Blood libel in Qatari cartoon From al-Raya (Qatar): The Jew is drinking Palestinian blood.

Remembering Ari Fuld: Miracle In Lebanon; When God performs miracles for us, what should we do in return?

Sunday, September, 16, 2018. I was sitting at my desk in my Jerusalem office when I heard the news editors discussing a terrorist attack that had just occurred. I quickly went online and literally gasped when I saw that Ari Fuld had been murdered by an Arab terrorist. On a personal level, I've known Ari and his family since I was a child as we grew up in the same neighborhood. His lovely parents were my teachers, and his brother Donny is a dear friend of my husband's.  

On a national level, Ari's murder leaves Israel with a gaping void. He was a husband, father, soldier, and a staunch activist on behalf of the Jewish nation. He was in the process of launching an English site that would give Israel fair representation in the media.  

But all of those roles were cut short when he went for a quick shopping trip to the local mall and a 17-year-old terrorist stabbed him. Worried that the terrorist might still hurt others, Ari reached for his weapon and shot at his attacker before collapsing. Even in his last moments, Ari was thinking about others. His brother Hillel Fuld said, “He lived as a hero and died as a hero.”  

May his memory be a blessing for his family and for the nation of Israel.

The following article I wrote a number of years ago reveals Ari's very special character.  

Ari Fuld wasn't surprised when he got his draft call last summer during the Lebanon war. "For me, serving in the Israeli Defense Forces is another puzzle piece in a Jewish person's life." He says. "I literally smile when I get my draft in the mail." He had 12 hours to say good-bye to his wife and four children, including his newborn son. Within eight hours after that he was at the Lebanese border. After one day of intensive training, his unit was going into Lebanon to dismantle a faceless terrorist infrastructure. 

"The night before we went in, I wrote out the Torah portions about going out to war. I needed to instill myself with confidence. I couldn't even tell my wife where I was going as the calls were being intercepted by Hizbullah. I told her I was going to France."

On his first day in Lebanon, he walked seven kilometers over craggy mountains into Lebanon carrying all of his gear, as well as a hundred pound guided missile on his back. There he encountered his first fire-fight. "Terrifying is the only word I can use to describe it," he says "Everywhere we walked there were eyes on our backs. We were the underdogs. We didn't know the terrain."

Secular, religious, it didn't matter. They were all Jews standing raw and exposed before God.

Every day before setting out to battle, Ari and his platoon would recite the Vidui prayer, a prayer of confession usually reserved for Yom Kippur or before one dies. Secular, religious, it didn't matter. They were all Jews standing raw and exposed before God; they literally felt their lives were in the balance.

The Hizbulla guerilla fighters were lying in wait. The next day the Israeli soldiers were moving in deeper.

"We walked 28 kilometers deep into Lebanon," Ari says. "We finally got to the Litani river. It was absolutely beautiful."

Low on food and water, Ari's elite paratrooper unit hid out in an apple orchard for cover and sustenance. It was then that they received warnings that there was a terrorist hotbed of activity around them. They were ordered to go in and clean up the area.

"Our highest commanding officer led off with five soldiers," said Ari. "He said – 'Acharai', you come after me." This legendary characteristic of the Israeli army is no myth. The highest ranking officers stake things out for the underlings, jeopardizing their own safety. "I think the Israeli army is the only army in the world that operates this way," says Ari.

70 yards from where Ari was waiting, his commanding officer was hit in the neck by sniper fire, and missiles were falling all around him and his men.

"We can't let this turn into a kidnapping," said the next-in-command. They sent out a group of evacuation soldiers to try and help the first group, and they were hit by a missile as well. The highest ranking officer who remained turned to Ari.

"Grab four men," he ordered him. "We have to go collect as many bodies as we can. We're not leaving them out there alone."

Ari grabbed four of his comrades. They dropped their gear on the floor and grabbed stretchers. He knew what he was doing. He had made a choice. In moving forward into the inferno of injury and death that lay ahead, he may as well have been walking his own plank. But he wouldn't abandon his comrades.

