Tag Archives: War Hero

Jews of the Week: Heroes of Israel

This week we honour a small handful of the many heroes that emerged during the recent catastrophe in Israel:

Michael Shamai, a former IAF pilot, was completing his shift flying a medical rescue helicopter when he got the call about the attack. Together with his Ecuadorian copilot, he immediately headed south to rescue as many victims as possible. Shamai had to fly multiple missions “in the dark” without GPS navigation, maneuvering away from gunfire and rockets, without any protection or even a helmet, saving dozens. Guy Madar was celebrating the holiday with his family in Kiryat Gat when he heard of the attack. He grabbed his firearm, got in his car, and drove down to Re’im where he encountered terrorists. He killed six of them and rescued an injured soldier. He then joined a policeman on the scene and they continued driving further south together before being ambushed by another group of terrorists. Madar and the policeman both got shot, but managed to eliminate all the terrorists. Madar secured a tourniquet to his bleeding leg, and was nearly unconscious when discovered by a team of IDF soldiers, who at first confused him for a terrorist before seeing his tzitzit. In Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, social worker Amichai Shindler was hiding with his family in the safe room when terrorists tried to burst inside. He kept them at bay, so they set off explosives near the door. Shindler absorbed the blow to save his wife and six children, losing his right arm and suffering major injuries to his face, jaw, and left hand. He lay bleeding for another three and a half hours before medics arrived. At Kibbutz Be’eri, paramedic Amit Mann was treating victims and saving lives for hours on end without rest before terrorists appeared. She did whatever she could to protect and hide the wounded in her clinic before being murdered. Aner Elyakim Shapiro was at the music festival and packed into a nearby bomb shelter with a large group of people. Terrorists threw grenades into the shelter, and Shapiro bravely threw them back outside. He deflected seven grenades before the eighth detonated in his hand. Shapiro perished, but saved everyone else inside. Witnesses described him as a “guardian angel”. Matan Abergil was in an armoured personnel carrier with 6 other soldiers when a terrorist threw a grenade inside the vehicle. Abergil quickly jumped on top and absorbed the blow, saving all of his fellow soldiers.

Top: Michael Shamai (left) and his copilot Jorge Ordoñez. Bottom from left: Amit Mann, Matan Abergil, and Amichai Shindler

Those We Have Lost

Hamas in the Torah

An Interview with an IDF Soldier on the Front Lines

Hamas Massacre Smashes Israel’s Faulty Strategy

The Real Reason Biden Came to Israel

Hamas Chief Lives a Life of Luxury in Qatar

The Dizengoff Square Candle Memorial

Words of the Week

The less we fear God, the more we fear the non-Jew and develop in our collective psyche an inferiority complex toward him. The latent power of fear in the soul seeks an outlet, and object to fear. It is either God or others… When it becomes clear in our minds and our hearts that a Jew must fear God alone, the fear of God becomes the motivating power necessary to stand up and fight against our enemies.
– Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh

Jew of the Week: Jonas Phillips

Revolutionary War Hero

Jonas Phillips (1736-1803) was born in Germany to an observant, Yiddish-speaking family. When he was 21, Jonah set forth for the New World. He first made his way to London, anglicizing his father’s name “Phaibush” to “Phillips”. There, he sold himself into indentured servitude in order to pay for his passage to America. After working several years on an indigo plantation, Phillips earned his freedom and moved to New York to work as a merchant. He became a wealthy man and married a prominent Sephardic Jewish woman, with whom he would have 21 children. Unfortunately, Phillips lost much of his wealth because of British restrictions on commerce. Not surprisingly, Phillips became a strong supporter of the American Revolutionary War, and joined the Philadelphia Militia. He fought valiantly, and earned a reputation as an American war hero. In 1787, he took part in the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution. He played a key role in ensuring that the Constitution would protect people’s religious freedoms, and give equal civil rights to all citizens. Meanwhile, Phillips was a founding father of one of America’s oldest synagogues, Philadelphia’s Mikveh Israel. One of his grandsons became the Chief Justice of South Carolina’s Supreme Court, while another was America’s first Jewish commodore in the US Navy, and also a famous war hero. His great-grandson was a governor of South Carolina.

Words of the Week

Brothers, half of the Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis. Who are the Palestinians? Egyptian! They may be from Alexandria, from Cairo, from Dumietta, from the North, from Aswan, from Upper Egypt. We are Egyptians. We are Arabs.
— Hamas Minister Fathi Hammad on Al-Hekma TV (Egypt), March 23, 2012 (Click here to watch)

Jew of the Week: Lydia Litvyak

The White Lily of Stalingrad

Lydia Litvyak

Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak (1921-1943) was born in Moscow in the early days of the Soviet Union. She was fascinated by flight from a young age, and enrolled in a flying club at 14. She flew her first plane at 15 before heading to a military flight school. After graduating, Litvyak became a flight instructor. In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Litvyak immediately volunteered to join a fighter pilot unit. However, she was rejected based on “lack of experience”, even though she had already trained 45 other pilots! Meanwhile, Marina Raskova established an all-female fighter force, and Litvyak was accepted. In 1942, Litvyak flew her first combat missions. She was soon moved to a standard (male) air force unit. In the battle for Stalingrad, Litvyak scored her first two kills, setting her name in history as the first female fighter pilot to take down an enemy plane. She went on to run 66 combat missions, and logged 16 victories. In 1943, now promoted to junior lieutenant and awarded the Red Star, Litvyak was assigned to the okhotniki, “hunters”, experienced fighter pilots who were given permission to roam the skies on their own, and strike at will. Despite suffering multiple wounds, and recommended to go on medical leave, Litvyak refused. Shortly after, she went on her final mission, and did not return to base. Her whereabouts were unknown. She was either killed or taken captive – the latter possibility preventing her from being awarded the prestigious ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ award. Litvyak was only 22 years old. In 1979, after decades of searching, the remains of her plane and body were found. She had been buried by local villagers, having died from a head wound. In 1990, she was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union, with a rank of senior lieutenant. Nonetheless, some claim that she survived, and either perished in a German prisoner camp, or lived out the rest of her life in secret, marrying and having children. Litvyak’s story has been featured in several fiction novels, and even a stage production. In the Soviet Union, she was affectionately called the “White Lily of Stalingrad”.

Words of the Week

Everything is by Divine Providence. If a leaf is turned over by a breeze, it is only because this has been specifically ordained by God to serve a particular function within the purpose of creation.
– Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov