The Junior High School warmly welcomed Sam Fried (‘11) as he returned to speak to the students, this time after his experience in the IDF and in Gaza over the past few months. Sam had originally spoken immediately before heading to Israel to join his unit after October 7.
He dropped everything and hopped on the first flight he could find to rejoin the elite Paratroopers unit that he had been drafted into in 2020.
Sam voluntarily enlisted in the IDF after attending college in the U.S., fulfilling a lifelong dream of his. He gave credit to his YCQ education for instilling in him a love of Eretz Yisrael and a sense of responsibility to the Jewish people.
Sam spoke powerfully to the students about the months he spent in combat and shared chizuk about the importance of serving am Yisrael and medinat Yisrael. He shared some truly miraculous stories and also noted how the atmosphere and religious attitude of the soldiers around him had shifted dramatically.
As one of the few dati soldiers in his unit, they were constantly asking him to give them Tehilim to say and other mitzvot to do. He explained that his Tefilin originally belonged to his grandfather, a World War II veteran, and once his comrades found this out, they eagerly lined up each day to wrap them, wanting to connect to a Jewish soldier of the past who had successfully defeated our enemies.
Sam’s heroism and leadership is truly inspiring, and he is a true role model for all YCQ students, graduates, and members of our nation.
One important takeaway he gave the students was that they are “genuinely soldiers in the war.” “Every Tefilah that you say, every extra brachah that you say, every perek of Tehilim that you say, whatever it is that you do, every pasuk of Torah, it stops the bullets. And that’s not in our merit, that’s in your merit.”
Kol hakovod, Sam!
