Rabbi Natan Trief moved to Israel in 2006 and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces as a combat soldier specializing in search and rescue. He received a Masters of Hebrew Literature and rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College-Institute of Religion in 2015. He currently heads adult education for Temple Sinai in Atlanta, GA, where he lives with his wife Samantha, also a rabbi, and their son, Rafael.
The day is a gut-wrenching one, and yet one profoundly important in the life of a country. It is a day when we let the pain in, when we listen to and internalize the myriad stories, when we understand that their fight is also our fight.