A Father, A Soldier, A Shliach – Rabbi Yosef Glitzenstein Ends Reserve Duty With Award
Israeli Journalist Amichai Attali wrote the following regarding Rabbi Yosef Glitzenstein, A Shliach, Lawyer, Father and soldier.
Listen to a story about my personal Chabadnik, Rabbi Yosef Glitzenstein — the Rebbe’s emissary to our neighborhood and a friend who is like a brother.
A sweet and energetic person, the kind where you can’t understand where all the energy comes from (though after nearly 11 years around him, I’ve started to understand — it all comes from the shlichus).
He’s also Chabad through and through from birth, a lawyer, and works an important position at a bank. And I can testify that he is a true shliach who influences us to become better Jews and better people.
When the war broke out, he enlisted in the IDF for the first time through Stage B reserve service, at the age of 36, as a father of nine.
Since then, he has served hundreds of reserve duty days, and there’s no doubt — he’s exactly the kind of Jew you would want beside you in the army. He gets worked hard, stays on base for Shabbos, stays for holidays, and does everything with a smile. We joke with him that he’s young and naïve, that they keep sending him on errands and inventing missions for him — and he dismisses every hardship with that same smile.
Since October 7th, his tenth child was born, and two and a half months ago his eleventh. But of course, he would never complain. Even immediately after the birth, he received another reserve call-up lasting more than two months.
At home he left behind a wife who is a legend in her own right, and there’s nothing more heartwarming than seeing the respite events for reserve families in Mazkeret Batya, with the 11 Glitzenstein children, ages 0 to 14, running around among everyone.
Today his reserve duty ended, and unsurprisingly, he was chosen as the outstanding soldier of the deployment.
I read the commendation certificate — the people in the IDF understood him well: he is quick, the first to volunteer for every mission, devoted, and always positive.
What a tremendous Kiddush Hashem. I have no doubt that through his service, the hearts of at least dozens of soldiers in the IDF were opened after seeing the sweet fruits that authentic Judaism can produce.
He is a chassid, he is a rabbi, he is 39 years old, a father of 11 — and it made me laugh to hear that with all of that, his rank is only Private First Class. But he truly, truly is a champion.