The Torat IDF Twitter account retweeted a beautiful account of a group of IDF soldiers who were pleasantly surprised by the warm reception they received in Beitar, where they were posted after a number of murderous terror attacks led to an increased security presence in Gush Etzion and other areas.
“We soldiers from Battalion 931 want to share with you the happy experience we had in the wake of the [security] situation in Israel. Two weeks ago, we were recruited for reinforcement [like almost all of the IDF] and we received a certain area of the green line to guard to thwart the entry of illegal infiltrators [Palestinians].”
“Beitar is a Chareidi city that includes Chareidim from all walks of life, Litvaks, Chassidim, Ashkenazim, Sephardim. We arrived with curiosity about how a Chareidi city would react to an entire battalion staying in it for not such a short period of time.”
“And after a week and a half, we have to say that we were completely surprised, everything we heard and thought until now was simply nonsense.”
“We received the nicest welcome possible. Every few meters on the street, they stopped us to ask if we need something for the Chag…The owner of a bakery [before Pesach] refused to accept payment from any of us. They spoiled us. People in the supermarket pushed bills in our hands and told us to treat ourselves.”
“Of course, we realized we wouldn’t be celebrating Pesach at home…but after the tefillah of the Chag, we were surprised to find a long line of people waiting for us outside who simply took pairs of soldiers home for the seduah -just like that without any warning – without knowing us at all…only because we’re soldiers. So we still got to celebrate Pesach at home – by our brothers.”
“We wanted to share this with you in order to spread the kindness we received…the excitement we experienced when we understood how much they love and care about us. So that everyone would know what Am Yisrael truly is, not the conflict and hatred always presented to us. This is the truth on the street, that together with all the ideological and cultural differences, we can succeed in feeling true love for each other.”
“We won’t forget this Pesach..we were zocheh to another taste of geulah.”
When we stress how much we have in common as Yidden and throw away the pettiness of things. And how the Torah makes us one people no one can defeat us.
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