Elkana’s Beloved Dirt as told by a Brother of Elkana Newlander HY”D
[I spent tonight, Tisha b’Av eve, at the Heroism Tent, where I, along with several hundred others, heard the Book of Lamentations followed by some chapters from the Book of Lamentations 5784: family members’ heartbreaking stories of their own fallen IDF soldiers.
One of the presenters was Yedidya, a brother of Canadian-born, 24-year-old Sergeant Major Elkana Newlander of Efrat. Elkana was a Bar Ilan law student who was drafted on October 7th to manage supply logistics in Beeri. Elkana had spent 10 years volunteering as a medic with Magen David Adom alongside his father Avri, and when Elkana arrived and saw the devastation all around he convinced his commander that he could do far more good as a medic. Elkana quickly set up an impromptu triage to sort through and send each patient for the right kind of medical care as quickly as possible, saving many of the injured.
After October 7th, Elkana gave up his office job in the reserves and volunteered to join the elite Egoz commando unit as a combat medic. This past January, Elkana HY”D was tragically killed by a terrorist’s bullet in Gaza, while courageously protecting the soldiers, state, and people of Israel.
Here is a poignant story that Yedidya, Elkana’s brother, shared with us about something very close to Elkana’s heart: Buckets of Dirt]
“We have a neighbor who works at the Temple Mount Sifting Project. The Jerusalem Wakf tries to destroy all archeological proof of a Jewish connection to the Temple Mount. And day by day, bucket by bucket, the Sifting Project is working to find and preserve proof of the Holy Temple and the vibrant Jewish Jerusalem of which it was once the epicenter.
“At first Elkana thought sifting dirt with our neighbor was a nice experience. But then, over time, Elkana fell in love with it. The thing he loved the most about it was holding Jewish history in his own two hands. There were times Elkana would return home with a nail or with a rusty shapeless piece of metal from the Sifting Project. And he would be so excited.
“The truth is it took the family a long time to get his enthusiasm. But Elkana managed slowly to explain to us that this wasn’t just a nail or rusty piece of metal. These artifacts were greeting cards from the Second Temple. From Yehuda the Maccabee, from Hillel the Elder, from Jeremiah the prophet, from the High Priest straight out of the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur.
“We came to understand that Elkana found meaning and connection with the Jewish people and our history through his bucket of dirt in a way that’s not always easy to find through a holy book or praying in synagogue.
“During one slow ambulance shift, Elkana took his fellow ambulance volunteers to sift dirt with him for around 45 minutes. The communication among ambulance team members can often remain technical. And at the Sifting Project that day Elkana managed to share something that was deeply meaningful to him with his team. A piece of his heart.
“Elkana would also bring bags of dirt from the Temple Mount to his high-school Rosh Yeshiva. Whenever he would officiate at the weddings of his former students, the Rosh Yeshiva would rub a bit of the dirt from the Temple Mount on the groom’s forehead instead of the traditional ashes as a symbol of the couple’s mourning for the destroyed Temple even at their moments of greatest joy.”
On my way home from the Heroism Tent tonight, I thought about how this incredible young man will never be able to establish a family of his own. But in Elkana’s merit, so many families were saved and so many new families will be established by the many people he sent for medical treatment on October 7th. And in Elkana’s merit, so many new marriages with be sanctified with dirt from the Temple Mount on the groom’s forehead.
A reminder that no matter how many incredible Jews, like Elkana, are killed al kiddush Hashem, by our enemies…
And no matter how many buckets of dirt our enemies throw away…
They will never succeed in destroying the Jewish people and our eternal connection with the Beit HaMikdash and Jerusalem. That was the promise Elkana discovered within his beloved dirt.
May his memory be a comfort to his grieving parents, Avri and Nava, as well as his entire family and community.
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AMEN!
This article is so moving! Thanks for sharing it with us.