With the start of the highly successful Belev Echad program, which offers wounded Israeli soldiers a brief reprieve from treatment with a trip to New York, there was no doubt that the agenda would feature highly charged moments as well as emotional encounters. Indeed, although it has only been several days since I was privileged to meet Belev Echad’s incredible ten, I have been touched and inspired more than I have in months.
“The terrorists took away my body but the heart is still mine.” These were the words uttered by Kfir Levi, a soldier who was wounded by an RPG missile aimed directly at his face. To date he has endured 192 surgeries, and is considered one of Israel’s most severely wounded soldiers. Yesterday, at dinner, I found a seat beside him. To look at Kfir’s shattered yet reconstructed face requires strength. During the course of our conversation last night when Kfir noticed me studying his features, he sternly looked me in the eye and stated, “You see this face, Rabbi? Nothing is mine. The ears, the eyes, the nose, every part of it has been reshaped and restructured due to plastic surgery.” He then pointed at his heart and declared, “But there’s one part of me that belongs to me alone. This heart is mine.”
That was one of the most powerful statements I have ever heard. I felt a chill slither down my spine. The words rang in my head, “This heart is mine...this heart is mine...this heart is mine...” Those terrorists may have taken away Kfir’s physical body, but one part of him remained immune to their threat, a single place so sheltered that no amount of RPG's could target it. His heart, his soul is untouchable, totally invincible.
As Jews living our day to day lives, very often we contaminate our various body parts. We may say something we regret. We may speak bad about somebody. Sometimes we may look where we are not supposed to. We may listen to things that are hurtful. Our hands may sin. 0r our legs. But as King Solomon says in Kohelet, "Ani yeshena velibi er"- "I am asleep but my heart is awake." At the end of the day, even though every part of us may sin, our heart remains ours. Our soul can never ever become contaminated. The essence of every Jew is pure and holy.
This week Sunday, Jews the world over will be celebrating the festival of Lag Ba’omer. This date has always stood out as a joyous one amidst a period of loss and mourning, when Rabbi Akiva’s 24 000 students were struck down by G-d in retribution for their lack of brotherly love and respect for one another. Lag Ba’omer marks the day that his students ceased to die.
Almost three years ago, while searching for a name for the potential Belev Echad program, we struck upon this one for it truly captures the essence of the trip. The common denominator of Am Yisrael, a diverse nation made up of people from all walks of life, is our neshama, our soul. No matter how different we are, we share one heart. Chabad Israel Center is thrilled to have the privilege of assisting our hurt brothers, albeit for a minimal amount of time, in recognition of their heroic, selfless deeds on behalf of all of us.
Above all else, G-d desires unity among His chosen nation. Nothing hurts Him more than a lack of camaraderie. Kfir was mistaken when he said his heart was his. His heart, in fact, belongs to us all. It is our hope that through the launching of the Belev Echad program, G-d will smile down upon us and shower Am Yisrael with an abundance of goodness. For when we behave to one another as brother to brother, only then can G-d behave toward us as father to son.
M C wrote...