Son of Srul and David Yechezkel. He was born in Toronto, Canada, on the 17th of Tevet 5739 (6.1.1979), a younger brother to Nicole and Jonah, and a great brother to Gabriel and Shlomo “It was on a holy Saturday that you came to us,” his father wrote, You brought with you the eternal light that you radiated and the fire that burned in you … “Daniel was very friendly and a central figure in every environment he came from. From an early age he discovered heroism – at the age of three – And broke his leg, underwent the treatment of the fracture without anesthesia, and without crying and complaining, and at the age of four Daniel and his family stayed in Israel for a year – on Kibbutz Massada and Moshav Amirim After three more years abroad, , Family immigrated to Israel and settled in Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion. Daniel joined the third grade at the regional religious-state school in Shivush, and from there went on to the Neve Shmuel high school yeshiva in Efrat. He was a good student, though at the time he was more interested in film than in the material he was studying. Daniel was a gifted musician. His impressive piano playing was accompanied by a special charm, and later he also played with other instruments – electric guitar, bass guitar, harmonica and flute. In his constant aspiration to perfection, he spent a lot of time practicing music, but also found time for activity in Bnei Akiva – first as an apprentice, and later as a guide. Daniel had a great love for the country, and he took every opportunity to walk on its paths. He particularly liked to travel in places where a man’s foot did not set foot, or to challenge himself in original ways to explore the terrain. Thus, for example, one morning, he spontaneously and without informing anyone of a bicycle, and drove to the Dead Sea through the Judean Desert. Toward the end of the eighth, before he enlisted, Daniel decided to devote some time to clarifying his path, and turned to the pre-military preparatory program “Bone” in its stead. Before that he had traveled with a friend on a trip to Scotland and returned after a month with great love for Scottish and Irish music. The last instrument he had ever purchased was an Irish bagpipe, a reminder of that trip. From his very first day in the preparatory program, Daniel had immersed himself in his studies, and had worked on them until the wee hours of the night. He led the group with learning, and was known for his critical, sharpness, perseverance, and especially the lack of compromise, even for the smallest thing. “A spiritually huge man,” wrote Assaf Shore, his friend, “does not give up on anything, must understand everything, has a special spiritual talent …” Daniel conducted extensive correspondence with friends and rabbis, and his letters illustrate his uncompromising devotion His desire to avoid disputes. “He hated this politics,” explained Rabbi Aviv Ziegelman, “the preoccupation with class definition, with the special and different emphasis of ideological values, the denial of others under the pretext of the war of Torah.” Rabbi Elisha Peleg adds: “Beyond being a man of thought and analysis, a man of intellectual acumen, Daniel was a man with a great soul.” The rest of the spirit in Daniel could be felt in all those gatherings, poetry evenings and parties held in the preparatory program, which Daniel, in his wondrous play, was at the center. “Daniel,” argued one of the rabbis, “plays not with his hands, but with all his soul.” With his perpetual smile and his endless joy of life, Daniel gathered around him the entire cycle. “With a constant smile on his face,” Rabbi Ziegelman wrote, “always with joy and positive attitude to reality, I discovered that the positive attitude, which motivated the activity, stemmed from conscious and conscious consciousness. In his second year of the preparatory program, Daniel further increased his diligence in his studies and focused on learning the meaning of the Land of Israel, the meaning of repentance and the meaning of education. Daniel always looked for aThe deeper meaning, as evidenced by his letter of 12 Tevet 5759 to his friend Amit, who served in the army at the time: “A beloved colleague of my heart – I wondered whether to reach the swearing or not … I was torn between a strong desire to see all of you and need I have a lot to keep learning … and I stayed … Life in the preparatory program is flowing at a pace and there is no way to stop to rest or even to ask for a drop … There is still so much work left, I had a feeling that the guys had changed a lot of external things – a lot of content, a lot of words, even a practical change “But inside, inside the soul inside, something very fundamental has not changed … They have no longer the delicacy that this faith brings in …” During his last life, Daniel was enthusiastic about physicist Richard Feynman’s book “You must be kidding Mr. Feynman” His life is based on honesty and freedom. “… people are born and live -” Daniel wrote once, “and the very essence of life, the meaning of life, the things most need to do in life – do not sit down to find out …” On 16 March 1999, Daniel enlisted in the Nahal Brigade, (Reconnaissance company). He did the warrior’s course at the Amit team, and as always, he invested all his energies in achieving the goal without giving up on himself or others. In the most difficult situations, his friends say, Daniel was cool – “He was synonymous with excellence, charismatic, full of charm, and had an amazing peace of mind.” Here, too, of course, Daniel captured the entire staff under his baton. “Daniel was not afraid of the dangerous operation,” says one of the members. “The thing that scared him most was to get a bullet in the palm of his hand that would impair his ability to play.” Daniel finished the course in November 2000, was sent to a squad commanders’ course, November 2000 for four months, and then returned to the officers’ course and returned to the platoon as the new recruits commander of the recruits in November 2001. He asked that his team be called “Mendel” rather than “Daniel,” as he explained to his father: To the team, the Holocaust … Mendel is fighting now, this is the part – to be a free people in our country. “He saw Daniel as an educator throughout his career, along with the professional material he meticulously conveyed to his soldiers “We have worked with youth in distress, helped poor children in school and played with them …” Again and again, Daniel instilled in his soldiers the need to show responsibility, and did not hesitate to punish them if they demonstrated The only movie that Daniel was willing to project during the track was “Braveheart,” because of the message at the base – fighting for independence, and he used to quote the famous sentence From them: “They can take our lives, but they can never take our freedom.” Also cultural heritage Daniel asked to