eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
The picture of Nissim Ginni z”l
Today we dedicate our prayers of Halel and Hoda-a, praise and gratitude to HaShem for the miracles that led to the establishment of the State of Israel 70 years ago.
In Yom HaAtzmaut I would normally write about the incredible achievements of Medinat Israel, or about the prophecies that are being fulfilled, one by one, in our beloved land. But yesterday, Yom haZikaron, I heard a very special story for the first time, which I can’t avoid sharing with you. My son David called me on the phone and asked me: “Dad, do you know who was the youngest fallen soldier in the history of the Israeli Army?” I answered” “No”. And then my son told me his name: “Nissim Gini”. And since I started reading about him, I couldn’t stop …
Today, in his honor, I would like to share his story, which is as unique as it is unknown.
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
Yom haAtzmaut celebrates the Declaration of Independence of Israel on May 14, 1948. But that declaration was the beginning of a very painful war that cost the lives of 1% of the Jewish population of Israel … The day after the declaration, all the armies of the Arab countries began to attack the Jewish population of Israel, which at that time consisted of more or less 650,000 souls.
The story of Nissim has to do with the attack of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Yerushalayim, the Roba Yehudi, by the powerful Jordanian Legion.
Nissim Gini was born in Jerusalem in 1938. It is possible that he was born in Hanuka, because among Sepharadim it is common to name a baby born on that holiday “Nissim”. His father was Ytshaq Gini, an observant Jew that came from Izmir, Turkey. His mother was Miryam Waqnin, from Morocco. Nissim had two brothers, Nathan and Meir z”l, and one sister, Haya. Nissim studied in the Talmud Tora of the Old City. 1600 Jews lived there, in a constant state of tension with their Arab neighbors. Jewish children suffered the permanent bullying of Arab children, but they managed very well to defend themselves.
THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM
On May 14, 1948, when Nissim was in the 4th grade, and 9 years old, hostilities began. The Old City was blocked and the Jews who lived there were totally isolated, with only 200 young soldiers left, with very little ammunition, to defend the population. The soldiers resisted as much as they could, but many died or were captured. The siege intensified and there were fewer and fewer Jewish fighters left. The civilians, then, joined the efforts to defend the city. The situation of the Gini family was not easy. The father, who had a bakery in Mahane Yehuda, had been caught outside the Old City before the blockade began, and was not able to enter the Jewish quarter. Nissim’s mother, blind in both eyes by a terrible illness, was in charge of her four children. Haya, the older sister, who was 14 years old, volunteered in Bate Mahase, an improvised infirmary where a few nurses and volunteers treated the wounded. Many children, such as Nathan, Nissim’s older brother, who was 12 years old, also volunteered. The children brought coffee or food to the soldiers and helped as much as they could.
THE MOST COURAGEOUS CHILD
Nissim, 9, also volunteered. Probably due to his skills in the game of “hide and seek”, Nissim knew perfectly well all the corners, the shortcuts and the secret passages of the Old City. Nissim, was very mature, awake and especially brave. Nissim helped the soldiers carrying weapons and ammunition from one to the other. But the most important thing that Nissim was doing was to slip away at night, avoiding the enemy sight, to identify and inform the Jewish soldiers of the movements of the Jordanian troops. Eyewitnesses tell that Nissim often ran under a rain of Jordanian bullets to fulfill his mission, risking his life to find the Jordanian snipers. The intelligence brought by little Nissim was absolutely critical to the brave Jewish soldiers, and his actions saved lives. On May 27, 1948, Nissim went home to eat a hot meal, but before he could taste his mom’s food, a young man came looking for him: “Your replacement did not arrive”, he told him, “we need you at the observation post.” When Nissim was about to leave, his mother, frightened by the sounds of the bullets that were increasingly closer, said: “Leave him here, outside is getting very dangerous.” Several witnesses remember what Nissim said to his mother at the time: “מה את רוצה אמא, שאני אשב בבית ואחרים ימותו” “What do you want, mom, that I stay at home while the others die?” And Nissim left. Nissim arrived at the observation post, near where Yeshiba Porat Yosef stands today, next to the Kotel. In a tragic moment, Nissim raised his head and a Jordanian sniper shot him and mortally wounded him. Nissim was taken to the infirmary of Bate Mahase. There, he was treated by his own sister, Haya, who desperately tried to stop the blood. But she did not have the appropriate medical equipment to help Nissim, and the next day Nissim Gini died of his wounds .
THE FALLING OF THE OLD CITY
That day, after having resisted heroically for 14 days, the Rabbi of the Old City of Yerushalayim, Ribbi Benzion Hazan, raised the white flag and the city surrendered. The Jordanians took about 500 Jews prisoners, and the rest of the Jews were taken out of the city. The body of Nissim, along with the other seven deceased soldiers, remained in the infirmary of Bate Mahase.
THE BURIAL of NISSIM GINNI
In June 1967, with the help of HaShem and His multiple and incredible miracles, the Israeli Army conquered Yerushalayim. An elderly Arab citizen asked to speak with the highest ranking officer. The elder took the officer to a corner of the city and said, “The bodies of a few Jews are buried here. I buried them myself in 1948. The Jordanians wanted to burn the bodies, but I did not allow them. ” The army unearthed the bodies, but the fighters could not be identified. Except for one: Nissim Gini, because he still had his baby teeth …
The remains of Nissim were taken by order of Rabbi Shelomo Goren to the cemetery of the Mount of Olives, Har HaZetim. After a few years, the Israeli Army recognized Nissim Gini as the youngest fallen soldier to have served in the Israel Defense Forces, and a plaque was erected in his memory in the Har Hertzel military cemetery. See HERE
I know very well (because I have written this article with tears in my eyes) that the story of Nissim Ginni is very sad … and it seems rather incompatible with the feelings of praise and gratitude to HaShem that we should be feeling in Yom haAtzmaut. But I think that the short life of little Nissim, his huge sacrifice and courage to help his brothers and defend nothing less than JERUSALEM, is a great source of pride and inspiration for all of us, and it will probably add even more meaning and relevance to this Yom haAtzmaut.
יום העצמאות שמח
Yosef Bitton
april 19, 2018
Fuente: halakhaoftheday.org
