Largest Haredi draft class for Hashmonaim brigade swears allegiance

The fifth class of combat soldiers in the Hashmonaim Brigade held its oath ceremony last week on the parade ground, in the presence of brigade commander Col. Shmuel Raviv, the training base commander, Lt. Col. A., the brigade rabbi, and other senior staff. Families attended the event and marked the peak of the fighters' training.

The brigade said this was its largest class since the Haredi unit began operating, with two companies in the fifth cohort. The ceremony underscored the brigade's continued growth as the first Haredi combat brigade in the IDF, combining a strictly observant lifestyle with active military service.

Col. Raviv told the soldiers, "You are proof that it is possible to defend the people of Israel without giving up identity." He also said, "We go out to fight and defend the people of Israel, we do not disconnect from the path of our holy ancestors, we connect even more strongly to the spirit of Torah. Also on the home front, the brigade is a combination that brings together parts of the nation, and you are the future fighters of the people of Israel."

The event featured singing, dancing, Hasidic melodies, and music by the IDF Rabbinate band. A central moment was the distribution of the book "Milkhimta shel Torah," written entirely by the soldiers and company rabbis, along with a moving conclusion of a Talmudic tractate, the recitation of Kaddish, and lively Hasidic singing. After receiving the book and their weapons, the soldiers will continue training at the base and later join the brigade in operational sectors.