More than 311,000 viewers tuned in to Channel 14’s Patriots program on Sunday night to watch the moving interview with Rabbi (Res.) Major Liraz Zeira – the Rebbe’s shliach to colleges in Yerushalayim and longtime IDF officer – who was severely wounded in Syria before Yom Kippur.

The interview, which aired in prime time, became the most-watched television program across all Israeli channels that evening, topping national ratings. Viewers across the country were deeply moved by Rabbi Zeira’s calm strength and unshakable emuna as he recounted the moments of his injury on the Syrian border.

The 42-year-old father of five, who has served in the reserves for many years as both a soldier and commander alongside his Chabad shlichus, recently transitioned to a position in the IDF Rabbinate. Just weeks before his injury, he had been filmed affixing mezuzahs on IDF structures inside Syrian territory and offering encouragement to soldiers stationed beyond the border.

The injury occurred on his last day of duty on the line.

“I came to say goodbye to the infantry company that was under us,” he recalled. “One of the soldiers told me that the camp eruv looked weak. I went to check it out, and during the inspection, I stepped on an old grenade.”

Despite losing both legs in the explosion, he remained conscious, gave orders to the soldiers around him, and recited Tehillim – including the Rebbe’s kapitel – until he was evacuated by helicopter.

Describing the moments that followed, he said:

“The explosion actually turned me onto my stomach. I rolled down towards the path – I realized that if I didn’t move, I would lose blood and no one would see me. I was alone. I crawled toward the center… I realized my legs weren’t listening to me.”

When the soldiers arrived, “they put two tourniquets on my legs and literally saved my life. In two minutes and twenty seconds, they managed to save me. Two and a half liters of blood went – that’s the two main arteries of the body.”

He vividly remembered the moment he first understood what had happened:

“There was one sentence that turned everything around for me – hearing the company commander say on the radio, ‘One wounded, the rabbi, two amputated legs.’ I heard that and suddenly became calm. I knew what the situation was. I didn’t need anyone to explain it to me. Instead of feeling broken, I felt clarity and peace.”

Rabbi Zeira credits that peace to his connection with the Rebbe:

“I can only attribute this to one thing – the privilege of being a chossid of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and a shliach of the Rebbe. The Rebbe repeatedly emphasized: There is no such thing as a disabled soldier. There are only outstanding soldiers. I understood then that this wasn’t the end, but the beginning of a new shlichus.”

Barely days after waking up, Rabbi Zeira was filmed moving around his hospital ward – without legs – bringing joy and encouragement to other patients, helping them shake the lulav, and offering words of chizuk and faith.

“Suddenly, I realized that I have to be there,” he said. “That I have something to give – that I must give it. We opened Instagram and just started talking, filming, and spreading inspiration.”

With quiet strength and unwavering emuna, Rabbi Zeira has turned unimaginable loss into a shlichus for life.

“I may have lost my legs, but I gained wings – wings of spirit, of purpose, of the Rebbe’s light – to keep moving higher.”

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