give his soldiers. Thus, in one of the tasks’ junctures during a navigational journey, he added a quote from “Our great poet Natan the Wise” – Natan Alterman: “Inbalim in pastures and whistles and field gold till evening / The silence of my spacious green wells and through the trees that rise from the dew glinting like glass and metal I will not stop / and I will die and I will continue to go. ” After his fall, his parents learned that on one occasion Daniel said, “There is nothing greater than dying for the sake of the people of Israel for the sanctification of God.” Daniel formulated his educational and commanding philosophy in a document entitled “Commanding Commandments,” in which he wrote, inter alia, “The easiest way to deal with everything related to motivating soldiers, whether it is discipline or anything else?The Kader. … but it’s cheap. It’s training rather than education. This is violence … not the commanders we want to be. The great difficulty is to motivate, lead, educate the soldiers with their understanding and will, out of a sense of appreciation and a desire to emulate the commander, out of respect for the commander and out of a sense of responsibility. A lot of example – always talk quietly, be truly humble, rejoice in what you do. … For anything a soldier does, there must be a response – a look, a note, a conversation, a punishment. It is important to reward and not just to punish. To emphasize the good things – so that there is something to strive for. … to channel them into positive channels … to hold a lot of personal conversations … to take responsibility for everything possible … to be strict and not compromise on the smallest standard. … always see that the soldier is connected to the big picture, to the target. … constantly drip the transition from the private person to the general person. … If I were better – the platoon would be better – the company would be better – the IDF would be a stronger army. ” Even though he was a tough commander, Daniel loved his soldiers without limit and they had pain. For their part, they adored him – “We followed you, because we wanted to be like you … You swept us in your wild, motivational, and battle-like spirit, and you did not let us fall or give up.” Gradually, with dedication and perseverance, the group of recruits became a cohesive and leading team of fighters. The graduation ceremony of the Mandel team, in which Daniel cut short the fruits of his investment, was one of the most exciting days of his life. “It’s strange to talk to you about parenting feelings,” he said at the ceremony, “but it happens to see a bunch coming, each with his own nonsense, and to see the guys today big, strong, proud, confident, warriors. . ” Daniel was one of the few who chose to continue with the team for operational activity, and within a few months was supposed to go to a company commander course, but did not win. Lieutenant Daniel Yaakov Mandel fell in a battle in Nablus on April 15, 2003, during a campaign to capture terrorists he headed. He was twenty-four years old when he fell. Thousands accompanied him on his last journey to the Kfar Etzion cemetery. Survived by parents, a sister and three brothers, three nephews and countless friends and lovers. On his grave, the commander of the Nahal Brigade, Colonel Noam Tibon, said to him: “… If you want to understand the secret of the power of the Jewish people, you have to follow the life and death of Daniel, who grew up in Gush Etzion, loved this country, And his friends, was an example and a shining point of strength for his friends and family, without asking for anything in return. If you want to understand the secret of the power of the Jewish people, you have to understand why Daniel enlisted in the Nahal commando unit, excelled throughout the course, went to the officers’ course and led a wonderful team. The man was Daniel: a scholar, a musician, a loyal friend and a beloved son, a courageous and brave commander … We shall try to follow the path of Daniel, a way of modesty, unity, leadership and love of the land. ” Gabriel, his brother, said: “Daniel, my brother … you were killed the way you lived: with greatness, when you led your soldiers, whom you loved so much, you had an amazing combination of infinite peace and power, love of man without limits and true toughness when necessary. You have been much more than a brother, you have been a true friend … We will always follow your path. ” “You, Daniel, are blessed with many talents and wondrous abilities, some of which are a supreme gift, but above and beyond all of these you have built, by choice and labor, a great quality of internalization and absorption … I would say to my sons “When Daniel comes, it’s like a declaration of war!”It is a great matter, you have to check the sins, straighten the curvature, because the rabbi is coming – the rabbi is honest, the rabbi is strong, the rabbi is gentle, the rabbi is humble. “In the end of the thirty days of his downfall, his father eulogized him:” Many waters can not extinguish love, and rivers will not wash it … “Daniel, with eternal love, He smiled, and through it you won everything. “You were running forward again – beloved commander, dear commander, you again managed to convey to us that we are all finishing the journey, we can not even think otherwise. … Daniel loves you eternal love, and she wins everything. Thanks. His friend, Barak, eulogized him: “… how in the world were you, that there were so many more things you could have done? … You always ran fast and you were always a few hundred meters in front of me. And today I understand that you ran next to me, because always running the first two runs the other and spurs him to run faster. … Daniel was immortalized in a musical garden set up in Alon Shvut, which combines musical elements, such as steps in the form of piano keys or wind chimes, and a link to a movie created by his friends immediately after his death. Http://www.daniel-mandel.co.il/ Published by “Tevunot” of Herzog College in Gush Etzion Published Rabbi Yaakov Medan’s book “Daniel – Exile and Revelation”, based on a series of shiurim that were given to him And his family published the book “Fragments of Memories” at the beginning of which she wrote: “Fragments of memories that try to touch the ends of Daniel’s soul and behavior, in an attempt to keep moves within our souls …” And support for all of us, “wrote Nadav Friedman,” and we are proud your character and your name everywhere with us. In each of us there is a Mendel who lives and kicks and breathes. “Eliezer Boetzer wrote:” … in front of the whole world you stand upright / your eyes see every opening, every path / you are born to lead. / In the darkness you run, create some light / with a load on your shoulders you will not stop. / And when the darkness slowly recedes, you bring a sunrise on your face. / With your depth, there is no more darkness. .. “
