Dvir Lisha HY”D, a 21-year-old Golani Brigade soldier, was stationed in the Gaza Envelope during the fall of 2023.
Shocked by what he saw happening on the other side of the border fence in the weeks leading up to October 7, Dvir tried to pass on a warning. Frustrated, he photographed the terrorists training, viewed clearly on the screens in the “war room” on his base and sent pictures to his family with an ironic invitation that said: “Anyone looking for something interesting to do on Chol Hamoed, is invited to the Gaza border to see a shocking display of rare military ability, recommended for viewers over 11”- suggesting sarcastically that they come and see for themselves on the Intermediate Days of the Sukkot holiday, days before October 7. He told his sister Talia that he is convinced that the terrorists are going to breach the border fence en masse and that the IDF, in its current deployment, would be unable to stop them.
Before Sukkot, Dvir sent his mother a loving message, writing: “Tomorrow I am coming home from the army for the first day of the holiday. Let’s you and I go to the plant nursery to buy plants for our garden.” Dvir’s mother Nava Lisha’s voice breaks as she says: “I couldn’t stand up to him, so instead of cooking, I found myself wandering around the plant nursery choosing plants and decorative stones. When we arrived home, Dvir built wooden planters with his brother David and filled them with earth, then transplanted everything. He called me to arrange the garden as I wished and was justifiably proud of himself. All the neighbors came and admired his work. Now I realize that the trip to the plant nursery and the garden are gifts he left me before he went up to heaven…”
Dvir was killed one week later, on October 7, 2023, heroically defending the Zikim beach from the massive Hamas invasion by sea. His predictions had come true. His fellow soldiers insisted on rescuing his body despite the danger- thus preventing it from being abducted to Gaza - and making him the first soldier of the Swords of Iron War to be buried at the Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery, promoted from corporal to sergeant after his death. Nava’s brave words at Dvir’s funeral, “from the pain of this war, our people will be reborn,” were quoted by Netanyahu at the start of the Swords of Iron War.
“Dvir was a sweet child with wide open, curious eyes that seemed to want to swallow the world. He grew up blessed with a sharp wit and many talents, from drawing clever cartoons and caricatures to singing with his rich and powerful voice as I accompanied him on the piano or he played chords on his own. He played piano, harmonica and guitar,” continues Nava.
“He drew on every scrap of paper he found, and one day when he was 12, he came home from school with a piece of paper on which he had written ‘Morning News’ above two ‘news’ articles based on the week’s Torah reading, headed by an appropriate drawing. The page was so attractive that we suggested he do one every week so that we could make them into a booklet to give out at his Bar Mitzva. And that is what happened. Dvir set to work, composing ‘news’ articles on each Torah portion and creating an appropriate illustration. He worked on this day after day, hour after hour. We typed the articles, scanned the drawings and had them made into a booklet, which we naturally called ‘Morning News,’ giving one to each guest at his bar mitzva.”
“The following year, Meir followed in his elder brother’s footsteps and worked with him to create a booklet on the Book of Joshua. Meir wrote the 'news' articles, Dvir drew the illustrations, and we gave them to the guests at Meir’s bar mitzvah. One can see that Dvir’s drawings had improved noticeably, and he asked us not to show anyone the previous booklet, but after he fell, we republished both in hardcover, a memorial to his creativity.” (to order: https://midreshethd.ravpage.co.il/Dvir).
Childhood in the shadow of the “Disengagement”
Dvir, the third of Nava and Nisan Lisha’s eight children and their first son, was born on 24 Sivan 5762 (June 4, 2002) in the town of Neve Dkalim in the Katif Bloc. Up to the age of three, he lived in the town’s Cholot neighborhood built at the edge of a large sand dune, an area of red-roofed homes blessed by sun, blue sea, and white sands.
Then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced the unilateral “Disengagement Plan,” claiming that it would result in the Arabs desisting from their plans to destroy the Jewish State.
“The nation was divided,“ explains Dvir’s father Nisan. “We tried to explain how terrible the plan was, that the Gazans hate us and that it would change nothing, but those who pushed the plan believed that Gazans want peaceful lives just as we do, want to enjoy the pristine beaches as we did - the beaches on which their boats docked on October 7, the beaches on which they killed our son.”
Dvir, a victim of that ill-fated Disengagement, was also, tragically, a victim of its results.
