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DERSHP MISSION 2019
The next day, we had the honor of meeting IDF General Bentzi Gruber5 in southern Israel.
He delivered a compelling talk about his long service in the IDF, and included the story of
his mother’s survival during the dark days in Europe. He conveyed his pride in getting up
every day to defend the Jewish State; that, together with learning about his mother’s ordeal,
left everyone speechless. General Gruber then gave us a tour of an IDF tank and allowed us to
explore it ourselves, inside and out. Dayenu!
We then proceeded to a mock village 3, similar to those in Gaza, and experienced what it
was like to be in the Hamas “terror tunnels,” as they were called by the Israeli government.
This was followed by lunch in Sderot, where we viewed art made out of the missiles that were
fired by Palestinian Arab terrorists from Gaza into Israel, aimed at civilians. From destruction
we make art. Rabbi Dovid Fendel, spoke with us about the founding of the city of Sderot,
a beautiful place with an impressive yeshiva, which Rabbi Fendel heads. This yeshiva was
damaged just a few months ago by a Hamas rocket. Thank God, the Rabbi and his students
were not injured. Dayenu!
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