Rabbi Liraz Zeira - A Story of Courage - Colel Chabad International Awards Gala 2025

My name is I'm 42 years old. I live in married to Anat. Father to five beautiful boys is on campus in I work with students. One of the most beautiful projects we [music] have together with Kabad. We encourage students and young people from all around [music] us to go and visit elderly people in their houses and make sure they have everything [music] they need. But more than that, someone sees them, that someone speaks to them, someone comes and visits them to [music] make sure they're not alone, that they know that they mean mean a lot. That project has taken a tremendous turn in my the way it influences me and the last few months. One of the things I do besides being a father and aim is I'm also a officer in reserves [music] in the Israeli army. Pretty high ranked. And after 7 months of reserves in Syria the day before the we ended, I'm supposed to come back home. I went and visited one of our posts in Syria and I gave them things the soldiers things they need and encouraged them to keep on fighting and to have a good spirit. [music] And as I'm walking around the post, unfortunately I stepped on a hand grenade and exploded. I lost both of my legs in that explosion and I was evacuated with a helicopter to Kyifa to Rambam where they saved my life. >> [music] >> I had a lot of surgeries but hashem to save my knees to save my life and one thing that became very vivid I knew it before but now it became totally different [music] is how am I not just a bunch of individuals we're not just one person here in Israel one person here in America one in Brazil no we're one thing together [music] the alterb that established kabad talked about it As we're every deed that we do is like a shield [music] and every one of us takes one coin and the other coin and we take it together it becomes a huge shield. I felt it [music] when I was injured. I felt like Amistrael is lifting me like I went up on the stage in this huge concert and jumped towards the audience and [music] Amistrel is just keeping me high up on their hands and taking me from one person to the other. The amount of people who [music] stopped and prayed and stopped and daved for me and did good deeds for me and gave coins to sedaka and helped the other person. All these things together, [music] I felt how it held me up high when I was afraid to fall. And the power that is gives one each other is exactly what Kabad is doing. I knew that it's important to go and visit someone [music] else and encourage him. But now when I see when I'm here in my rehab center here in [music] Eric Kardesh, I feel how important is when I walk to someone and smile to him and tap [music] him on the shoulder and say, "You can do it. Come on, let's do it together." And that's exactly [music] what the project that we and and the students do with the elderly people here in Shalim because of Kabad [music] with the power they're giving us the power you're giving they can give us the power and [music] change the way these elderly people look at themselves and the way these students understand that they can be influential and change the way they look at their future. >> How are you? How's it going? How you feeling? better every day. >> That's amazing. [music] Each and every one of us this attitude. >> This is what we're supposed [singing and music] [singing] [music] [screaming] to. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate them.