Nisan continues: “When Dvir was three and a half, we were expelled from our homes, put on buses, and sent to unknown destinations. We lived in the Shalom Hotel for four months, then moved to a caravilla in Nitsan, and there Dvir enjoyed a sweet, simple and innocent childhood.”
“He was quick to learn and had an excellent memory. I taught him to read before he turned five. He attended Talmud Torah Torat Chaim in Yad Binyamin, a school that started in Gush Katif and had a special method of Torah learning for youngsters. We wanted him to learn Torah first, to be filled with Torah, for it to be the main thing in his life, for him to realize its sweetness, the joy of learning it. This school taught the children ‘trop’ (cantillation), so they recited Torah verses as if they were at the synagogue, learning them by heart, and later, studying Mishna in a similar way. In the afternoon, while he played, Dvir would hum and sing the verses he had learned that day. At the age of 20 he still remembered them word for word.
“He was sociable and happy, bright and very creative, loved to draw, carve and sculpt in wood. He continued travelling to the Talmud Torah up to the end of 8th grade, although it meant getting up very early and travelling for almost an hour each way.”
His teacher Avishai remembers him as curious, funny, and charming, but also principled. In the 5th grade, he put an end to the bullying two brothers suffered on the school bus, and years later, when he was already in the army, one of the brothers wrote to tell him that they still remembered it.
High School at Bnai Tzvi Yeshiva in Beit El was a different challenge. Attention deficit issues had gone unnoticed earlier because Dvir’s quick brain and excellent memory made up for them, so that he achieved high grades till then, but in high school he could not focus long enough in class. He turned to his parents, who had him tested. His grades shot up when he began taking medication for ADHD, but his personality became subdued, and he preferred being his sociable self, hiking, starring in extra-curricular activities and enjoying life to the fullest, so he stopped taking it. For Purim festivities, Dvir once fashioned life size figures that looked like terrorists, and made up his friends as soldiers. Friends said they could not tell who was real and who was not.
“He had a great sense of humor, was mischievous and daring, with out-of-the-box ideas and dreams for the future,” his friends recall, “and never let an argument end without us all laughing.” His parents sometimes had to bail him out at school, but his grandmother Chaya, who has a fascinating album of Dvir's clever caricatures, lived near the yeshiva, saw his serious side. He liked to visit her by himself or with friends, and sample her cooking on Fridays, but when they talked, sometimes taking long nature walks together, she always felt that he was searching for truth, wanted to discover what the really important things in life are, why G-d created us, why there is evil in the world if G-d is good.
“He tried to define his identity, asked, tested, sought advice, argued,” she says, “and built a clear and meaningful spiritual world of values. He insisted on sticking to the truth and demanded justice, developed a high level of sensitivity, empathy and responsibility.”
Post high school yeshiva years
Dvir enrolled at the Bnai David Pre-Military yeshiva in Eli, where they suggested he transfer to Oz Ve’emunah, their new branch in Tel Aviv’s Neveh Tzedek neighborhood, populated by Sudanese and Eritrean migrants. Drugs, prostitution, theft, and harassment had caused most of the Jews to flee, leaving only single parent families and the elderly, who lived in fear. The yeshiva’s establishment was a turning point, restoring their security and self-respect. The students prevented migrants from harassing the elderly, went from house to house to see to their needs, restored shuls and mikvas that had become dens of drugs and crime.
Dvir loved the yeshiva, a place that combined Torah study and social welfare. He had a special relationship with “Savta Ora” an elderly resident who became the unofficial “mother” of the yeshiva students, would cook them food and spoil them, while they saw to her needs. Dvir was her favorite, and their connection continued during his army service. An elderly resident who lacked the Four Species for Sukkot called Dvir, and he travelled to Tel Aviv from his army post to bring them to him.
“Dvir was doing what he loved to do,” said a friend, “helping people. He was sensitive, caring and energetic, paid water and electricity bills for the poor, studied Torah with fatherless youngsters, listened patiently to the lonely. To some he gave sweets, recited psalms with others, taught a fatherless boy his bar mitzva portion and even confronted migrants who harassed residents. He would get into bed at night exhausted, smiling his gentle smile. He earned money buying and selling used bikes and spent it on the residents, discovering he had a talent for business, although not for car maintenance as he kept forgetting to check the water in his car and it overheated. ..”
But he also spent hours learning Talmud, pondering issues of halakha and faith. His studies were defined by a search for truth. He would not leave a Talmudic topic, a sugya, unless he understood it totally.
