Dvir Sorek z”l’s body was found in the early hours of Thursday morning, August 8, 2019, clutching the books he had bought for his teachers as an end of the year gift. Many of the Israeli news outlets thought it was unusual that one of the books the young yeshiva student had selected was the latest novel by David Grossman – but not his teachers at the Robert M. Beren Machanaim Hesder Yeshiva.

“Dvir’s main characteristic was his love for mankind. He believed that every person was created in God’s image, regardless of religion, observance or gender,” said Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Shlomo Vilk.   

Rabbi Yossi Froman, the ‘ram‘ (rabbi-educator) responsible for first-year students at Machanaim told Israel’s Channel 12 news: “We try to get closer to God in every way possible. We don’t only seek ways which have a figurative kipa on their head.  Anyone who is an artist, who knows how to write well, is an excellent avenue through which to conduct internal, spiritual work. Dvir understood this, and his choice of books illustrates that. Dvir was smart and sensitive,” he said. “He would have contributed a lot of his light to Israeli society, and that light was taken from us.”

May Dvir Sorek’s memory be a blessing for us all.

(Pictured, left to right, OTS Director-General Yinon Ahiman, Rabbi Sarel Rosenblatt and Rabbi Yossi Froman speak with reporters on the Beren Campus early Thursday morning)