade Commander Colonel Yehonatan Steinberg, who was killed on Simchat Torah (October 7), Sergeant First Class Josheph Malachi Guedalia and Master Sergeant (res.) Israel Amichay Vitzen also died at the beginning of the war. And later, Rabbi Sergeant Major (res.) Yossi Hershkovitz, headmaster of Ort Pelech Boys High School, Staff Sergeant Efraim Yachman and Sergeant First Class (res.) Yakir Hexter. All of them were special people, people of kindness, people of Torah, modest people, dear and beloved."
"That was the first group, and I thought we had passed through this difficult and painful period, but just before Yom Kippur, we buried Major (res.) Netanel Hershkovitz, a dear alumnus, and then on the eve of Simchat Torah, we buried Rabbi Major (res.) Aviram Hariv, who taught with us at the yeshiva.
"In one extremely tragic case; one of our alumni who serves at the Shura Camp told me he recognized his rabbi. On Friday evening, Captain (res.) Alon Safrai was killed, a brilliant individual and a great righteous man who also studied medicine and chose to continue in his combat role in the reserves. After him, died Major (res.) Eliav Amram Abitbol, who donated a kidney two years ago, and in that same battle Master Sergeant (res.) Gilad Elmaliach was also killed."
"We have an English teacher who was seriously injured in that battle, Guy Shabtai, and other graduates who were injured. Beyond that, there are students' parents, uncles and brothers, who join the names of those who were killed or were injured, and there are parents who have been in the reserves for a long time. Altogether, it's a complex circle," he added.
On Sunday, the students returned to the yeshiva after the holidays, which held a ceremony to mark a year since the war began. "Our souls are surrounded by water; the soul is full of tears. On a personal level, we are parting from dear people and on the other side, there are students who need help understanding this reality," said Rabbi Dor. "We need to tell them, 'Look, these are role models, not just for mourning. We need to learn from them.' They really wanted the continuity and joy of everyone."
As the students at Horev Yeshiva enter their winter studies, they do so with mixed feelings. "There are teachers who are currently fighting, there are rabbis and educators at the yeshiva who are battalion commanders and officers in various roles and have hardly been here all year," the head of the yeshiva shared.
"Our middle school principal, a father of ten, is fighting in Lebanon, and we didn’t sleep all night because we understood there were casualties and we didn't know his condition. By the way, he is fighting in a platoon which is commanded by his students. When a high school student sees his homeroom teacher who is not around much because he’s in reserve duty, that's the best education there is. This is how an amazing generation was raised here, and it’s a privilege to be part of it."
Rabbi Captain (res.) Avraham Yosef Goldberg, a father and uncle of students at Horev, is the ninth casualty of the war among Himmelfarb High School graduates. Goldberg was the high school rabbi and a 10th-grade teacher at Himmelfarb. He was a military rabbi in the 228th Brigade's 8207th Battalion and died in battle in southern Lebanon.
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