When Capt. Yehuda Weitzman left his home after Shabbat last Saturday night, he was dressed in Hasidic clothing, carrying a suitcase, a military vest and a Torah scroll.
The image of Weitzman, 34, a Ger Hasid, combat soldier and rabbi in the IDF’s Hasmonean Brigade, was posted on social media and quickly drew warm responses online. Now, in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth and ynet, he is telling his story.
“I grew up in Jerusalem and studied in yeshivas and in a kollel,” says Weitzman, a father of three. “In 2018, I enlisted for full military service. I felt I needed to be part of what I call ‘the Temple of our time.’ The Temple once brought all parts of the Jewish people together, and today the army does that. I wanted to be part of it, to reach people’s hearts.”
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Rabbi Yehuda Weitzman with his fellow soldiers: 'I saw what happens to a people that fails to stand guard'
After completing his regular service in a professional role, Weitzman went on to officer training and served in several positions, often taking part in intensive operational activity. Then came October 7.
"I reached the Gaza border communities that same day,” he says. “Afterward, I was assigned to the Shura military base to help care for the fallen. Those were emotionally overwhelming days. I saw what happens when a people fails to stand guard.”
Weitzman later served in several roles, including as a battalion rabbi in brigades that fought, among other places, in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, as well as in another staff position. But then he decided to begin a new track as a regular combat soldier.
“Despite the meaningful role I had during the war, I felt I was more of a 'cheerleader' than a player,” he says. “When the Hasmonean Brigade was established, they allowed reservist combat soldiers to enlist in it. I took off my ranks and did combat basic training from the beginning. I’m a captain, and the officer who was training me was a second lieutenant. But it was worth everything. Now I’m no longer cheering from the sidelines. I’m a fighter, a player on the field.”
Alongside his activity as a combat soldier, Weitzman also helps raise donations for various units. “Since October 7, I’ve seen the mobilization of the entire people of Israel,” he says. “I brought a donation to the IDF even from anti-Zionist Satmar Hasidim in the United States, who donated operational equipment worth tens of thousands of shekels. I was also involved in organizing more than 30 barbecues for soldiers, all from Haredi communities. This beautiful connection is deeply moving.”
He says ties with the Haredi community is felt even in the field. “We have a group of Ger Hasidim, and whenever we’re stuck and need a Torah scroll, equipment or dinner for soldiers, I send a message there and people immediately step up to volunteer and help,” he says. “The Hasidic community is not against the soldiers. The issue is more complicated because of the yeshiva students.”
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Weitzman with fellow combat soldiers: 'Hasidic community is not against the soldiers; it is more complicated because of yeshiva students'
Weitzman is also involved in bringing Torah scrolls to combat areas. “I’ve brought in 19 Torah scrolls, and every time I see how much they bring people together,” he says. “You see traditional soldiers, secular soldiers, religious soldiers, even an officer who is active in the civic-social movement, Brothers in Arms in civilian life, and everyone is moved by the scroll. To me, that is deeply moving,” he says.
He also speaks about a figure who influenced him deeply along the way. “The person who is truly a role model for me is Rabbi Avi Goldberg, who fell in Lebanon,” Weitzman says. “He was both a rabbi and a combat soldier, someone who sought contact. I wanted to be like him: a rabbi who is not only responsible for kashrut, but also leads and is present in the field. It is a source of pride to follow in his path.”