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Photo Shows Jerusalem Chabad Rabbi Back at Work After Losing Both Legs in Syria

An Instagram post spotlights a months-long rehab culminating in a full-time return to Jerusalem outreach.

Overview

  • The image, posted by the “Smiling Soldiers” account and shot by Menachem Geisinsky, shows Rabbi Liraz Zeira putting tefillin on a passerby beside his Chabad House.
  • Zeira serves as a Chabad emissary to Jerusalem college campuses, where emissaries often offer tefillin, small ritual boxes used in weekday prayer, to people on the street.
  • Reports say he lost both legs to a landmine in southern Syria during IDF reserve service after several hundred days of duty.
  • He completed a long rehabilitation and returned to full-time campus work a few months ago, according to the outlets.
  • The coverage quotes praise from the post and notes he is a father of five, while his rank is inconsistently reported as either reserve major (VINnews) or corporal (Israel National News).