אלול בגדוד החרדי "נצח יהודה"

On Thursday, soldiers from the IDF's haredi Netzah Yehuda unit (Nachal Haredi) took a trip to Jerusalem in honor of the Hebrew month of Elul.

The day began with a trip to the Western Wall and ended with a special selichot ceremony in Jerusalem's Great Synagogue. Participating in the ceremony were Battalion Commander Itamar Deshel, the battalion's Rabbi Shaul Abdiel, and the Netzah Yehuda organization's rabbis, who accompanied the soldiers.

At the beginning of the day, Netzah Yehuda's Rabbi Yitzhak Bar-Haim led the soldiers in saying a chapter of Psalms. Afterwards, Rabbi Abdiel blew the shofar (ram's horn) and gave a lecture emphasizing the need to awaken spiritually and improve.

Over the past week, the battalion's soldiers began a 2.5 month training in the Jordan Valley.

Thursday's activities are part of Netzah Yehuda's scheduled Torah-focused activities, and are intended to ease the integration of haredi soldiers into the IDF.

Last week, Netzah Yehuda soldiers finished a tractate of Talmud before their swearing-in ceremony.

Company Commander Captain Dovid Taier said, "Our soldiers should know how to combine protecting the Jewish people and Torah learning. This is the essence of this battalion. It was important to use to finish a tractate on the day of our swearing in ceremony."