A Love Story Born Out of War and the Legacy It Leaves Today

Every Yom Kippur, Jews around the world gather at synagogue for the holiest day of the year, uniting in prayer, and fasting for 25 hours. It is a spiritual day, signifying purification and deep reflection. But on Yom Kippur 1973, the sanctity of this day was shattered, as Israel was attacked. In those sacred hours, began a vicious war.

Bezalel and his wife sit side by side this Yom Kippur, reflecting on their story from the one 52 years ago. For them, it was more than just battles, but about their sudden separation, reunion, and the legacy they have since passed down to their children and grandchildren.

For them, the day of fasting and reflecting carries memories of sudden sirens, mobilization, and the fear of not seeing each other again.

Both Bezalel and his wife were young soldiers when the war broke out: He was in the Paratroopers Brigade and she was in the operations office. 

Bezalel and his wife as soldiers

Bezalel was born in Afula, northern Israel, in 1950 and grew up in Be’er Sheva, southern Israel. Similar to many in his generation, he was eager to have a meaningful service. He was first drafted to the Golani Brigade before re-enlisting to the Paratroopers Brigade. He trained as a commander and finished his active service as a Paratrooper in the IDF by 1972, right before he began his studies as an electrical engineer at Ben-Gurion University.

Bezalel and his wife were introduced through a mutual friend in the army. By the end of 1972, he was already doing reserve duty on and off in southern Israel simultaneously balancing a job at a fertilizer factory. All while she was advancing in her own military role. 

On the afternoon of Yom Kippur 1973, sirens sounded throughout the country, in response to a surprise coordinated attack by Egypt and Syria. Bezalel’s wife received her call-up order at 2:00 p.m., and his came later on at midnight.  “Soldiers were drafted to reserves by the radio in code names,” she recalls. “It all came as a shock.”  In the rush and urgency of it all, the couple never got the chance to say goodbye.

Gulf of Suez

Before his departure, Bezalel handed his wife's commander a pack of cigarettes with a message to deliver - “Bezalel was here and he wanted to send his love.” The two were forced to treasure such small signs - it was all they would be able to give one another for the following weeks. 

After that day, the country fell into a frenzy. Soldiers rushed to base, equipment was gathered, and buses carried men south towards Sinai. The war began, and Bezalel was joining a new unit of men he had never met before.

Bezalel and his unit were responsible for blocking the Egyptian forces at the crossing area of the Suez Canal. Rockets rained down on the convoys, killing and injuring many, while the troops had no defense against the rocketfire. 

Agricultural buffer zone west of Suez Canal - October 1973

In order to reduce casualties, commanders ordered fewer soldiers in each armored vehicle on the front line, and moved them to the Roller Bridge that assisted the vehicles across the Suez Canal. They faced constant rocket fire with nowhere to hide for days. 

Later, Bezalel’s unit moved into Suez, fighting difficult urban battles until word of a ceasefire finally reached them. But even in those final hours, the Egyptians pushed hard, making the closing moments of the war some of its hardest.

Supplying the besieged Egyptian Third Army after Israeli encirclement - 1973

While Bezalel was serving by the Suez Canal, his wife was responsible for operational efforts: coordinating which soldiers would be called up to the front lines and gathering relevant equipment. She had no way of reaching Bezalel, only hearing bits and pieces through commanders or from friends who worked at the hospital, “every time a soldier from the Paratroopers went to the Soroka hospital, my friend checked if it was Bezalel,” she says.

She clung to these small moments of hope, treasuring postcards in Arabic that Bezalel would send her from Sinai.  

“One morning, a man appeared at my office. He looked like an American soldier, with a big beard and mustache,” she recalls. “I was in complete shock. ‘Tzali!’ I said.” They were finally reunited after weeks apart with almost no contact, then she immediately rushed him to the barber before going to see his family. 

After 18 days, the war came to an end, but Bezalel remained in Suez for a few more months, patrolling the city while she waited at home for his return. 

Replacement at the Jebel Atka post in the city of Suez - December 1973

Every Yom Kippur since, they remember those days in great detail. For them, it will never be a day of just fasting. It’s a commemoration of the time they dedicated fighting to protect the land they have since grown their family in. 

They have instilled this passion in their children, inspiring their son to follow directly in his father’s footsteps, joining the Paratroopers Brigade, and just this year their grandson joined the same brigade. For Bezalel and his wife, that commitment is a source of pride, but also a reminder of the courage that held them together through separation and uncertainty decades ago.