Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

I am not a hero. I am just a regular guy who was granted the opportunity by G-d to be placed on the stage of history and to witness one of the greatest moments of my lifetime.

Let me start from the beginning.

I joined my unit – Yasar Darom – at the beginning of November 2023. This is a unit made up of combat soldiers tasked with collecting the remains of fallen soldiers from the battlefield, as well as searching for and bringing back the bodies of fallen hostages.

Honestly, I was nervous when I first joined. I did not know how I would react to the horrible images and the brutal work that would push me to my physical and emotional limits. Yet mission after mission, I took great pride in the work we did. Despite the sense of purpose, missions sifting through cemeteries ended in heartbreak. We found none of our brothers or sisters to bring home.

That all changed in late January.

We’d been on call for a month, sworn to secrecy given the international sensitivity. There was one last brother to bring back – Hashem waited for the parasha of Yosef’s remains returning to Eretz Yisrael. Like Moshe with Yosef – whom he never knew yet felt dedicated to returning – we never knew Ran Gvili z”l. Yet we felt an unbreakable connection and deep responsibility to bring him home.

I was placed on the navigation team, tasked with going in first to mark the suspected graves where Ran z”l might be buried. We entered early Sunday morning. Using intelligence maps, we carefully mapped out the possible strips where he could be. Like the proverbial needle in a haystack, without narrowing the options our chances of success would have been slim.

Once our work was done, the rest of the team entered. Soldiers from many different units arrived with determination and resolve. The excavators began their work, and we carefully went through the bodies one by one – with delicacy and precision. One wrong step, and we might miss him forever.

By nighttime, I was exhausted and disappointed. We had not yet located Ran, and the work ahead of us seemed endless. Would we ever find him?

In the early hours of the morning, many of us were taken out of Gaza and back to base to rest briefly, while others remained behind to continue the work. When we returned around noon, 700 bodies awaited examination

Before beginning, we took a few moments to daven Mincha and ask G-d to help us in our holy mission. Someone had missed Kedusha, so we answered together and recited it again. Then we prepared to return to work.

I was standing with our commander when a rabbi from the unit securing us approached. With great emotion, he told us that in the merit of the two Kaddishim we had just said, b’ezrat Hashem, we would merit to find Ran within the next three hours. As it turned out, we found him in one.

We returned to work, and I was assigned to an area where many bodies had been excavated overnight and needed to be organized before examination. A few meters away was the stand where dentists were using x-rays to confirm or rule out each identity. I noticed a small commotion building – more and more people gathering. We knew we had to keep working, but at a certain point, someone came over and said that we were 97% certain we had found Ran z”l.

I couldn’t help myself – I joined the soldiers standing nearby. I’ll never forget the moment they confirmed it. The exhaustion vanished. Everyone wept – not just for Ran, but for everything this moment carried. For every victim of October 7th. Every hostage. Every fallen soldier. For all the holy blood we’d collected over two-and-a-half years. For every body we’d dug up that wasn’t one of ours.

A flag was placed over Ran’s body. A diamond taken from us was finally found. He would go home to his family and be buried among heroes.

Shortly afterward, we gathered around Ran as the first Kaddish was recited. We put our arms around one another and sang Ani Ma’amin. It was this faith that gave us the strength to do what we have done throughout the war, and which allowed us to bring our dear brother home – the last of the hostages.

This is Am Yisrael. People who go to places no human being should ever have to go – yet we do so with love, devotion, and absolute resolve. Countless tefillot accompanied us on this journey, and countless tears were shed when the news of the mission’s success spread.

To me, this is the secret of the Jewish people: Netzach Yisrael lo yishaker. Let our enemies know – the nation of Israel will always prevail. Our spirit is stronger than ever, and the love and commitment we have toward one another is our greatest weapon. Ashreinu.

Rabbi Tzvi Wohlgelernter is the Rabbi of Kehilat Mizrachi-JLIC of Givat Shmuel and is the Rosh Beit Midrash and Rosh Kollel at Yeshivat Torah V’Avodah.