The family of a critically wounded soldier is praying for a miracle similar to that which has saved Lt. Aharon Karov of Karnei Shomron, who is recovering from wounds he suffered in the beginning of Operation Cast Lead. Both soldiers were almost given up for dead.
Critically wounded soldier Dvir Bar-Chai of the southern Hevron Hills community of Susia remains unconscious. His family and hundreds of friends and supported prayed in the Patriarchs Cave and surrounding communities Tuesday afternoon for a sign for another miracle.
Karov, a paratrooper, left for the war the day after his wedding. His father, Rabbi Zev Karov, explained that Jewish Law requires defense of the country despite the laws concerning the celebration of marriage and the exemption from fighting in certain types of warfare.
Following the Jewish law of "Pikuach Nefesh" that requires one to ignore Sabbath prohibitions in order to save a life, Karov left the synagogue for the front after he finished praying on the Sabbath that is part of the traditional seven days of festivity following a wedding.
He went to the front with his platoon, which entered a booby-trapped building that Hamas terrorists blew up. He survived a 12-hour operation, and his condition was listed as critical, but doctors said it is a miracle that he has recovered so quickly that he was able to leave the Bellinson Hospital in Petach Tikva on Tuesday.
"Everyone was pessimistic and thought he had only a few hours to live," said intensive care unit (ICU) administrator Pierre Zinger. He still is unable to talk but can communicate clearly through writing and was transferred to a rehabilitation center in Tel Aviv.
"This morning he put on tefillin," said his father, Rabbi Karov.
In Hevron, the family and friends of the Bar-Chai family recited Psalms for a recovery for Dvir [ben Leah], who was critically wounded on the first night of the ground invasion in Gaza.
His unit was hit by a mortar shell, and his location in the field of combat delayed his evacuation for at least two hours. The severe loss of blood left him unconscious in ICU in Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva.
His father is Tzviki Bar-Cha, head of the southern Hevron Hills Regional Council and former aid to Ariel Sharon when he was Infrastructure Minister in the 1990s.