94-Year-Old Jewish WWII Veteran Honored With Torah Scroll At Israeli Army Base

A 94-year-old man originally from Brooklyn who now resides in Jerusalem was given a special honor on his birthday at an Israeli Army base near the holy city this week.

A Torah scroll presented in honor of Wan Nadel was dedicated by the International Young Israel Movement at the Yishai Base.

As noted by the Jewish Week, Nadel held the rank of lieutenant in the United States Army during World War II, served at the legendary Battle of the Bulge, and was a Commander in the Combat Engineers. The emotional and festive ceremony included a procession with singing and dancing, as well as speeches by IDF officers and rabbis. The sefer Torah, used in the Yishai Base Synagogue, was donated to the Israeli Army’s Combat Engineers unit.

The unit, which battled Hamas terrorists in Gaza during this summer’s Operation Protective Edge, was tasked with leading the detection and destruction of the complex network of tunnels constructed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

“We are always happy to contribute another sefer Torah to the IDF,” stated Daniel Meyer, the International Young Israel’s executive director. “Next time this unit will enter Gaza not only with tractors and other equipment but with their own Torah as well.”

Nadel, who enlisted in the U.S. Army in response to the sneak Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, won a number of medals during the war for his valiant combat behavior, including the Bronze Star and the Victory Medal. Rushed into service due to the urgency of the war effort, he later commented that his weaponry training consisted of “a World War I rifle and an empty beer can.”

Nadel came ashore at Utah Beach on July 9, 1944.

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