Rabbi Avi Goldberg fell in battle in southern Lebanon.
He died in the same incident in which Major (res.) Gilad Elmaleh, Capt. (res.) Amit Hayut, and Major (res.) Eliav Amram Abitbol fell. In addition, three reservists, a soldier in Battalion 8207, and a combat engineering officer were seriously wounded.
Rabbi Golberg was a captain in the IDF and a beloved teacher at the Himmelfarb yeshiva high school in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Goldberg's family said: "With a heavy heart, in endless pain, we announce the fall of the holy hero, our friend Capt. Rabbi Avi Goldberg, rabbi and warrior, warrior who fell in battle in Lebanon.
In this difficult time we are with Rachel and the children - Yehuda, Shira, Talia, Hadas, Eliashiv, Hillel, Reot, Neve and the whole family.
We remember the words of encouragement he sent us throughout the last year, when he told us about his sense of mission during the fighting. He put down the Gemara and the Tanach and went out to fight but never stopped acting in the mission of the King of the world."
The Himmelfarb high school administration said, "Baruch Dayan Ha'emet (Blessed is the true judge). It is with deep sorrow and complete shock that we announce the death of our colleague, Rabbi Avi Goldberg, in Lebanon. A graduate of the school, 12th grade teacher, and rabbi of the high school. Our teachers have now entered all the classrooms to update the students and then we will issue a statement regarding the rest of the day."
As reported by Arutz Sheva, Rabbi Goldberg served as head of the Torah Mitzion Kollel in Memphis, Tennessee before assuming his educational role at Himmelfarb Yeshiva High School.