"We left most of our protection behind, and all of our gear. All I had on me were my Tefillin, a book of Psalms, and some other holy writings. Oh -- and bullets. A whole lot of bullets."

They took only ten steps out of the orchard when they heard the whistle.

Three missiles had landed exactly where the five soldiers had been sitting only moments earlier.

"You hear a whistle and then three seconds later the missile hits," says Ari. "The scary thing is that it gives you no hint as to where it's going to land." Looking behind them, they saw where the missiles had fallen. Three missiles had landed exactly where the five soldiers had been sitting only moments earlier. The gear that they had hastily dropped was decimated.

Missiles were falling behind and in front of the group. It seemed like God was clearing a space for Ari.

They started dragging back wounded officers. Ari called a medic who tried unsuccessfully to stop the bleeding on his commanding officer. That's when Ari felt something trickling down his back. Blood and water were coming out of him.

"I knew that I had been hit by a piece of shrapnel. I also knew that if shrapnel had entered my bloodstream, I would die in a few minutes. My legs buckled."

The medic came and took off Ari's vest. The piece of shrapnel had penetrated his vest, but had gone no further. All he needed was bandaging.

"There was no reason for that piece of shrapnel to stop," Ari says. "It was a piece of Iranian mortar shell." Those things don't stop. But Ari knew that there was someone higher than him calling the shots.

Ari and the remaining members of his unit plodded on in Lebanon a few more days. While he had passed through the real thickets, he still had to deal with gathering food and water in hostile territory that was booby trapped in every corner.

Finally, his beleaguered brigade was ordered home.

When his unit crossed the threshold into Israel, all of the soldiers spontaneously knelt and kissed the holy ground of Israel with palpable emotion. It was more than good to be home.

Ari felt that the man who had entered Lebanon was not the same man who was exiting.

But Ari felt that the man who had entered Lebanon was not the same man who was exiting.

"It was like birth," he said. "It was more powerful than anything I had ever done. Like your wedding day and the birth of your child and more -- all wrapped up into one."

He made a feast of thanksgiving to God. But that was not enough. Ari had encountered miracles. He had been given immeasurable gifts. And now it was payback time.

"I sat with myself first and then I sat with my wife, and I said, ‘Something has got to change. I don't want to go through life as a cycle. If (my life) would have ended right there, there would have been something missing.'"

He took an accounting of his hours each day and realized that only a small minority of his day was involved in pursuit of the spiritual. His religious study had been on a "low flame." He wanted to turn it up to high. And he did, taking a year off from his professional pursuits in order to strengthen himself in his service of God.

"It was financially hard, but I had to do it. I'm happy that I did. In the end, it (being in Lebanon) was nothing less than a blessing for me."

Sometimes the impressions made upon us by inspiration can be fleeting. That's how the term "New Year's resolution" came to be coined. Every year we try to clean the slate and begin again. It is part of the human condition. But Ari will never forget his pledge to repay his gifts. He had said the Vidui confession prayer of Yom Kippur, and he had been granted life. His appreciation is unbridled. And that is where Ari's experience differs from most people. His experience in Lebanon continues to mold his life today.

When his year of study was up he turned down hefty financial incentives and instead joined the staff at Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh, where he could continuously immerse himself in cultivating his spiritual side.

And what about us? During this High Holiday season, we can also file through the list of gifts that God has bestowed upon us and make our own New Year's resolutions to give back for what we have received. Maybe this year we can devote just a little bit more time to the spiritual? Open up a prayer book even after the high holidays have passed? Commit to taking that next step that we think about every year?

In Ari's breakfront, he proudly exhibits the piece of Iranian mortar shrapnel that nearly cost him his life, its serial number still intact. Some people find it strange, seeing it displayed so prominently next to his Kiddush cup and his silver Menorah.

He doesn't find it odd at all. "That warped piece of iron that you're looking at... it looks like a piece of garbage – but that's my miracle."

