(Day 571) Swords of Iron -“😢So Many Fallen Heroes”

Chaim starts by saying it’s an honor to wear the uniform of the IDF and defend his country, and on Yom Ha’Yikaron, we honor the 25,420 who have been killed in action since 1860, when the modern State of Israel began to take casualties in the conflict against those who wished to snuff it out.

But Chaim says it’s not just those who were killed in action, it’s also those who were wounded and spent the rest of their lives scarred by those wounds. It’s also the families of those who suffered because of this. We also remember the 5,229 who have been killed in terror attacks and the many more who have been wounded.

However, we also remember what it was all for, all the suffering and death and wounds and terror wasn’t in vain. It enabled the State of Israel to come into existence, to flourish and to provide a home for millions of people where they could have a good life.

In this context, Chaim quotes I Samuel 25:29; Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the pocket of a sling.

Chaim says that this is the verse which is read at IDF military funerals, and he thinks it’s very appropriate.

Chaim also quotes Isaiah 25:8; He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.

With these verses in mind, Chaim declares that Israel is not going anywhere, it’s going to live out it’s God-given destiny and no one or nothing on this earth will prevent that from happening.