IDF service
During his second year in the yeshiva, the rosh yeshiva told him that the time had come to plan his IDF service. Dvir decided to apply to Golani for the full period of service instead of Hesder. He worked on fitness and was very happy when he was accepted. “I worried,” says Nava. “I saw skewed values in the higher command, containment instead of victory, rules of engagement that protect the enemy instead of our soldiers, harassment of the settlers instead of those who support terrorists, and suggested he enlist in the spokesperson’s unit, where he could influence those values for the good,” says Nava. “Dvir didn’t answer me right away. He wanted to think about it, investigate and consult. When we next spoke, he said: ‘You are right. The situation needs fixing. But we are part of Am Yisrael and we work from within the system, at the pace of the people, and with them.’”
“So we gave him our blessing and on August 17,2022 he enlisted in Golani Brigade Battalion 51.”
Dvir’s friends couldn’t believe he would be able to take orders without arguing, but he proved them wrong. He was older than the other soldiers and some of the commanders, so at first he felt alone, especially since most of the time he was the only religious soldier, but he kept mitzvot and davened, making sure that did not interfere with operations or training exercises, and could be found learning in the shul when there was free time. “One day all the new cutlery we had gotten disappeared,” says a fellow soldier. Suddenly Dvir appeared with it - he had immersed the cutlery in the sea, a halakhic requirement because it was not made in Israel.
His commander said: “Dvir was pleasant and modest, the best. I came into the ‘war room’ early one morning and saw Dvir teaching another commander music - both of them laughing and having a good time. He was always there for everyone, and I held him in high regard as a special human being as well as a fighter. He stayed for Shabbat to keep a friend company or to let someone else go home, was aware of other soldiers’ moods and knew how to help.” The soldiers all remembered him singing at the top of his lungs in the shower - and everywhere else.
Dvir was sent to learn to man the shooting system in a "namer" (a large, armored troop carrier). His battalion held the line in Hevron and the south Hevron hills and then was sent to the Zikim beach Erez Maintenance Center bordering Gaza. He was often assigned to the "war room" due to his ability to interpret what was on the screens accurately.
Simchat Torah 5784/October 7, 2023
A “rain” of rockets like never before awakens the soldiers, but something is different. There are shots that sound near. Dvir, who had been on night duty, grabs his weapon and goes out to see if there are terrorists in the area. He quickly returns, yelling to all:
"Get your equipment on - vest, helmet and everything else for fighting" - and they do as he says. Within the next few seconds they realize that terrorists have invaded the beach 100 meters from the outpost, and rush into the outpost vehicle to get there quickly. Dvir has not slept all night, but insists on going, holding on to the vehicle’s door till they understand there is no use arguing with him.
The commander and six soldiers reach the beach. Dvir and his friend jump off the vehicle before it stops, Dvir pushing everyone forward, trying to make contact with the enemy. There are hordes of terrorists coming from the sea on boats, some already at the beach, carrying weapons, RPGs and grenades - facing seven IDF soldiers. A lone IDF navy boat shoots at the boats, but cannot do much. A fierce battle ensues; the commander is wounded and evacuated with two other soldiers. Another’s weapon is stalled, but Dvir and another soldier continue to fight a face-to-face battle against terrorists who are approaching the places where civilians were hiding. Dvir rushes forward to engage the terrorists, allowing some civilians to escape meanwhile. Two fisherman who saw the whole thing from afar report on the bravery of a soldier wearing tzitzit - it was Dvir. Footage shows him running towards the terrorists, firing his weapon and then being mowed down.
How we found out
Nava: “We prayed at home on Simchat Torah because intense rocket fire did not allow us to go to shul. One of Dvir’s friends who lives nearby came and said that terrorists attacked the bases on the Gaza border and there are ongoing battles. Later, we found out that he had the battalion’ whatsapp and knew Dvir had fallen. He was sad and distressed but we had no clue why. We began to say Tehillim. Meir was called up, then Amichai, our son-in-law. After havdala, when we turned on the phone we saw a message from Barzilai Hospital telling us Dvir was there. We thought he was wounded and quickly drove to the hospital, where they told us to look for him in the emergency room, but we couldn’t find him. We went to the hospital’s information center and gradually realized that they know something that we don’t. The IDF squad that informs families came and told us that Dvir had fallen.”