Ari Fuld, A Lion of Israel, has Been Murdered Today the nation of Israel suffered an unimaginably devastating loss. Ari Fuld was a lion. He was stabbed in the back by a spineless cowardly terrorist, but before leaving the world, Ari was able to chase him down and shoot him. Ari was a warrior through and through.

https://www.facebook.com/AriFuld/videos/10159655756400541/UzpfSTEwMDAwMTMwODM2MTEzNzoxODI0Nzk1MDc3NTc0MDg3/

https://www.facebook.com/AriFuld/videos/10159633031780541/UzpfSTEwMDAwMTMwODM2MTEzNzoxODI0ODA5MjY0MjM5MzM1/

Anything I can possibly write about Ari Fuld will be inadequate. I suspect we are granted the rare opportunity to meet and befriend such a unique soul only once in a lifetime, and I’m afraid my words will not do him justice.

Ari was larger than life. His deeds matched his words. His family, defending the Jewish people, teaching Torah and supporting IDF soldiers – that was his world.When Ari talked, you knew you were hearing the truth, because he believed it with all his heart and soul. Even in the end – despite his critical wounds, Ari chased after the terrorist who had stabbed him, shot and neutralized him, so that the same terrorist wouldn’t harm anyone else

He died the way he lived, a Jewish hero, a hero of Israel. 

Anyone who has followed Ari on social media knows, Ari never seemed to sleep. It started after the Second Lebanon War.

During the war, Ari’s commander ordered him to go rescue his fellow soldiers who were under fire – and Ari ran right into the line of fire and rescued them.

When he got back, he laid back down again in his position and noticed everything was soaking wet. Right after he had gotten up, a mortar fragment landed exactly where he had been laying moments before, puncturing his water bags and equipment.

If Ari hadn’t gotten up to save his fellow soldiers he would never have returned home. That mortar fragment sits on his living room shelf.

From that day on, Ari dedicated his life even more to teaching and defending the Jewish people though social media, speeches, seminars and debates, as well as by raising money for IDF soldiers.

And, God forbid, had you tried to speak lies about Israel or the Jewish people in front of him, Ari would force you to defend your lies or back down – and no one ever successfully defended their lies when Ari confronted them with the facts.

On Thursday nights you’d find him giving virtual tours in the Old City of Jerusalem. Often he would find some random people and drive them down to Hebron for an inspiring and educational tour in the middle of the night. Because that’s simply something Ari did.

For me, Ari is an inspiration. He was invincible. You knew that entering a room with him, no matter how many terrorists might be around the corner, you were going to be safe, because Ari was with you and he always knew what to do.

Ari was a pillar. A rock.

Ari is my friend and I don’t understand what just happened. This doesn’t make sense.

May God avenge his blood.

BCC’s Most Significant Jewish News & Events of 2017-2018, 5779

BCC’s Most Significant Jewish News & Events of 2017-2018, 5779

1. United States President Donald J. Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel: “Israel is a sovereign nation with the right, like every other sovereign nation, to determine its own capital.”

2. United States President Donald J. Trump’s moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, keeping his pre-election promise.

3. United States President Donald J. Trump’s commutation of the 27-year prison sentence of Rabbi Sholom Rubashkin on Chanukah.

4. United States President Donald J. Trump’s withdrawing from the disastrous Iran JCPOA nuclear deal

5. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s incredible PowerPoint Presentation on Iran: “I’m here to tell you one thing: Iran lied. Big time.”

6. Israel acquisition of Iran’s secret nuclear archives in a daring Mossad mission.

7. United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s courageous speech exposing Arab lies and terrorism at the UN Security Council: “Those who suggest that the Gaza violence has anything to do with the location of the American embassy are sorely mistaken. Rather, the violence comes from those who reject the existence of the state of Israel in any location. Such a motivation – the destruction of a United Nations Member State – is so illegitimate as to not be worth our time in the Security Council, other than the time it takes to denounce it.”

8. United States President Donald J. Trump’s change of former U.S. policies regarding UNRWA and its false refugee narrative.

