Belev Echad brings hope to wounded IDF soldiers

As a group of wounded Israeli soldiers wandered through New York City, it was hard not to notice the hope in their eyes. Glimmering Broadway lights illuminated the starstruck soldiers, overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of the Big Apple. New York is the city of dreams, but many of these young men have been living through a nightmare ever since their life changing injury. 

What the group of eight men have in common is their wounds, some injured since October 7, and some injured in military operations years before. But all of them found each other through Belev Echad, which means "With One Heart" in Hebrew. The organization was founded 15 years ago in 2010, as a way to bring wounded Israeli soldiers to the United States on a mini vacation. The goal was to provide a break from their rehabilitation in Israel. 

One of the soldiers on the most recent trip to New York was 21-year-old Ori Maimon. A few days into the trip he said, "It’s a good feeling. You have the chance to meet people. You live with them for 10 days, you do crazy things that you never did, like fly in a helicopter, or meet important leaders. It’s a crazy experience. It’s my first time in New York, or even in the United States."

Belev Echad was founded by Rabbi Uriel Vigler and his wife Shevy. "Before October 7, Belev Echad was helping restore soldiers to life. That was our mission, it was whatever that entailed. And after that, it has been saving soldiers' lives," said Shevy about the shift since October 7, 2023.

Prior to the Swords of Iron war, Belev Echad was helping roughly 500 soldiers. Today, the organization has more than 2,000 members.

Maimon is one of the new members. He was injured near the Lebanon border on October 8, 2023, when Israel was concerned Hezbollah would try to commit a similar infiltration to that of Hamas. The soldiers in the north were on such high alert; Maimon was injured during the chaos, in a taboo reality of war: a friendly fire incident.

"I noticed the soldier opening up on me. I saw his magazine, saw his magazine fall. I said, now he's probably going to shoot. And at that moment I ducked, there was a boom, and a bullet grazed me here, on the head," Maimon said as he pointed to the crown of his head. 

"Then I got another blow, I don't know what from. We laid down, me and the medic in the car with me, we sat down in the car and yelled, ‘Stop firing! Stop firing!’ But because of the heavy firing they apparently didn't hear us."

More than 500 bullets were fired at Maimon and the medic sitting next to him. Maimon was shot five times, four in the leg and one grazing his head. He spent months in the hospital where he underwent six operations, and it was during that time in the hospital where he was first introduced to Belev Echad. 

"It was a lot of fun having them come to me. It took me four months until I realized what they’re actually doing but today I like it so much that I volunteer for Belev Echad to go visit other wounded soldiers, and I enjoy it very much. I’m well positioned because I was there recently," said Maimon. 

Shevy explained: "When [the soldiers] are in the hospital, we actually have staff (who are wounded soldiers) who go and visit different hospitals throughout Israel. Every single day, all the hospitals, and they meet the soldiers as soon as they’re injured."

From hospital visits, to state of the art medical devices, Belev Echad works to help wounded soldiers through every part of the recovery process. But it wouldn’t be possible without the donors. Many of them host soldiers in their homes during trips to the United States, as a small way to give back.

One donor from New Jersey, Michael Berkowitz, said, "Every diaspora jew, we all feel a little guilty that we’re not [in Israel], not doing more, and we should. But at least when you do things like this, it means you feel a little bit more connected, and giving back the little we can. So we should all be doing as much as we can, and I highly recommend everyone should get involved in Belev Echad."

Rabbi Uriel Vigler explained that "The name Belev Echad is actually [With] 'One Heart.' Belev Echad means we are one with our soldiers. In other words, the American community here is one with our soldiers, and to tell you the people in New York and America care, they care deeply."

Along with American donors funding the Belev Echad mission, American doctors are also stepping up and helping with the recovery process. 

"The level of care in Israel is superb, and these are techniques and approaches that are just a little bit different based on our experience here. Part of that experience is that we have many individuals with limb loss in this country, more than in Israel, and all I'm trying to do is lend our experience to help optimize these soldiers who deserve the best care," said Dr. Omri Ayalon, an orthopedic surgeon in New York. 

While Israel has some of the best doctors in the world, the United States has more experience in limb loss and prosthetics, as nearly 2 million Americans use a prosthetic limb. 

"A prosthetist in America, in order to be able to give a prosthetic needs eight years of training. In Israel, no training is required. You want to open up a shop, you can open up and give a prosthetic," explained Rabbi Vigler. 

However, Belev Echad and Dr. Omri Ayalon are trying to bridge the gap between prosthetic care in Israel and the United States. Israeli doctors have been flying to New York to gain experience in the field and expand their knowledge. 

"One of my main goals with this whole initiative is to create a completely self-sustaining system like this in Israel, because obviously the goal is to be able to have all these treatments and levels of care in Israel. That’s been my goal since day one," Dr. Ayalon said. 

This is an important goal that the team is working towards, but the broader goal of Belev Echad is to have no more need for this kind of help.

"Our vision at Belev Echad is to shut the organization down. We truly pray every day that we won’t have any more wounded soldiers. That’s our vision, that’s what we work for every day. But until that happens we’ll just have to do everything we can for our wounded soldiers," said Rabbi Vigler. 

That’s exactly what he and his wife Shevy do, along with their team at Belev Echad. It’s a vision of healing and hope, that wounded soldiers can continue to live with a life changing injury. 

Rabbi Vigler said, "If you’re a wounded soldier out there, know that there’s help. When you look at our soldiers who have been with us for 15 years, you look back and see there’s life. You’re missing a leg, you're missing a hand, you can actually move on in life."