Yonatan Buzaglo, a student at the Karnei Shomron Hesder Yeshiva and a soldier in the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Unit, returned to his yeshiva for Simchat Torah carrying a plush Torah scroll he had discovered during operations in the Gaza Strip.
According to Buzaglo, the toy plush Torah, usually bought for youngsters who want to feel they are dancing with a Torah on the holiday, was found earlier in the war in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza, inside the home of a terrorist.
“We found a plush Torah in a terrorist’s house in Gaza and I was really excited. No one else was moved, and no one cared. I took the plush Torah home, washed it, and kept it,” he recounted.
Buzaglo had hoped to dance with the plush Torah during last year’s Simchat Torah celebrations, but was unable to return to the yeshiva due to ongoing military operations.
“I planned to dance with it at the yeshiva on Simchat Torah last year, but we ended up staying in Jabaliya over the holiday. Before the festival last year, I called my mother and told her I was sorry I wouldn’t be able to dance with the plush Torah. After the holiday, my mother told me excitedly that she had danced with it on my behalf.”
This year, he was able to fulfill his wish. “This year I merited it. It’s the closing of a circle from the past two years, a feeling of victory,” he concluded.
