Rabbi Dr Reach told me a story that Rabbi Hopfer told him.
A חיל בודד, a lone soldier, is one that has no immediate family in Israel.
In the initial fighting a soldier was killed and the soldier’s father from the USA was on route on an El Al flight to his son’s funeral. He made it to the tail end of the funeral and told the following story.
He is religious. Lubavitch. He’s never before asked anyone to put on tefillin.
This time, on his flight he wanted to do an extra mitzvah to honor his son. He mustered the energy and asked his seatmate if he’d be interested in putting on tefillin. The man said no thank you. Then he asked the next seatmate and got the same response. They asked him why he approached them. He told them about his son and that he was looking to do extra mitzvos to honor him. They both said we changed our minds.
Then the word got out in the plane. Eventually a line developed in the aisles with many people wanting to put on tefillin to honor his son.
Not long after there was an announcement from the pilot saying that he was handing over the cockpit to his copilot so that he can also go put on the tefillin!
As much as the world has become more and more depraved, the Israelis (in my narrow opinion) have become holier.
This week on a Fox News broadcast, an Israeli army spokesman, before starting his answer, said in Hebrew, ה’ שפתי תפתח… and told Fox News that was saying a short prayer to give him the wisdom to properly answer her questions.
With the amazing unity of all Jews around the world, the RBSO should protect every Jew from harm and totally eradicate every member of our foes. שומר ה’ את כל אוהביו ואת כל הרשעים ישמיד.