By Rukhl Schaechter November 3, 2023

A tweet of an Israeli soldier addressing American Jews in Hasidic Yiddish has gone viral, garnering over 24,000 views in less than 24 hours.

Judging from his dialect, it’s highly likely that the unnamed soldier was raised in the Hasidic community. Since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on Oct. 7, about 2,000 Haredi men with no military experience have volunteered to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Most of them are past the age when Israelis are typically drafted, but the army is accepting them because of the scope of the war.

Haredi Jews generally refuse to join the military due to strict religious observance, but many of them believe that this battle with Hamas is an existential one for the Jewish nation.

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The soldier in the video, however, is probably no longer part of the community, judging by the tattoo on his right arm. (Tattoos are forbidden according to Jewish law.) He also looks as young and fit as a non-Haredi soldier, indicating that he probably joined the military before the war broke out.

In the tweet, the soldier says: “My dear fellow Jews in America, we need to be strong, these are hard times, but we have nothing to worry about. We believe in the Holy One blessed be He. He’s always with us. Thanks to your prayers, we’re going to break the enemy. We Jews just need to show solidarity, help each other. This way we’ll come back stronger and, with God’s help, the Messiah will come. Amen.”

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