Chabad Shluchim in Givat Ze’ev are mourning the loss of Staff Sgt. Dvir Emmanueloff, who died of wounds sustained in a mortar shell attack near Jabalya in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
The IDF said that the Golani Brigade soldier’s death was the first fatality in the ground operation in Gaza, which was launched Saturday. The families of Emanuelof, and a soldier who is in critical condition, had both been notified, according to the IDF.
“I was his teacher for reading the Torah,” Mrs. Ayelet Bachar of the local Chabad House, told COLlive. “He was a very good boy, from the quiet ones in the class.”
Emmanueloff, 22, prayed every Shabbos in the Morrocan Darchei Noam shul in the large urban settlement located just north of Jerusalem.
Rabbi Chaim Bachar told COLlive: “Dvir was part of a young vibrant group who liked to serve in the IDF. All of them served in the elite units like Golani and General Headquarters reconnaissance platoon. They were always together.”
The tragic news was given to Rabbi Bachar this morning. “I’m walking around the whole day and can’t grasp the news. Dvir used to come to the Chabad House very often and attended our Farbrengens.”
Emmanueloff’s funeral will be held on Sunday night at 11 p.m., at the military cemetery on Mt. Herzl, Jerusalem.
Boruch Dayan Haemes, may Hashem keep the soldiers safe, and bring them home alive and well to their families.