Surfside IDF Commander Still Sanctifying G-d’s Name

Remember Israeli Commander Col. Golan Vach, who sanctified G-d’s name on international television?

He also does it when the cameras are off.

The Israeli officer who helped identify the remains of Itty Ainsworth in the building collapse in Surfside, Fla., stood by the Torah scroll on Thursday as her granddaughter was named after her.

When IDF Col. Golan Vach paid a visit to the shiva of the Ainsworth family, his main goal was to assure them that based on the remains that his team had helped identify, Itty and Tzvi Ainsworth had died on impact and had not suffered

While he was there, however, he also partook in an uncommon event

When he arrived, the family was preparing to mark the naming of a baby girl, who was born to Itty’s son Dovy and his wife, Sheva, on the day before the building fell on June 24. Traditionally, baby girls are named with a special prayer following the Torah reading on Monday, Thursday or Shabbat. It is customary among Ashkenazic Jews to name children after loved ones who have passed on.

To thank Vach for his team’s efforts in locating and identifying the bodies of the parents of seven, he was called to the Torah for the prayer that announces the new baby’s name.

“It is with deep gratitude that I share the birth and naming of our daughter, Itta (Itty) Ainsworth, named after my mother, a’h,” the baby’s father wrote on Facebook. “My daughter should follow in my mother’s ways, connecting deeply with so many around the world in a positive, uplifting and spiritual way.”

The father of the baby also shared his gratitude for Vach.

“We were honored to have the IDF [officer] responsible for my parents search efforts attend the Torah reading and naming ceremony,” he wrote. “Thank you Col. Golan Vach and the IDF, who have been critically helpful and comforting through this process. Col. Vach is a special soul we will never forget.”

Now excuse me while I remove the dust from my eyes.

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