Aly Silverberg and I were lucky enough to participate in the Celebrate Israel trip that took place during Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’azmaut. We knew being in Israel on such important days would be life changing for us but we didn’t realize to what extent until the day we arrived. On Yom HaZikaron, we visited Mount Hertzel and were guided through the resting places of many fallen soldiers. Our tour guide gave us candles to light and rest on the graves of the fallen soldiers and show our respect. As Aly and I walked through Mount Hertzel, we reached a soldier’s grave and searched his story. His name was Chanael and he served in the Israeli Defence Force as a combat soldier. He was twenty years old when he fell in the line of duty. Aly and I decided we would lay our candles on his grave and sat for a moment of silence with him. After a minute passed, a man in uniform came up to us, followed by 15 other people. He asked us what we were doing at this grave and if we knew the person who was buried there. We told him that we didn’t. Explaining that we were part of a Birthright group showing respect for the fallen, and further explained why we chose to place our candles on his grave. That is when we found out that the man was Chanael’s commander in the IDF. He then asked us if we wanted to stay and listen to Chanael’s story, as he had come to tell it to the group of people that were with him. Aly and I left Mount Hertzel speechless and overcome with emotion. It took us a long time to process the experience we just had. Of all the fallen soldiers on Mount Hertzel, we had chosen Chanael and were given the opportunity to hear his story first hand from someone who knew him and worked with him closely. We know this will be a moment in our lives that we will never forget, no matter where we found ourselves in the world and we have Birthright to thank for that
– Naomi Abrahams