"He is the Last to be Revealed" • What Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a Said About Yehuda Katz Hy"d 44 Years Ago — and What Happened Today

Today, Friday, 8 Elul 5786, Sergeant First Class Yehuda Yekutiel Katz Hy"d was brought to a Jewish burial in the military section of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem — forty-four years after he fell in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub and remained missing. Forty-four years earlier, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a told the family members that Yehuda would be "the last to be revealed," and even got onto an old pickup truck with twelve students, crossed the border, and entered into Lebanon — in order to search for him.

Today on the Mount of Olives

On Tuesday of this week, the IDF announced that the remains of Sergeant First Class Yehuda Yekutiel Katz Hy"d were returned to Israel and identified at the military rabbinate's casualty identification center. Katz, an armored corps combat soldier, fell in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub on 20 Sivan 5742 (June 11, 1982) during the First Lebanon War — just ten days before his scheduled release from the army — and since then was counted among those missing in action.

He was the last of the three missing soldiers. Zechariah Baumel Hy"d was returned to Israel in 5779, Tzvi Feldman Hy"d was returned last year, and today the circle was closed.

Yehuda Katz was born in Ramat Gan to his parents Yosef and Sarah z"l, Holocaust survivors. He studied at Yeshivat Nechalim and at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh under Rabbi Chaim Yaakov Goldvicht zt"l. The funeral procession departed this morning from the study hall of Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh — the very same study hall where he learned before his enlistment — and from there to the Mount of Olives.

The Father Who Entered the Rav's Room

The connection between Rabbi Berland shlit"a and the Katz family was formed even earlier: Yehuda's brother, Avi Katz, was among the students of the yeshiva and drew close to the Rav and his path. And so, when Yehuda was captured in battle, the father — Yosef Katz z"l — came to the Rav's room with tears in his eyes.

In a rare interview that Rabbi Berland shlit"a granted to the "Mishpacha" newspaper, journalist Aryeh Erlich described that moment: The father "requested the activation of heavenly means in order to locate his son Yehuda. Katz met the determined gaze of a wondrous servant of his God, who never knew what faint-heartedness was."

Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a with Avi Katz, brother of Yehuda Katz Hy"d

"He is the Last to be Revealed"

In the testimony of the father, Yosef Katz z"l, the initial acquaintance is described: It was forged in the month of Sivan, immediately after the battle in Lebanon, through the son Avi who studied at the "Shuvu Banim" yeshiva in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. In one of the meetings, Rabbi Berland shlit"a gave them a shiur (Torah class) on Megillas Esther — the only Megillah in which it is said "v'nahafoch hu" (and it was turned upside down) — and told them that every negative piece of news about Yehuda was destined to be overturned for the good.

And then the Rav said something that the family carried in their hearts for forty-four years:

"There is no doubt that Yehuda emerged from the danger. Who brought him out? Angels. He is the last to be revealed — but do not worry, he is alive and well-guarded."

Upon the Rav's advice, the family members added the name Nachman to his name.

"Yehuda Will Not Come Out in Coffins"

The difficult hour of testing arrived in 1983. Through the Red Cross, and following the efforts of the American envoy McFarlane, permission was granted to open the coffins returned from Damascus and to re-identify the bodies inside them. The family knew that the result would be highly significant for them.

They traveled together with Rabbi Berland shlit"a. The Rav instructed the young men of "Shuvu Banim" to recite chapters of Tehillim (Psalms) — and afterward, they broke out in a dance. And turning to the father, he said:

"Reb Yosef, be calm. Yehuda will not come out in coffins."

And so it was. The bodies in the coffins were of Phalangist soldiers and other Israeli soldiers — not of Yehuda.

"He is Alive — and We Will Travel to Bring Him"

The Rav tried to comfort the family for months, but they refused to be comforted. And then, as one of the passengers later recounted, the decisive moment arrived: After both Rabbi Berland shlit"a and the Baba Sali said that Katz was alive, the Rav stood up and said — he is alive, and we will travel to bring him.

Rabbi Berland shlit"a made one condition with his students before the departure: to believe with a full heart that "Ein od milvado" (there is none besides Him).

"I said: We need emunah (faith), to remember that 'there is none besides Him.' We are going to search for Yehuda Katz — with mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice)."

"Exactly During Parshas Eikev"

Rabbi Berland shlit"a intentionally chose the time of departure, and described it himself as follows:

"It was in 5742, shortly after the Battle of Sultan Yacoub. We tried to secretly cross the border into Lebanon, exactly during Parshas Eikev, in which it is stated: 'Every place where the sole of your foot will tread shall be yours... from the Lebanon.'"

A Creaking Pickup Truck in the Alleys of Sidon

Twelve avreichim (Torah scholars), Breslov Chassidim, squeezed into an old pickup truck with torn seats and a nearly empty gas tank. Among the passengers were Rabbi Zevulun Dachbash, Rabbi Moshe Revach, Rabbi Azizian, and Rabbi David Cohen. A boy of only thirteen also went out with the group, but was returned to Jerusalem further along the way after Rabbi Berland shlit"a instructed to do so.

