The Chassidic IDF Fighter Who Lost Both Legs in Syria: “I Shouted: Don't Say Shema Yisrael Now"

Reserve Major Rabbi Liraz Zeira from Jerusalem, a Chabad Chassid who was severely wounded in southern Syria when he stepped on an exploding grenade, described the great miracle he experienced during the blast.

In an extensive interview on the Patriots program last night (Sunday to Monday) on Channel 14, he said it happened on the last day of his reserve duty before returning home. “It was at the Tel Khudna outpost, one of the positions in former Syrian territory that Israel captured. It was the last day after seven months on the line, the next day I was supposed to go home. I came to say goodbye to the infantry company under us. One of the soldiers told me the eruv looked less than kosher. I stepped on a grenade, and thank God, the heroic soldiers saved me.”

He appeared in a wheelchair, without his two legs, which he lost in the incident. On his head was a Chabad-style hat, and he wore a white shirt and suit. He said his rescue was a miracle, as one would expect far more severe injuries from a grenade. He fell flat on the ground, so only his legs were wounded.After more than a week of searches: The professor from Tel Aviv was found in a niche

He further recounted that during his evacuation, he remained conscious. He knew he must not lose consciousness. He didn’t want to traumatize the evacuating soldiers and didn’t scream. He quietly murmured chapters of Psalms. “The Rebbe’s chapter,” he said (Psalm 124), “and other chapters that got mixed up together.”

According to him, the fighters asked what he was mumbling, and he said he was praying and reciting Psalms. One soldier tried to pray too and began saying Shema Yisrael. “I immediately told him: No, no, no, Shema Yisrael, I’m alive, I want to live. It seems to me this is the only time a Chabad Chassid tells a Jew not to say Shema Yisrael. That wasn’t the right text then. I wanted to live.”

He said that for him, a new mission in life is now beginning. He has a message of faith, hope, and strengthening to bring to the world, and he intends to do so through social media.

He recalled the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s manner of speech, which instilled saying “house of healing” instead of “hospital.” It’s not just terminology, he emphasized, words have power and influence on worldview and reality.

He also repeated the Rebbe’s talk to IDF wounded in the 1970s, when the Rebbe said soldiers who were injured should be called “IDF’s outstanding” rather than “IDF disabled,” a name symbolizing disability and damage. The Rebbe wanted to empower the heroic soldiers.

Panel member on Channel 14, Yedidya Meir, revealed that Zeira is not a Chabad Chassid from birth but became religious in his youth. When he visited Thailand, he said he’d go anywhere except the Chabad House. In reality, he ended up there unintentionally, he needed to return money to someone and from then on, he was captivated. And the rest is history.

Last week, after a prolonged period of hospitalization and treatments, Rabbi Zeira moved to rehabilitation at a rehab center. His relatives said this is “the beginning of a new path, full of ascents and developments, until complete and full recovery. Another major surgery is expected in the coming weeks, and we will update when it happens.”