JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The brokenhearted youths who accompanied Hallel Menachem and Yagel Yaakov Yaniv HyD to their final resting place on Monday are at the forefront of Israel’s struggle for survival. Many of them serve in crack military units where they face the enemy in combat, and at the same time live in outlying settlements surrounded by hostile neighbors. The awesome courage they exhibit is required at all times – both when they are entering Shechem and Jenin to root out cruel, merciless terrorists and when they are hitchhiking to their homes from danger spots in Judea and Samaria which have all too often been the scenes of ruthless terrorist attacks.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Yet despite all of the crushing disappointments they encounter when trying to build their lives in Israel’s heartland, despite the left-wing’s determination to uproot every new outpost they establish, despite the horrendous losses of friends and relatives in terrorist outrages, these youth continue to soldier on and build the land of Israel. Dunam by dunam, house by house, they have built up hundreds of flourishing communities, many of which boast yeshivos and batei midrash crammed with idealistic young men dedicated to Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael and Torat Yisrael.
Seeing them singing Acheinu and Ana Be’Koach at the funeral of their beloved friends, one begins to see the source of the spiritual strength which enables them to maintain such huge responsibilities and burdens. In Israel these people are called Melach Ha’aretz, “salt of the earth”, an expression which describes good, honest, reasonable and unassuming individuals, but also hints at the secret of their success- they are attached to the land, they love it so much that they will put their lives on the line to defend and protect it.