A Eulogy for Sgt. Moshe Yitzchak Hacohen Katz
by Rabbi Anchelle Perl
Immediately after Shabbos, we received heartbreaking news.
An IDF soldier was killed in combat in Southern Lebanon. He was identified as Sgt. Moshe Yitzchak Hacohen Katz, 22 years old, from New Haven, Connecticut.
Moshe Katz was not just a soldier.
He was a son. A brother. A Chassid. A member of the global Chabad family a young man filled with faith, warmth, and quiet strength.
And then there is something even more personal. Something that pierces the heart.
Moshe Katz and yibodel L’chaim, our grandson, Moshe Perl… were bound together.
Our Moshe serves in Givati. Moshe Katz served in Tzanchanim the paratroopers.
Different units. But one soul.
They chose this life. They chose to be lone soldiers leaving the comfort of their homes, their families, their countries to stand on the front lines for Am Yisroel.
They learned together. They trained together. They shared an apartment together.
They carried the same mission: to protect not only our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisroel but Jews everywhere, across the world.
And today, we watched the funeral from Israel.
And we cried.As a family. As a people.
Because this is not just a story. This is a friend. A brother-in-arms. A soul intertwined with our own.
The Rebbe taught that every Jew is a shliach a messenger of Hashem sent to bring light wherever they go.
Moshe lived that.
He went to a place of darkness and became light. He stood not only as a soldier, but as a guardian of the Jewish people with courage, dignity, and mesirus nefesh.
As we mourn Moshe Katz HYD, we lift our hearts in gratitude to all the soldiers of Israel. To every young man and woman who has given everything for the safety of our people, in the Holy Land and beyond.
Their courage is our shield. Their sacrifice is our future.
At the funeral, something unforgettable happened.
They played a recording of the Rebbe’s voice singing Tzama Lecha Nafshi “My soul thirsts for You.”
A melody so deep, so holy, so filled with longing.
And in that moment, you could feel it. Moshe’s soul rising. Yearning. Connecting. Eternal.
Moshe Katz, your flame has not gone out.
It has risen higher.
And it lives on, in your family, in your friends, in our Moshe, and in every one of us who will carry your light forward.
Yehi zichro baruch.
May Hashem comfort the Katz family among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
May the memory of Sgt. Moshe Yitzchak Hacohen Katz be a blessing and a light.
And may we merit , very soon, a complete and lasting peace, in Israel and throughout the world with the coming of Moshiach!
Amen.