In the middle of the Western Wall Plaza on Monday stood a smiling, red-haired bar mitzvah boy, wrapping tefillin around his arm and head for the first time. For Ori Greenberg, the traditional coming-of-age ceremony was an exciting event – but a very sad one too: His father, Amotz Greenberg, was killed by terrorists who crossed into Israel from Gaza at the start of Operation Protective Edge.

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Instead of celebrating with the big party he had always dreamed of, Ori laid tefillin with the help of Chief Military Rabbi Rafi Peretz; and instead of being surrounded by his classmates, Ori stood in a crowd of 50 boys and girls - Israel Defense Forces orphans who had come of age.

Ori Greenberg celebrates his bar mitzvah at the Western Wall (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

On the other side of the plaza stood Neta Etzion, whose father, Ze'evik, also appears on the list of the Operation Protective Edge fatalities. Ze'evik, the security officer at Kibbutz Nirim, was killed in a mortar attack on the kibbutz just an hour or so before the ceasefire went into effect.

"Neta was due to celebrate her bat mitzvah at the kibbutz, but it fell exactly on the day the ground operation began," her mother, Nava, recounted. "A group of children were planning to celebrate together. They had already sent out invitations. But the operation put a stop to everything."

Neta's celebration was postponed indefinitely, and Monday was the first time since the tragedy that she marked a joyous occasion. "I'll have a bat mitzvah at some point, but I don't know if it will be at the kibbutz. We're waiting for Gadi to get back to the kibbutz and then we'll see," she said.

Gadi is Gadi Yarkoni, the kibbutz coordinator, who was injured in the same mortar attack that killed his good friend, Ze'evik, and is currently recovering in hospital after both his legs were amputated.

"There are two of us in the group who lost their fathers in the incident – me and the daughter of Shahar Melamed. We don’t know what will happen now," Neta added.

Neta Etzion and Ori Greenberg with President Rivlin (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

The children and widows spent the day at Mount Herzl and the Western Wall, and a special reception awaited them that evening: The president, defense minister, chief of staff, police commissioner and commander of the Israel Prison Service all showed up to wish them well.

The guests were individually introduced by some of the children, who also spoke about their fathers; and waiting on the stage for the chief of staff, when his turn came, stood the young Ori, who moved many a heart with his eulogy to his father at his funeral some two months ago. "Once you only seemed like Superman, but now you really are Superman who saved thousands," Ori said over his father's grave.

"My name is Ori, and I am the son of Lieutenant Colonel Amotz Greenberg, an Armored Corps fighter who fell in Operation Protective Edge 68 days ago," Ori said on Monday in an emotional voice.

"I respectfully invite Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz to the stage. I am honored to light the candle of strength with the chief of staff, with the knowledge that we must always be strong in order to defend the State of Israel.

"Before going out into battle, my father said: 'I can't leave my soldiers alone.' Dad went to do reserve duty and didn't come home. Dad and his fallen comrades have entrusted us with life and the preservation of our strength as a nation, as a state and as a society."

Gantz embraced Ori and kissed his forehead, and then went on to say that "at this very moment, my wife, Revital, is taking my third son, Nir, to study his Torah portion. If only you all had that opportunity."

Benny Gantz embraces Ori Greenberg at his bar mitzvah celebration (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

When President Reuven Rivlin made a mistake with Greenberg's rank, Ori made a point of informing the large crowd that his father had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel after his death. The president then had photographs taken with Ori and Neta, who told him of their experiences on the days their fathers were killed.

"It was fun," Ori said after the ceremony. "We toured the Herzl Museum and I laid tefillin at the Wall. I enjoyed the day. My grandmother and grandfather came with me, and also my younger sister and my mother. I met a lot of new friends. I'm happy I came despite the fact that it was nerve-wracking to stand on the stage with Benny Gantz."

The ceremony was "very moving, powerful and touching," said Nava Etzion at the end of the evening. "We haven't even marked the end of 30-day mourning period. It's all still very fresh for us, and the sense that someone is watching out for us is touching."





Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon embraces one of the bat mitzvah celebrants (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Looking on from the side stood Nava Shoham-Solan, who heads the Israel Defense Forces Widows and Orphans Organization, which was behind the event.

"It's hard for us, because more and more families join us every year. We salute those two families from Protective Edge. They're stuck in an abyss now and can't see any light, and it's very difficult to come to an event like this. But they chose to come and celebrate with us, and it's good to see that they were pleased to have come."