9. United States President Donald J. Trump’s  passage of the Taylor Force Act, co-sponsored in the United States Senate in 2016 by U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham, Dan Coats, and Roy Blunt, officially cutting funding to the Palestinian authority over payments to terrorists and their families.

10. United States President Donald J. Trump’s repudiating  the demand that the descendants of the Palestinians who fled or were displaced – now allegedly 5.3 million – be entitled to return to Israel. A Palestinian right of return has been one of the central demands by the Arabs although no Israeli government could contemplate such a move, which would amount to the demographic destruction of the Jewish state.

11. The death of one of the Gedolei Hador, Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, the long-time leader of the Torah world at age 104.

12. The tragic deaths of engaged couple: Yisrael Levin & Elisheva Kaplan

13. The tragic deaths of Aliza Azan, 39 along with her sons Moshe Azan, 11, Yitzah Azan, 7, and daughter Henrietta Azan in the Flatbush fire during Chanukah, sparked by an un-left Menorah.

14. The incredible archeological discovery of the Seal impressions and tower re-dating in City of David, the oldest area of Jerusalem, rom roughly the time of King Hezekiah (700 B.C.) to the end of the Judean monarchy (586 B.C.). One of the sealings bears the name of Achiav ben Menachem, which suggests a connection to two kings of the northern kingdom: Ahab and Menachem. Archaeologists believe this is evidence that refugees from the northern kingdom of Israel found their way into senior positions in the southern kingdom of Judea.

15. The State of Israel marked the 70th anniversary of their independence.

16. The State of Israel passing the Nation-State law, which specifies the nature of the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

17. A large 220-pound chunk of stone dislodges, falling out of the Kotel, Jerusalem's Western Wall, barely missing worshipper.

18. Hamas’ low-tech terror kites and arson balloons that set the south of Israel on fire.

19. The battle of the Two Uncle Moishys: Who is the real Uncle Moishy? That's the question that was recently thrown at the doorstep of the Machon Le'Hora'ah, a private beis din in Monsey, NY, led by Rabbi Avraham Boruch Rosenberg. A business dispute between creators of the favorite children's entertainment character has led the rabbis to rule on who owns the iconic brand and trade name "Uncle Moishy and the Mitzvah Men."

20. The Viral Video that Ridiculed a Chassidic Boy: A disturbing video showing a young Chassidic boy being ridiculed with foul language about his looks has gone viral, drawing condemnation of the person who filmed it. The clip showed the boy walking down what seemed to be a street in Brooklyn and being met at an adult ranting about his haircut - a shaved head under the kippah and long payos, a typical Chassidic look. "I'd be crying if I looked like that too bro," the man behind the camera is heard saying to the boy, and continues to use profanity in talking about "what they be doing to you."

21. The State of Israel’s incredible success in its desalination program, which provides 80% of its needs. Israel also discovered significant gas reserves and has become an energy exporter.

22. The State of Israel’s deepening relations with India, China, Japan and nations in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia – most of whom had previously shunned Israel.

23. The State of Israel’s close relationship and liaison with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB agent. After his second election, Putin chose Israel as the first country to visit, sent greetings to his former countrymen and even visited the Western Wall.

24. The State of Israel’s largely clandestine relationship and sharing of intelligence with hitherto bitterly hostile Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf states.

25. BCC published his book "Grieving and Healing: through the Prism of Torah; A bereaved parent's spiritual journey beyond pain & grief - in loving memory of Hindy Cohen" now available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Grieving-Healing-bereaved-parents-spiritual/dp/1981710671/

26. The death of BCC’s mother, Mrs. Mira (Hager) Cohen Wein, the wife of Rabbi Berel Wein (Jerusalem), former wife of Rabbi Dr Samuel Cohen zt”l and mother of Baruch Cohen (“BCC”) (Los Angeles), Michael Cohen (Brooklyn), and Miriam Silberberg (Monsey). A proud descendant of the Vizhnitz Kosov Ontinia Zalishchik Rizhin Chassidic dynasties, she was a Holocaust survivor of the Transnistria concentration camp.