Funeral of Daniel Perez

‘עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ,הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם’
These are the words I am singing with thousands of people at Har Herzl. Everyone here to pay their respects to a pure 22-year-old soul laid to rest in an empty coffin. Empty as his body is still held captive in Gaza. Empty of everything but the blood that was salvaged from his tank. Blood spilled by those who are desperate to spill as much Jewish blood as they can. Blood spilled whilst these Israeli heroes ran to what they knew was almost certain death, to protect as many people as they could. They run to spill blood, whilst we run to protect it.

As I sing these words, I begin to feel my eyes closing and my mind drifting. If I am honest, it is not so easy to sing them currently. Hope, after everything we have witnessed over the last six months? Hope, when the names of fallen heroes keep flowing like a gushing stream? My mind drifts to generations gone by; to images of Jews being led to the gas chambers across Europe, to images of Jewish villages burning throughout Medieval Europe, to images we read about in our Kinnot on Tisha B’Av, to those stories in Shoftim and the rest of the Tanach of Jews being persecuted across the Land of Israel and to those of Jews being chained and whipped as they build the pyramids of Egypt and I am suddenly, surprisingly comforted by the scene in front of me when I open my eyes again. It is a tragic scene for sure, but it is one brimming with Jewish pride and never-ending hope. I think about all those images and realise that they have one thing in common. Am Yisrael Chai, the Jewish people lives on. We live on through these tragedies to remember those who were persecuted in the past and live for those who will continue to be Jewish tomorrow. It is this thought that drives me to finish singing the Hatikva through bleary tear-stained eyes and pray ‘לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ’.

Daniel Perez was the commander of his tank. On October 7th, without any real commands or instructions, he took his unit, left his ‘Motzav’ (base), and went to protect the people of Kibbutz Sa’ad and Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Without a doubt, he saved countless lives on that day, perhaps even the life of his brother who was fighting in Nahal Oz and was shot in the leg. Amongst the chaos he was declared ‘missing in action’ until there was enough intel to suggest he had been taken into Gaza as a hostage. For five months his family, along with 100s of others have prayed for even the slightest bit of information about his whereabouts and well-being. This past Sunday night, 17th March 2024, his family was informed that the army had recovered enough evidence to conclusively pronounce Daniel as the latest ‘Fallen Soldier’. The evidence proved that Daniel had tragically been murdered on October 7th protecting his land and his people. In some sense, as was referenced by all his siblings and his father during their eulogies, the knowledge that he was killed on 7th October gave some slight relief in the hellish world they find themselves living. The knowledge that his suffering was short, the knowledge that he was with them in spirit for his brother’s wedding, which took place weeks after October 7th and he has been with them in spirit throughout these past 6 months.

Rav Doron Perez, Daniel’s father, spoke about a recent realisation he had had, that, as the closest thing to represent blood, wine accompanies many Jewish ‘occasions’ that include blood. At a Brit Milah, wine and blood form a central part of the ceremony. On Purim, when Jewish blood was meant to be spilled like water, it wasn’t, and we celebrate with wine. On Pesach, we drop wine to commemorate the death that took place when we were freed from Egypt and drink wine to celebrate our freedom and so on. Whilst the Perez family’s ordeal has not ended, with Daniel’s body still held captive, Rav Perez highlights, at the very least, they have been able to honour Daniel with the burying of his blood, the lifeline of all human existence.

Rav Perez and I became close when I was working for Mizrachi UK. The UK was Rav Perez’s first ‘project’ when he took on the role of the Head of World Mizrachi and we ended up spending a lot of time together and becoming very close. Rav Perez, to me, is a mentor, a friend, someone I feel very comfortable picking up the phone or sending a WhatsApp message about anything and everything. Since moving to Israel, I have continuously stayed in touch with Rav Perez and will discuss all matters with him, even jokingly suggesting we start a political party together when we both felt lost as to who to vote for in the last Israeli elections. Whilst every death and every hostage is a whole world of devastation, some hit home more than others. Over the past year I have been reminded, more than I would have liked, that no one is ‘more Israeli’ than anyone else. Last Pesach, Rabbi Leo Dee’s family were thrown into the public limelight when terrorists murdered Lucy and her two daughters, in January, the brother of a member of my community fell fighting in Gaza, and today I was reminded again. Watching Rav Perez and his family stand with cameras pointing at them during their worst hours, watching the videos of people lining the streets with Israeli flags as they drive to Har Herzl, I was reminded that everyone is a part of this nation, it could be any one of us. It doesn’t matter if you’re from South Africa, England or have lived in Israel since the destruction of the Temple, we are all Israeli, we are all part of this nation, and this story is all of ours and there is nowhere better to write the story than in our homeland.

Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon, who spoke at the funeral, mentioned something that I have been reminding myself of a lot over these past six months. The one thing that differentiates us from all our persecuted forefathers mentioned above is that, now, for the first time since the times of the Second Temple, we can defend ourselves. Now we can stand up and wear the uniform of a Jewish army, we can drive tanks, fire guns and fly fighter jets all in the name of protecting Jewish people and teaching those who wish to do us harm, that Jewish blood is not cheap. Daniel’s blood is not cheap.

So yes, it is a ‘תִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם’ and though we still await the journey’s end, ‘עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ’. As we approach Purim this year may we truly see the words of the Megillah, ‘ונהפוך הוא אשר ישלטו היהודים המה בשנאיהם’ come to fruition ‘כאז גם היום’.

יהי זיכרו ברוך
השם יקום דמו‎

Joshua Pomerance lived in Borehamwood with his wife Michelle and daughter Amelie from 2013 until making Aliyah in 2016. Josh, Michelle and their three children now live in Modi’in. During their time in the UK, Josh worked for Bnei Akiva, taught at Yavneh College and went on to rejuvenate Mizrachi UK as the first Executive Director during the organisations revamp in 2015, while Michelle trained as a primary school teacher on the LSJS SCITT programme and taught at HJPS.

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