2 Famous Swords Of Iron War Widows Get Engaged

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Two of the most famous war widows have gotten engaged during the week of 15 Av and will be rebuilding their homes in the near future.

Hadas Levinstern is the widow of Elisha Levinstern, who was born in New York and made Aliya to Israel with his family at the age of 8.

Elisha, a successful software engineer, was also an ordained rabbi and an advanced Torah scholar. He was committed to learning the Daily Rambam and was known as a pillar of the community in Harish, where he taught extensively. He internalized his Torah study, developing not only his knowledge but his character. He also made it a priority to have older, wiser mentors that he could learn from and emulate. Hadas mentioned that Rav Eliyahu Blumenzweig, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yerucham, profoundly influenced Elisha and played a significant role in the growth of his spiritual world.

Elisha, who was 38 at his passing in December 2023, had been on his way to rescue soldiers wounded in battle when an anti-tank missile fired by Hamas killed him. In addition to his wife, Elisha left behind 6 children—the youngest is 11 months and the oldest is 12, preparing for his bar mitzvah later in the year. What makes this story even more extraordinary is that Elisha was exempt from serving because of their family size but chose to volunteer to save Am Yisrael.

The final picture of Elisha epitomizes his lofty character. Taken just hours before his death, it shows him studying the Rambam with deep concentration despite the circumstances

Elisha Levinstern HYD

This week Hadas got engaged to Hod Reichart, who lost his wife Chagit a few days after she gave birth to their daughter nine months ago (he also has three older daughters). Hod lives on the same street as Hadas in Harish and the two ultimately became close and decided to remarry.

Hadas Levinstern and Hod Reichart

Remarkably, Elisha had even given his blessing to such a marriage before his death. Hadas recalls that “When Elisha entered Gaza, right before he left, he said to me, ‘Hadassie, if something happens to me – get married as soon as possible.’ I started crying,” Levinshtern recalls. “I said to him, what do you mean ‘as soon as possible’? Open the window and marry the first person who walks by?”. Despite this, Hadas knew that she was going to remarry, despite her unending love for her first husband.

“We both deeply love our previous partners.”, Hadas said in a Ynet interview this week. “Not loved in the past tense — we love them. They help us, they don’t interfere. They’re with us and very present. There’s not a date they’re not with us. We cry over them, we miss them together, and we talk about them freely all the time. As freely as possible.

“When Elisha was killed, I closed the door,” she says, starting to tear up. “And now, as that door begins to open, I’m ready to touch the pain because I know there’s someone who will catch me. I showed Hod letters that Elisha wrote me. We both came from good relationships, and we know how to love.”

“That’s the great wonder,” Reichert adds. “It’s a miracle I never imagined or expected.”

Naomi Haimov is the widow of Aharon Haimov, an MDA ambulance driver who was murdered on Oct. 7th as he raced to save lives in Ofakim. Haimov (25) left two young children and a brokenhearted widow. Haimov wrote this week that “I didn’t think it was possible to laugh, to rejoice and to love again. I didn’t believe that somebody could live with the great love that I have for Aharon in my heart. But then it came. The one who was capable, ready and able. To think that I once again can love and be loved.”

Aharon Haimov HYD

Haimov shared her marriage proposal from Avner Yosefi, a Kashrus supervisor from Jerusalem, on X.

מרגש הצעת הנישואין של נעמי חיימוב שבעלה אהרן – חרדי מתנדב מד”א נהרג בשביעי באוקטובר pic.twitter.com/BvIQI3Nasb

— הפרגוד (@moshepargod) August 11, 2025