A Soldier’s Final Wish

Let’s get straight to the point:

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Here’s an amazing story that just happened to show the importance of the work we do in Chevron:

A few months back an Israeli soldier by the name of Aviv Levi was tragically killed by sniper fire. When he stationed in Chevron, he was a regular at our home, so I traveled to Petach Tikva where his parents were sitting shiva.

When I entered the shiva tent I was greeted by a man who was clearly mourning. As soon as he heard I was from Chabad of Chevron his eyes lit up. “I’m Aviv’s father,” he said, insisting I sit down “I need to tell you a story.”

“We are a traditional Sephardic family. We celebrated Shabbat, but it was at most a five-minute affair: light the candles, make a quick kiddush, and then we all went about our day.

“But this past Shabbat, as our short ceremony was about to end, Aviv spoke up. ‘Why do we always rush this? Why don’t we spend some more time together as a family?” We didn’t know what to say. He continued “Let’s all sit down, relax, discuss the week. Maybe even sing Zemirot and connect to Shabbat in a deeper way.’ And that’s exactly what we did. We had a wonderful Shabbat experience.

“When we asked him where he learned to celebrate Shabbat like this, he told us plainly: ‘Chabad of Hebron.’ ”

That was the last Shabbos they had with Aviv. The family resolved to continue celebrating Shabbat in this way.

We don’t always get to see the full effects of our efforts. But when we do, we realize never to underestimate the impact of the small things.

Like a proper Shabbos meal for a tired soldier.

Thank you for helping us continue the work we do,
Rabbi Danny Cohen

P.S. Please contribute to our current fundraising campaign here. Thank you.