Injured IDF Soldiers Experience Eight Days in Canada

Six IDF soldiers who were injured during last summer’s incursion into Gaza experienced Canada as part of an eight-day trip co-sponsored and organized by the Chabad Terror Victims Project.

From Chabad.org by Carin M. Smilk:

For many, last summer’s war with Hamas in Gaza is a distant memory, one they’d rather keep in the past as they savor a far less eventful summer. But for soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces who were injured during “Operation Protective Edge,” the battle remains far from over.

While a total of 66 IDF soldiers were killed, numerous others sustained serious wounds, many of them life-threatening. One year later, these Israelis are still healing, physically and emotionally.

To keep their minds off the daily challenges of their recovery, six soldiers experienced Canada as part of an eight-day trip co-sponsored and organized by the Chabad Terror Victims Project, with assistance from members of the Toronto-area Jewish community. Accompanying them were Rabbi Menachem Kutner, director of the Chabad Terror Victims Project, and Rabbi Yossi Swerdlov, its associate director.

On deck for the visitors—Yehonatan Aharoni, Bar Cohen, Shlomo Gold, Elad Horowitz, Adiel Levy and Reuben Magen—was everything from sightseeing, sports activities, social events, cultural outings, meals with community members and even a stop at an Israeli standby, Aroma Espresso Bar.

What the trip aimed to do was give the men, all in their 20s, a break from their troubles.

“It was truly amazing to see these soldiers smile, laugh and have a great time,” says Kutner. “We met most of them last year when they were in terrible shape—many of them literally fighting for their lives and limbs. It was so rewarding to see them live life and do things they never imagined possible.”

Sari Bachar, a native Israeli who has lived in the suburban Toronto neighborhood of Thornhill for the past 26 years, created the itinerary for the trip, which took place from July 7 to July 14, and fundraised for it along with area resident Greg Nisan.

“They were surrounded with so much love,” she relates. “The effect on the community was absolutely phenomenal—a glimpse back to the feeling last summer when everyone wanted to help, to participate, to give back to the soldiers. Our community united around this project.”

The community is led by Rabbi Mendel and Faygie Kaplan, and Rabbi Yossi and Rivki Sandhaus of Chabad Flamingo in Thornhill, Ontario. Kaplan traveled to Israel last year during the war with a group of shul members to offer support to wounded soldiers and bereaved families; they visited hospitals and the frontlines as well. They also delivered gift packages to the troops, prepared by the Chabad Flamingo community.

“Meeting and hosting these exceptional young men was a deeply meaningful and profoundly touching experience,” says Rabbi Kaplan. “It was both a privilege and a pleasure to be to give something back to those who gave so much of themselves defending the land and people of Israel.”

‘Saw the Transformation’

Bachar says they incorporated iconic Canadian destinations into the trip, taking into account the soldiers’ interests, while also considering their conditions, abilities and limitations. The six young men were severely injured in the war, having since undergone multiple surgeries, followed by heavy rehabilitation.

One of the highlights was a Torah-dedication procession and ceremony prompted by the local Ganz family, who gifted the writing of a new Torahlast year to honor the 66 IDF soldiers and six civilians killed in the war, in addition to the four rabbis murdered last November at a shul in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem.

The Torah was also written in the merit of soldiers currently healing from their injuries and for one of the younger members of the Ganz family: Tzvi, who recently celebrated his bar mitzvah.

Over the course of the year, the Torah went from base to base, and hospital to hospital in Israel, so that soldiers could pen a letter in it. The six visitors to Canada, some of whom received the Torah and scribe’s stop by their hospital beds, now had the opportunity to see and touch the final product.

“We saw the transformation in them from the day they arrived—to the relaxed, strengthened and joyous boys who returned home,” says Bachar. “It was our honor to spend the week with them and to learn firsthand about the work CTVP does, day in and day out.”

Profiles of the men and their roads to recovery can be found here.