The Short Vort by Rabbi Eisenman

'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few'

(Winston Churchill- August 20, 1940)

Over the phone, I could hear the electronic doors closing on the light rail in Yerushalayim.

I asked my son, Meir, "Where are you going?"

"Har Herzl."

My heart sank as tears welled up in my eyes.

I knew Har Herzel was the military cemetery.

It was Sunday the 10^th of Sivan, and on the previous Shabbos, eleven IDF Kedoshim had fallen in battle.

"Whose levaya are you going to?" I asked.

Meir, a tour guide by profession, sadly told me that his good friend and colleague, Elon Weiss, was one of the eleven Kedoshim.

"I spoke to him a few days before Shavuos. He was stationed in Gaza." Meir said somberly.

"We were colleagues as tour guides."

Elon Weiss only moonlighted as a tour guide.

Most of his day, he taught Torah at the yeshiva in Maaleh Adumim.

He loved each Talmid as if they were his Ben Yachid, and the talmidim reciprocated with great love for their rebbe.

Elon was 49 years old, a father of seven, and a grandfather.

He was the first soldier/Saba to be killed in the war.

Elon's reserve unit was activated on Simchas Torah and sent to the Northern Front for four months before discharge.

Elon wanted to host a Seudas Hodaya after his return from the Northern front.

 However, he was a man of modest means, and he felt compelled to contribute whatever extra money he had to his fellow soldiers who were risking their lives on the front lines.

When my son Meir realized this, he helped sponsor the Seuda with funds from Keren Achdut.

This organization, founded by my son and his wife Malka, along with others, provides support to the families of soldiers.

Elon returned to teaching Torah and his precious family.

He was privileged on Lag B'Omer to walk his daughter Racheili to the Chupah, and in just a few short weeks after that, he was planning to walk another daughter to the chupah.

However, all that changed when he heard that the 8th Reserve Armored Brigade was called up again and was needed in Gaza.

This was a few short weeks before Shavuos.

Elon, a tankist who never shirked his responsibility, insisted on rejoining his reserve unit in Gaza.

Some asked him why he was going back.

Being a father of seven and a grandfather, he had a legitimate and valid exemption from his reserve unit.

However, Elon felt that if the brigade was being activated, he needed to be with them.

He justified his actions by quoting the passuk:

“הַאַֽחֵיכֶ֗ם יָבֹ֙אוּ֙ לַמִּלְחָמָ֔ה וְאַתֶּ֖ם תֵּ֥שְׁבוּ פֹֽה”-

“Should your brothers go to fight in the war, while you sit here?” (BaMidbar 32:6)

This was Elon- when others were risking their lives, he knew that his blood "was no redder than theirs," and he, too, must rejoin his unit and be Nosei Ol- bear the burden with his fellow soldiers.

On Shabbos, Parshas Nasso, his tank was hit with an explosive.

The blast killed Elon.

Hundreds of Jews of all shades attended the levaya; there are no divisions at a funeral; we are all one people.

At the Shiva, one of the men in his unit recalled how, on Shavuos night, Elon had gathered the battle-weary soldiers together to learn Torah.

This is what he recounted to the family:

"The soldiers were exhausted after a day of battle, yet Elon, although he was the oldest, aroused them from their slumber.

"All of Klal Yisroel is learning Tikun Leil Shavuos right now. Should we not join with them even though we are in war-torn Gaza?" Elon declared.

Soon, Elon delivered an impromptu Shiur to his fellow soldiers.

The men joined together as the sweetness of the Torah enveloped them, allowing them to escape the dangers that surrounded them on all sides for the moment.

At the end of the shiur, before they returned for a few hours of sleep on the battle-torn ground, Elon grasped the hands of his fellow soldiers and began a spirited rikud- dance.

As the sweet niggun of V" Samchta B'Chagecha wafted through the streets of Gaza, Elon continued to encourage the sweat-drenched soldiers to dance more and more as he announced, "Let's do one more time around, who knows when we will have the opportunity to ever celebrate Shavuous in Gaza again?"

As the soldier concluded his final memory, he looked at Elon's children.

"You children must know that Tikun Leil Shavuos and that rikud changed all of our lives. We will never forget it.

 Your father's love of Torah, his enthusiasm for Mitzvahs, and his Mesiras Nefesh for Klal Yisroel will live on forever."

May we be inspired to greater levels of Torah and Chesed in the Zechus of Elon Weiss HY'D.

Elon ben Giora, ZT"L

Hashem Yinkom Damo,

Yehi Zichro Baruch