Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi participated in the 30th annual bar-mitzvah and bat-mitzvah ceremony for IDF orphans at Neot Kedumim near Ben Shemen Forest Wednesday.

"I come here today in order to celebrate this meaningful day for you, but I am also here on behalf of those who are no longer with us," he said.

The children toured Neot Kedumim, the Biblical Landscape Reserve, and received a tallit, tefillin and a Torah. The IDF's Chief Rabbi, Brig.-Gen. Avi Ronsky, was also present.