“When they asked us where to bury him, we said Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem. We felt that Dvir belonged there. Why? Maybe because Dvir means the Holy of Holies. Maybe because we knew that Jerusalem is the place that unites all of the Jewish People and that this is a historic moment, one that could affect the spiritual level of the entire nation. That is why we allowed the media to cover the funeral. We felt that it is not a private funeral, not just our sweet son, but the funeral of a hero who fought for the Jewish People and was killed sanctifying the Name of G-d."
And indeed, Dvir is memorialized in many ways by a thankful nation and by the many who loved him.
Lookouts, one in Cochav Hashachar named “Mitspe Dvir” as well as one near Tekuma, bear his name, as does a study room and Torah Ark at Oz Ve'emunah Yeshiva, the Beit Midrash at Nitzan’s Talmud Torah and at the IDF Prep Yeshiva Oz Shlomo. A synagogue in Oz Tzion was named “Dvir Kodshecha” and a new library in Nitsan is dedicated to his memory. A school launched a citizenship program in his name and his friends established a Gemach of tools and building materials in his memory to help young couples set up their homes.
The Shiva
Nisan says: “After Dvir fell, we heard so many stories about his sensitivity towards others, his uncanny ability to sense who needs something and to provide it in a way that let the other person feel wanted and respected. We heard it from outsiders who had happened to come to the yeshiva, from friends in high school, an army friend who had to stay on the base for Shabbat as a punishment who said that Dvir stayed with him."
"We met fatherless boys in south Tel Aviv for whom Dvir began a 'private Tehillim club' or Bar Mitzva class and others.”
“Stories about the sweetness of his Torah learning in the yeshiva touched our hearts, his friends said he was deeply attached to Torah, loved to learn at night, would literally sing the Gemara, daf after daf. We also heard stories of his heroism, his self control, and his fear of G-d.”
Mother and Son
Nava says: “Dvir and I had an especially close relationship. Maybe because we had similar character traits and because we both loved to sing and make music, Dvir with his deep, rich voice and I joining him in harmony."
“Zmirot Shabbat were a special experience in our home. We sang and harmonized together, the entire family, a powerful choir, a taste of the world to come.
“Dvir and I had soul-searching conversations. About life, family, different challenges each of us faced. He cared about the family very much, would bring special presents for his siblings and tell me if there was a brother or sister about whom he was worried. He liked to dress well, so sometimes we went to buy clothes together to take advantage of a day off from the army - but that was only during basic training. When on the front he never took a sick day, that would mean a friend has to take his place, would be at a friend’s expense.
“When I came to the base to visit him, I brought food, of course, but also charcoal and a drawing pad, a way to avoid the smartphone and use his talents. Once, we sat at the edge of Zikim Lake and talked. He didn’t like to talk about the future. It made him uneasy, but I asked him: Have you had time to think about what comes next? Your post army plans? I saw his eyes darken and he said: I don’t know. I see my future in the security services. I was surprised and said: Why security? Why not media? Communications? Law?
“Dvir said: I don’t know why, I just feel that is my future, and if I must die due to that choice, so be it.
“When my children would talk about death, I would always tell them that no one can die without my permission. This time I stayed silent.
“We teach our children to be dedicated and be ready to give their lives for love of G-d and His people, land and Torah. We pray ‘And you shall love your G-d with all your heart and soul.' How could I suddenly say otherwise?”
Nava eulogized her beloved son at his funeral: “Three years after you were born, we were uprooted from the sands of Gush Katif. It is not a coincidence that you went up to heaven near there. Our private pain hurts, but the country’s pains are labor pains because we are going to rise to a new level as a people, the Jewish people in Israel, proud of the Torah and of our entire country, spreading G-d’s light to the entire world.”
Bahr, his friend at yeshiva, also eulogized Dvir: “When you came to Oz Ve’emunah, you gave up comforts. When you toiled day and night to help others, you gave up your free time. When you chose to defend this country during your best years, you gave up your freedom. When you were first in battle for your homeland, you gave up your life. You were the first soldier who fell in this war, in a battle of the few against the many, and you fell with your weapon aimed at the enemy. We will miss your singing, your music that got us all singing, your plans for changing the world, your creativity, debates, our deep conversations till the small hours of the night.”
And Chaya, Dvir’s grandmother, stood mourning silently at the graveside, not knowing that barely a year later, she would stand at the graveside of yet another grandson, IDF Commander Avraham Ben Pinchas HY”D.
Am Yisrael Chai.
