First Lieutenant (Reserve, US Army), Dan Nadel received a notable honor Sunday. He was chosen by the International Young Israel Movement (IYIM) to donate a Sefer Torah to an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) unit in a special ceremony at the base. 

Nadel, a 94-year-old resident of Jerusalem, is a five-time decorated hero of World War II, who led troops in the Battle of the Bulge and in the liberation of France from the Nazis. 

IYIM picked Dan for this honor as a mark of his heroic bravery as a soldier as well as for the occasion of his birthday.

“We are very humbled to be able to honor such a great hero and such a great man,” Ceec Harrishburg, the President of IYIM said of the movement’s decision. 

Because Dan was a Commander in the US Combat Engineers, IYIM deemed it especially appropriate for this specific Torah to be donated to the IDF Combat Engineers.  

The unit, which fought courageously in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge this past summer, was responsible for leading the detection and destruction of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s “terror tunnels.”

The ceremony was held at the Yishai Base outside of Jerusalem and was attended by Nadel’s family and friends as well as grateful army officials and soldiers. 

The joyous occasion began with speeches from General B (commander of the Combat Engineers), Rabbi Yuval (Rabbi of the Central Command) and First Lieutenant Nadel himself.

The speeches were followed by a procession with the Torah changing hands among Dan’s friends, the unit’s soldiers and commanders, with musical accompaniment by the IDF Rabbinical choir. The procession ended at the Base Synagogue.

“We are always glad to contribute another Sefer Torah to the IDF. As the army Rabbi stated: ‘Next time this unit will enter Gaza not only with tractors and other equipment but with their own Torah as well,'” said IYIM Executive Director Daniel Meyer.

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