Rabbi Eitan Eiseman, who lost his son Tzvi Yehuda, an outstanding officer in the Egoz combat unit, 21 years ago, never dreamed that he would have to deal with bereavement once again until his two grandsons – Noam and Yishai Slotki – fell in the battle against Hamas terrorists defending Kibbutz Alumim during the murderous attack by Hamas on October 7.

In an interview with Benny Teitelbaum at Kan Moreshet, Rabbi Eiseman said that he visited the scene of the battles and personally saw the heroism of the two.

"The personal pain is immense and unbearable," he said. "The heartbreak of the entire Israeli people – in such numbers – who ever dreamed that it would be possible to go through another holocaust like this? But at the same time, the heroism of the Israeli people, and the strength with which they and a few others managed to stop the entire war process, is empowering. You understand that a transformation has taken place thanks to their devotion, and now we need to know how to stand up again wisely, to calculate our steps and fight back fiercely."

Rabbi Eiseman retraced his grandsons’ last steps on the day of Simchat Torah: "We know that the two, heroes of an army with unparalleled courage and momentum, seemed to hear the voice of God calling and said, ‘Here I am.’ They heard what was happening on Shabbat, put on uniforms, got into the car and left."

"On Saturday night I was told that they were missing, and no one knew what happened to them. Then their older brother, who was also in Egoz, decided he was going to look for them. He traveled on dangerous side roads and got as far as Alumim – where he found their car. Later we found out that the two of them had saved the residents of the village. You can clearly see, near the bus stop there was a ditch and they lay in it and fought with supreme heroism against the terrorists. Those who found them said that they killed dozens of terrorists."

"What courage they had – and not only them – but all the people who came because of an inner calling. Here you see the Jewish nation at its best, people who were truly brought up to give of themselves, exactly like the devotion of our forefather Avraham. I later understood from their mother that even in conversations at home they always said that a person should save the people of Israel – even at the cost of risking their life," he added.

He spoke about Noam and Yishai, of blessed memory, describing them as, "Two lovely young men. They both served in the security services. Noam left the service and worked in high-tech. They were full of life, full of strength, grace and kindness and all their friends loved them truly. They lived their lives with immense heroism. At the funeral I told their wives that they were part of the greatest heroism. Yishai’s wife told me that it was impossible to stop them because they were imbued with the knowledge that they had to go out to save the people of Israel."

Rabbi Eiseman also seeks to strengthen the spirit of the people and the army through his personal loss.

"Personal bereavement must not be mixed with national bereavement," he stressed. "Something is happening here, and good things will come out of it. There are accounts that we will all have to make – but not now. Right now, we have to stop this terrible plan to eliminate the State of Israel – and we actually are united and sticking to the goal. All the accounts and debates that are compared to that are minimal. The accounts of the blindness that occurred will come. We need to strengthen our soldiers and our leaders because the goal is still ahead of us. We need to know that we will only win with combined strength – suddenly, after all the conflicts, the mighty powers of the people are revealed."

The interviewer reminded Rabbi Eiseman of Aharon the High Priest who fell silent after the death of his two sons, as a parable, and Rabbi Eiseman answered, "There is a stillness of silence when a person does not understand anything – and there is a stillness of depth within the whole great divine process. We are in holy fear, and understand that the divine process is immense. We weep bitterly for the bereaved and strengthen one another – but that is on the personal side. On the national side – God will help us put ourselves in the places that we deserve."