They passed checkpoint after checkpoint. The Rav shlit"a's description:

"We penetrated into Lebanon, reaching as far as Sidon. We drove through the villages in order to search for the missing soldier Yehuda Katz. Everywhere, terrorists shot at us. We dressed in keffiyehs, we were twelve people... At first, they thought we were diplomats... When we reached Sidon, we were dressed normally. They thought maybe we were priests, clergymen. We passed all the checkpoints. Suddenly they realized we were Jews, and the terrorists started shooting at us. We got out of there with miracles."

Years later, in a shiur he delivered on the Seventh of Pesach 5769, Rabbi Berland shlit"a returned to that journey and added a detail that had not been told before — what exactly they planned to do there:

"Just as we went to Lebanon to search for Yehuda Katz, the brother of Avi Katz. We went with binoculars. We thought we would find some sheikh who would reveal to us where he was located."

On the way, they also stopped in the city of Tyre, at the tziyun (gravesite) of Zevulun ben Yaakov. They could not find the tziyun, until Rabbi Berland shlit"a got out of the vehicle and entered one of the mosques — and came out accompanied by two Arabs who explained the way to him.

As they went deeper inside, the fear grew. "We knew that in Syria there are no games," one of the passengers recounted days later. "From their prison, you come out either crazy or dead." But Rabbi Berland shlit"a declared: "No terrorist will dictate to Rebbe Nachman what to do." And further along the way, when the radiator overheated and the tire leaked: "We will bring Yehuda and continue to Uman."

The Shiur in the Rashaya Camp — and the Commander Who Gave Them Immunity

One night before the attempt to cross the border, Rabbi Berland shlit"a delivered a three-hour Torah shiur in the dining room of the Rashaya camp, before about fifty soldiers. The commander who listened to the shiur opened a difficult conversation: "I don't understand what we need to fight here for — Jews are killed every day."

Rabbi Berland shlit"a answered him with a chain of questions — through which he extracted from the commander the point that is non-negotiable:

"I said to him: 'If you do not defend here, they will conquer Metula.' He said: 'Let them conquer Metula — I don't care'; I said: 'They will conquer Haifa.' The commander said: 'Let them conquer, I don't care'; I said: 'They will conquer Tel Aviv.' He said: 'I don't care'... I said to the commander: 'If you do not defend — they will conquer Jerusalem.' And he said: 'Jerusalem? Up to here, we will not give up on Jerusalem.'"

The next day, when they tried to cross the border, the Israeli army identified them and wanted to put them on trial. They brought them to the commander — that very same commander:

"The commander said: 'These people, give them immunity, do not do anything to them, nothing. Bring them into the dining room, let them eat, let them sleep, give them the best delicacies.'"

In a shiur he delivered years later, Rabbi Berland shlit"a repeated that conversation briefly, and concluded it with the commander's answer:

"I told him to defend Jerusalem. So he said: Alright, I am willing to die for Jerusalem."

And regarding the release itself, he said: "They brought us to the commander, and he said, release them, they are our friends. The night before they told us stories about tzaddikim."

Two Kilometers from the Spot

The journey reached very close. In the words of Rabbi Berland shlit"a:

"In the end, we reached the Rashaya al-Fukhar lookout, two kilometers from the place where Katz was captured, in northeastern Lebanon, and there we saw exactly the spot where the missing soldier was captured."

They did not reach him. But the search did not stop at the border: Rabbi Berland shlit"a activated the Red Cross and even met with the Chancellor of Austria in an attempt to return him. The knowledge that Katz was alive was drawn from a small detail — when the missing soldier Chezi Shai was returned, on a plane from Lebanon to Germany, one of the soldiers guarding him asked his friend: "Is this Yehuda Katz?" And the other answered: "No, this is Chezi Shai."

"Up to Twenty-Two Years There is Hope"

What did Rabbi Berland shlit"a say to the parents? He relied on Yosef HaTzaddik, who disappeared from his father for twenty-two years:

"Yosef HaTzaddik disappeared for 22 years. I told his parents: Up to 22 years there is hope... But then we tried to cross the border, we tried to bring him."

Yosef and Sarah Katz z"l did not merit to see this day. Sarah passed away in 5771, and Yosef in 5774.

Firsthand Testimony

For years, the events of that day remained obscure, and only here and there did the participants of the journey volunteer fragments of information. The full reconstruction — the dates, the names, and the places — was delivered by Rabbi Berland shlit"a himself, in a rare interview with the "Mishpacha" newspaper. You can read it in the article "A Rare Interview".

In the Week of Parshas Ki Seitzei

Yehuda Katz Hy"d was brought to burial in the week when we read "When you go out to war against your enemies" (Parshas Ki Seitzei) — the Torah portion in which the mitzvah of burial is also stated, "You shall surely bury him on that day," and in which the mitzvah of returning a lost object is found, about which it is said: "You must not ignore it."

For forty-four years they did not ignore it. A father who came in tears to the Rav's room, twelve avreichim in a creaking pickup truck in the alleys of Sidon, and a search that lasted generations — until today, on 8 Elul 5786, Yehuda Yekutiel Katz Hy"d reached his resting place on the Mount of Olives.

And those words that were spoken in the Rav's room in the summer of 5742 were fulfilled to the letter: Zechariah Baumel Hy"d was returned in 5779, Tzvi Feldman Hy"d was returned last year — and Yehuda Katz Hy"d, just as was said, was the last to be revealed.

May his memory be blessed.