One of the greatest gifts the people of Israel have been granted during the Oct. 7 war is that we have reminded ourselves of Jewish strength and power in our superpower tiny county Israel. Our people are Maccabees and prophets, warriors and angels. There have been many heroes, but Rami Davidian, our citizen farmer, is a hero who must be remembered for generations.
Our Israeli Zionist braveheart saved 750 lives driving back and forth from the site of the Nova massacre. He saved so many and yet is haunted by those he could not save. Driving with him around the site of the massacre reminded me of the horrors of the Holocaust, during which Jews hid and were massacred. Rami carried out rescues all day and performed miracles.
This wonderful man, a Kurdish Jew, saved 750 lives at the Nova festival. He drove back and forth for days saving people from Hamas terrorists. It’s like a movie, but here in Israel, it’s real.
Sitting with Rami in Tel Aviv is to be with a prophet. A 25-year-old man named Amit approached and hugged Rami for saving his life. Amit’s girlfriend May openly cried. Rami speaks of these children as his children. He hugs them and they both cry and laugh. He rescued this young man who was hiding in a ditch reciting the Shema.
At the beach with Rami, Israelis of all ages come to ask for blessings and thank him. A man with a dog hugged Rami, telling him “Atah malach, atah gibor.” (“You are an angel, you are a hero.”) This is our people.
I’m blessed to have gotten to know this hero since we met in October. Rami saved not only 750 people but also their children, grandchildren and others.
Name your children after Rami.
The name “Rami” is of Arabic origin and means “to throw,” but after one speaks to him about the hundreds of lives he saved on that fateful day, up until the last rescue, in which he pretended to be an Arab terrorist to rescue a frightened girl from their clutches, we realize that Rami is also derived from the Hebrew root “Ram,” son of Hezron, a grandson of Yehudah through his son Perez. “Ram” is thus a link in the chain that carries on to King David and, by extension, the Mashiach. This is all recorded at the very end of the Book of Ruth.
Rami has a nobility that is paralleled in the noble descendants of Yehudah. A quiet, fearless warrior; worthy of the name. King David would have been proud to call him his own.
Rami Davidian is a holy Jew who has deep nightmares at night and has seen things people are not meant to have seen. He is in deep pain and facing extensive PTSD issues.
Like many in Israel, he is suffering. Spending time with Rami, he reminds me daily “In the end, it will be good.” Of everyone we met, Rami is a hero like none other.
Am Yisrael Chai! We need more Jewish heroes in this world. Stand up and be proud.
