This One Is Not Just A Face Or A Name

IDF Soldier Killed in Action Near Ramallah
by Gil Ronen

(IsraelNN.com) A soldier from the IDF Duchifat Battalion was killed when terrorists opened fire on an army force at Bir Zeit, near Ramallah, in the Binyamin region on Wednesday night. His name was released for publication on Thursday morning: Noam Adin Rechter Levi, 20, from Mitzpeh Netofa in the Galilee.

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Thank God soldiers don't die very often. But even when they do, how many times do we know them? Usually, we'll see their picture in the paper, be sad, think of him every Yom HaZikaron, but that's it.
Well, I know this one. We were together for a year, maybe a little less. He was in the Nov 06 draft, but because he was a medic, he came to my draft to finish training. He was in the 2nd division (machlakah 2), while I was in the 3rd (Machlakah 3), so we for basic and advanced training, a lot of the day we weren't together. But we talked alot, chilled, hung out. Noam was a great person, and great friend. He always cheered me up when I needed it, he always made me laugh. He was Canadian too, and therefore spoke English, which for me in the army was huge (I was the only American). I didn't see him so much, we weren't SO close, but we chilled a lot, & let me tell you, he was a really speical "neshama," as they say in Hebrew.

E-l malei rachamim...Goodbye Noam.
I miss you man.

HaShem Yikom Damecha.