Tamir Movshovitz is brave. The Israeli soldier who was wounded in March unquestionably exhibits both courage and courageous endurance, traits he has shown on more than one occasion. Most recently he returned to the front lines to serve with his fellow soldiers and buddies during Operation Protective Edge this summer before the wounds he suffered months earlier had healed. He came to Kansas City last month to continue the healing process and receive treatment from a world-renown local Jewish doctor who happens to be a family friend.
This year of incredible highs and lows began for Movshovitz in March, when his friends and family danced with him at his wedding as his life with his new bride, Hadas, began with joy. Just nine days later those very same friends that lifted him on a chair during the wedding now lifted a blood-drenched Movshovitz onto a stretcher on a battlefield on the Israeli-Syrian border.
At that time Movshovitz was operating as a first lieutenant with the Israeli paratroopers. He and his fellow paratroopers received reports that two Syrian infiltrators were entering into Israeli territory on the Syrian side of the security fence. A group of soldiers went quickly to monitor the situation. They fired a shot in the air as a signal that they were aware of the Syrian presence in the area. Indeed, the two Syrians swiftly ran away.
The soldiers then assumed that the danger had passed as things got quiet. Then the unit’s major thought he saw something suspicious and started moving in that direction. Movshovitz followed to give him cover, and then there was a loud explosion.
“We knew what it was straight away, and we began again firing toward the enemy lines,” said Movshovitz while he was in Kansas City recuperating from surgery performed by Dr. William Rosenberg at Research Medical Center.
Those Syrians had laid a trap for the IDF, planting an IED bomb that they were able to explode from a distance. Several soldiers were severely hurt, including Movshovitz, whose body was littered with shrapnel, and Alon Cohen who remains in a critical condition nine months later.
Despite extensive surgeries, including the one here in November, Movshovitz still walks around with shrapnel embedded in his body that cannot be removed by doctors.
“They are souvenirs,” joked Dr. Rosenberg, while visiting with Movshovitz and his young wife.
Movshovitz was still limping and in great pain when the war on the Western front in Gaza began to rage this summer. He said he wanted to see his comrades, offer words of strength and to work behind the scenes. So he sought, and obtained, permission to go there.
As a soldier committed to defending his country, Movshovitz could not just sit and watch his unit while his beloved friends left each day on their mission. He insisted on going back to the front lines with his unit. With his gun on his back, Movshovitz bravely pulled his boot onto his injured foot, preparing for battle. This was the first time he had placed anything on his foot since the day of the injury. Not even a sock had been placed over his injured limb. To this day he only has partial feeling in that foot.
He limped along in battle, walking on the side of his injured foot, and returned unharmed from the front lines.
“I wanted them to see that I was there for them. Even though I was injured, we were in this together, and I wanted this to give the guys in my unit strength and hope,” said Movshovitz about his determination to fight with his unit.
“He told me he was just going to help, and to see the guys”, added his wife, Hadas. “I had no idea he was going to end up fighting again. But I am proud of him.”
“I am the same person as before the injury,” Tamir chimed in. “You know that when you swear to your country to serve in the army, that something like this might happen. You do this with a lev shalem (whole heart). This is the spirit of the Jewish people.”
Through with battle again, the young Israeli soldier was still in a lot of pain. His family had a relationship with Dr. Rosenberg, who they had met while they were both living in Cincinnati 20 years ago. At the time Movshovitz’s parents, Assi and Chava, were assigned by the IAF to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Through the Jewish community there, they became friends with Bill and Kathi Rosenberg. Dr. Rosenberg was a neurosurgeon at the Mayfield Clinic and University of Cincinnati. As the years passed, the friendship between the Movshovitzs and the Rosenbergs grew stronger.
This twist of fate proved vital for Movshovitz, since Dr. Rosenberg was able to advise the family and their doctors in Israel regarding the treatment of the young soldier’s lingering injuries. Today Dr. Rosenberg is a neurosurgeon with Midwest Neurosurgery Associates and is based at Research Medical Center. He is also the founder of the Center for the Relief of Pain, and is a leading expert in modern-day neurosurgical techniques for pain control.
Dr. Rosenberg explained that “Tamir needed a device implanted in his leg to help the pain.”
He encouraged Movshovitz to have this procedure, which isn’t available in Israel. Through the two families’ friendship, the connection was made and after some discussion, the IDF agreed to send Movshovitz to Kansas City for the procedure.
“We put an electrode on his sciatic nerve, which stimulates into the foot and helps with the pain. Beforehand he couldn’t even put his leg on the floor. Now he can walk,” Dr. Rosenberg said.
Hadas Movshovitz is thrilled that Dr. Rosenberg was able to help her husband.
“Bill and Kathi are unbelievable. Not only has Bill done this surgery for Tamir, they also hosted us for a month here and treated us like family.”
While he was here, the Israeli soldier concentrated most of his efforts on healing. However he did speak to a group of Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy students who were in the fourth through 12th grades, describing his most recent experiences in the IDF.