Wounded IDF Vets Tell Heroic Stories at Beth Tefillah

Nitzan Levi, 29, was an IDF tank commander fighting in the Gaza city of Khan Yunis when a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Hamas terrorists destroyed the vehicle and killed one of his crew.

A team of IDF paratroopers quickly pulled him from the wreckage and airlifted him to the intensive care unit of the Soroka Hospital in Israel. He spent six months recovering from serious burns and lungs badly burned by smoke inhalation. Had the round that struck his tank hit just 12 inches closer to him, he doesn’t believe he would have survived.

But he believes G-d didn’t want him to die on that day in Khan Yunis. He might have been saved, he believes, to serve another purpose in life.

Part of that purpose, he’s found, is inspiring others to support wounded soldiers like himself, who face a long road to recovery, both physically and mentally.

Recently, he visited Congregation Beth Tefillah, the Chabad synagogue in Sandy Springs, to encourage support for a nonprofit organization that helped him through his long ordeal.

The organization is Together With Them, a project that is part of a larger group in Israel, El Ami El Atzmi, that has a long history of working with the IDF.

Yoram Yelvin is the project manager for the visit to Atlanta, one of several cities in the U.S. where wounded IDF soldiers have worked to raise funds for the organization. He has been impressed by the warm reception and support that has developed for the wounded soldiers.

“It’s amazing. Audiences at the Jewish day schools, synagogues and Jewish community centers we’ve visited everywhere in America have been very touched by the stories they’ve heard. It’s evident that these veterans have touched people’s heart, and they are very thankful.”

According to official figures from Israel’s Defense Ministry, Levi is one of more than 12,000 Israeli soldiers and security personnel who have been wounded in the fighting since Oct. 7, 2023. To meet the needs of caring for these thousands of soldiers, the government has hired 600 additional physical therapists, established an additional 10 rehabilitation centers, and opened three specialized treatment facilities.

Accompanying the soldiers on their visit to America is Ledan Shalom; like her colleague Yoram Yelvin, she is an unpaid volunteer for the organization. She feels that the program not only helps the soldiers to recover physically but also face the post-traumatic stress disorder that often follows their hospitalization.

Also, speaking at the event in Sandy Springs was Tom Harari. Growing up, all he could think of was playing soccer and being a star someday. And, although that didn’t happen, today he’s a different kind of hero. He’s a wounded 21-year-old veteran of the famed Golani Brigade of the IDF who played a key role in the defense of southern Israel on Oct. 7. That morning, he was stationed just outside Siderot close to the northern border with Gaza when Hamas terrorists suddenly appeared in the early hours.

He’s not sure how he did it, but somehow, he rallied a crew, jumped into a Namer armored personnel carrier and drove it at high speed to the nearby kibbutz, Kir Am, and began firing at Hamas fighters and pinned them down. After the smoke had cleared, he had not only held off the local force of invaders but had killed more than 100 of the terrorists.

“I was tin the right place at the right time,” he said. “I felt like what I did that day I had been preparing for all my life. I was able to trust myself and do what had to be done.”

Yelvin, the project officer who organized the trip to this country, believes that the work the organization is doing has changed lives.

“We’ve helped to change the course of their life. They may not be on the front line of the battle anymore but what they are doing has given them confidence and a sense of purpose, while at the same time helping their country.”

Levi still struggles with his PTSD from time to time, but he’s back home with his wife and two children, one of which was born while he was in the hospital.

“It’s a journey of ups and downs,” Levi says, “but you don’t lose hope. In the end, everything will be OK.”