He was abroad when the Hamas attack broke out on October 7, but Lt. Omri Rosenblit He didn't hesitate for a moment.
He informed his family that he was returning to Israel, rejoined his company, and entered the depths of the Gaza Strip. On February 9, 2024, after almost a hundred days of continuous fighting, Omri and his soldiers entered another building in Khan Yunis to clear it. But this time it ended differently. The building collapsed under the force, and Rosenblit found himself in intensive care.
As a result of the explosion, in addition to several serious injuries, Omri lost his left leg, but not his fighting spirit.
His injury led him on a long rehabilitation journey in which he had to face many physical and mental challenges through a lot of faith and determination.
In his lecture, Omri, 24, talks about his military service as a commander and the fighting in Gaza and shares about the faith and mental tools that helped him cope with the injury and overcome all the doctors' predictions during the complex rehabilitation process.
Today, as a presenter for the IDF Disabled Organization and the 'Beit HaLoham', Rosenblit calls for a change in language and consciousness. He wants to stop calling his friends "IDF disabled" - an expression that conveys a deficiency - and call them "IDF Distinguished Ones", as the Lubavitcher Rebbe called for five decades ago. "I quote the Lubavitcher Rebbe who said that the expression 'disabled' should not be used, but 'distinguished', and that is what we are," he says in an interview with Ynet.
This call was born from a conversation the Rebbe had in 1976 with a delegation of soldiers who were injured in Israel's wars, who came to play in the Olympics - and in the process he suggested that they change the name and call them 'Outstanding in Israel'.
""I do not feel comfortable with the term 'disabled', which expresses a decline and disadvantage," the Rebbe said at the time. "On the contrary, it should be emphasized that he is special and distinguished - by the Creator of man, who gave him special powers that exceed those of an ordinary person, and therefore he is able to overcome difficulties and obstacles that an ordinary person is unable to overcome.
Therefore, I would suggest - as is the Jewish custom to comment and make suggestions even in matters that are apparently not his - that they change the name and call it "The Excellent" in Israel.
Omri believes that the time has come to realize that old vision and change the language, which will also affect consciousness. "One day, if I work in a management position in the organization, maybe I will change the name to the 'IDF Excellent Organization.' I will remind many that the word 'disabled' belongs to the past," he says with a smile. "Because anyone who gave his body for the people of Israel is excellent, no less.".
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