Faces we must not walk past

Stop and read them!

Read what?
Those small remembrance pictures glued onto the giant columns in railway stations, bus stations, or any wall you pass by.

It’s a relatively new phenomenon since October 7.

Young, beautiful faces beaming with vitality, a bright future.
One can imagine that the life of each of these soldiers was only at its beginning, waiting to be built.
And yet these young souls fell al kiddush Hashem.

They ran straight into the fire for this smallest of countries, this sliver of land that, for reasons no one can fully understand, so many still try to conquer.
Not all, of course. We have peace with some of our neighbors. But then there are the others…
The ones who emerge from beneath the earth like worms raised in darkness, taught only one lesson:
“Kill the Jews, old, young, babies, wipe them out.”

So now, while I pause my day and let myself see these faces, our chayalim who gave up their dreams so that we can welcome Shabbat every week and enjoy our families,
I cannot budge. I am anchored to the ground.
I am armored by these holy faces.

It is 2:29 in the afternoon. Candle lighting is in less than two hours.
“Ten more minutes,” I tell myself. “Stay a few minutes more.”

I try to imprint their faces into my memory. Maybe it is a measure of kavod, a moment in my heart, a promise that they are not forgotten.

May the neshamot of these holy warriors shield our nation from above.”