Sgt. David Mittelman, 20: Ex-Haredi who hovered between worlds
Killed battling Hamas terrorists at the Kissufim outpost on October 7
Sgt. David Mittelman, 20, a Golani soldier from Modiin Illit, was killed battling Hamas terrorists at the Kissufim outpost on October 7.
He and fellow Golani soldier Sgt. Noam Ben Mucha were slain side by side while attempting to repel an invasion of dozens of Hamas terrorists at the gate of the base. Not far away, their comrade Sgt. Tomer Nagar took up his own position and was also slain.
“I’m staying here, I’m not going anywhere,” were the last words he said over his walkie talkie before he was killed, according to Makor Rishon.
“The three of them managed to stop the first wave and killed dozens of terrorists, maybe 50,” the observation soldier who was on duty that morning told the newspaper. “I heard them firing nonstop, volley after volley. It’s bravery I’ve never seen before. Thanks to David, Noam and Tomer we’re here. Without them, everyone on the base would be dead. The three of them looked death in the eyes, the three of them were killed. There’s so much to learn from them, it is a loss for the world.”
David was buried on October 10 in Petah Tikva. He is survived by his parents, Tamar and Avraham, and his eight siblings, Yael, Sara, Yaffa, Hagit, Ayala, Meir, Mali and Shlomit.
Born into a Haredi family in the ultra-Orthodox city settlement of Modiin Illit, he decided as a teenager to leave that way of life and enlist in the IDF, a taboo in the ultra-Orthodox world. Officially classified as a “lone soldier” because of his background, he was set up with a religious-Zionist “adoptive” family in Kibbutz Rosh Tzurim.
שכן שלי דוד מיטלמן הי"ד, חייל חרדי צעיר ממודיעין עילית, נפל בקרבות. ???????????? pic.twitter.com/SJyECiUnuj
— אבי מוסקוב Avi moskoff (@AviMoskov) October 10, 2023
Lavi Ruziewicz, David’s “adoptive” brother, told Haaretz that he became just like another member of the family.
“The second time he came to us, he knocked on the door and my mother said to him, ‘When you come home you walk in, you don’t knock.’ I hope he felt connected to us the same way that we felt he was a part of the family.”
Lavi said David “loved to enjoy himself because he felt that he had missed out on so much. It wasn’t always simple, he was impulsive and sometimes did nonsense. He grabbed everything life had to offer with two hands.”
The day that his death was confirmed, Lavi said his family went to David’s biological family “and instead of being angry or being jealous that he had spent time with us, his father stood and looked my mother in the eyes and said to her, ‘Now we’re family.'”
Gil Ruziewicz, his “adoptive” father, said that David “wasn’t a guest who came to visit, but really one of us. He took the dog for walks, played backgammon with the kids. We would drop him off at the bus station, take him to the doctor if he needed.”
David’s relationship with his own family was complicated, but they maintained some ties, and his mother even came to his IDF swearing-in ceremony.
His parents, Tamar and Avraham, spoke to the Makor Rishon newspaper about their complex relationship and David’s own journey, which was cut short so young.
“We saw his strong will even when he was a yeshiva student,” said his mother. “The times when he decided to buckle down and study he just did it and got to the top. When he wanted to go to a certain yeshiva, he did everything and got there — same with his decision to go to the army.”
His father Avraham said that David “was always a good kid, even when he changed his path, he never [went crazy] or roamed the streets. He was always part of society, accepted, someone who was fun to be around. He knew how to give everyone the feeling that they were his best friend.”
Tamar said she most wants people to remember David as a “symbol for how to love at any price,” and for her other children to know that she will love them no matter what.
“And of course, I want people to remember his story of heroism, that he said ‘I’m going to give my life for the people of Israel.’ We’re so proud of him. He stood guard, and that fills our hearts.”
