SUPER-HEROES

 

The brothers Elchanan and Menachem Klemanson, and their nephew Itiels’ entry into the carnage at Kibbutz Be’eri began on  Saturday, October 7, when news began to spread that a major security incident was underway in southern Israel. As more details emerged, it became clear that large numbers of Hamas and other Gazan terrorists had entered Israel from Gaza and were attacking nearby communities.

The three Reservists, at the initiative of Elchanan, (a captain in the Israeli army),  left their homes to help save the lives of Gaza border residents. Equipped with bulletproof vests and M16 rifles, they rescued dozens of kibbutz Be’eri residents from the hands of Hamas terrorists, before Elhanan was killed. “With extraordinary courage they saved  entire families”.

                                                                            

The Klemansons are from Otniel, a religious, politically right-wing settlement in the Judean mountains, 50 kilometers east of kibbutz Be’eri. The kibbutz, in contrast, is a largely secular, left-wing community, founded in 1946 - with the ideal of creating a collective, egalitarian, agricultural society.

The Israel Prize, initiated in 1953,  is an award bestowed annually at the close of Independence Day, It is regarded as the state's most prestigious  civilian honor. This year’s honoree, who was chosen to give the closing speech  at the ceremony, was Menachem Kalmanson. He  was awarded the Israel prize for civic heroism, together with his nephew, Itial Zohar.

The following is a very small part of Menachem’s stunning speech:

“We are gathered together at the ceremony which concludes the rebirth of the People of Israel - beginning with Passover, through the Holocaust, Remembrance Day and Independence Day. This Ceremony, which encompasses the indomitable spirit of our people, answers to the question ‘why’ - why are we here? A question that echoed throughout the past year, as dissension and dispute raged in the country and threatened to tear us apart from within. The question “Are we still brothers?” continued to echo, until  the sirens of Simchat Torah tore through the skies, and our enemies - awaiting our demise - crawled out of their holes and attacked.

When we fought hour after hour we didn’t ask ourselves why we are doing this, the “why’ was clear. In the middle of the night we were already exhausted but we couldn’t stop. As Itiel said: “When you know your brother is in danger you don’t really have a choice.”

We will not abandon our brothers in the north and south. Our brothers who fight, and their families who support them - our brothers who fought and were wounded - those with visible wounds and those whose wounds are hidden. We will not forget our citizens, fighters of the  Defense Patrols in ‘Otef’ Aza (Gaza envelope) and  the Armed Forces, who fell in battle. Their courageous deeds will be forever recorded in the book of chronicles. We will not forget our brothers and sisters who were abducted by the hands of murderers, and every day will pray and work for their return. We cannot continue to fight without seeing the good in this nation, as the blood of our brothers cries out from the ground, as we are our brother’s keeper.

After he had saved dozens of people, my brother Elchanan fell in battle. He had paid the supreme sacrifice. Our family is in great pain, but my brother knew very well why he acted as he did. Nobody forced us to go there.

I will conclude with my brother’s few hasty words he left with his wife Shlomit”:                               

‘I believe in our way of life, I believe in the return of our people to our country. I believe that every small act can lead to something greater. If I should die in the war for our country, it should be recorded that it’s not just about another war or intifada, or other terrorist act. We are speaking about the same war forced on our country  which has been continuous for almost 150 years. I  try to be a man, to be a Jew.’