The bereaved brother who founded a memorial initiative for ot

For several years, Yehuda Lanzkron, a real estate entrepreneur and social activist, has been involved in memorial initiatives and fundraising. At first, all of his energy was devoted to commemorating his brother, Naftali Ben Zion Lanzkron, who was murdered in a terror attack in 2001 at just 13 years old. His intense efforts, which he now calls “excessive,” included establishing study halls, public gardens, scenic overlooks, writing books (including Torah scrolls), and producing memorial films, in his brother’s name. Yehuda recounts that one night, his brother Naftali appeared to him in a dream and asked him to stop these memorials and instead focus on commemorating terror victims from other families – and so he did.

Ever since then, Lanzkron has dedicated himself to helping others. Then, the horrific morning of October 7, 2023 happened, which shocked the entire country. In the first two weeks after the massacre, he was unable to function. But then he decided to get up and take action.

“I started thinking, what am I going to do with myself in this situation,” Lanzkron recounts. “I told myself, on Simchat Torah, Hamas didn’t really aim to murder 300 kids at a party and just stop there. They wanted to wipe out the people of Israel. But God, after 1,200 dead, declared to them ‘Stop,’ and halted the event. I thought to myself: what is our answer to all of this?”

“I started thinking, what am I going to do with myself in this situation,” Lanzkron recounts. “I told myself, on Simchat Torah, Hamas didn’t really aim to murder 300 kids at a party and just stop there. They wanted to wipe out the people of Israel. But God, after 1,200 dead, declared to them ‘Stop,’ and halted the event. I thought to myself: what is our answer to all of this?”

For Lanzkron, the answer came in the form of “Mantzichim – Memorial Initiatives in Israel,” which he founded in February of 2024. His ambitious mission: to dedicate a restored Torah scroll in memory of every soldier who fell and every civilian murdered on October 7 and throughout the war, so that by the next Simchat Torah, Torah scrolls commemorating them will be proudly raised in synagogues throughout Israel and around the world. The initiative offers bereaved families a way to memorialize their loved ones through Torah scrolls, entirely free of charge. The aim is to make this traditional Jewish form of remembrance accessible to families who until now could pursue this only if they had significant means.

At first, Lanzkron planned to commission completely new Torah scrolls in memory of the fallen, but quickly realized the astronomical cost of such an undertaking—around $60 million.

“I started reaching out to major donors, who dismissed the idea outright, because there is still a war going on, and kibbutzim and towns desperately need funds to rebuild,” he says. “But from my own experience as a bereaved brother, I knew the powerful consolation a Torah scroll can bring to a grieving family.”

Now, Lanzkron’s initiative encompasses several branches: “Tree of Life” – the restoration and revival of invalid Torah scrolls and their dedication to the memory of the fallen; “Embroiderers of Life in Their Memory” – an initiative in which women from across the Jewish world embroider special Torah mantles; “Communities Embroidering in Their Memory” – synagogues throughout the country will dance with Torahs bearing identical Torah mantles; and “The Chumash of Heroes: Strength and Light” – a printed set of the five books of the Torah that commemorates the fallen (with each person memorialized with a biography, family tributes, and Torah thoughts).

This initiative, which currently includes approximately 800 families of IDF soldiers killed in the Iron Swords War, receives support from World Mizrachi and connects to a similar international initiative led by Rabbi Andrew Shaw from Britain and Rabbi Pini Dunner from Los Angeles, who prepare Torah scrolls for Jewish communities worldwide.

Lanzkron was seventeen years older than his younger brother. Naftali was the youngest child in his family, after five sons and four daughters. Born and raised in Petah Tikva, he attended the local Darchei Noam elementary school. From there, he attended the Bnei Chayil yeshiva high school in Kedumim. On March 28, 2001, at the height of the Second Intifada, Naftali left home by bus to the yeshiva in Kedumim, on his way to the last day of school before Passover vacation. At the gas station near Neveh Yamin, a group of teenagers had gathered to wait for an armored bus. A suicide bomber with an explosive device on his body approached the group and detonated next to them. In the attack, Naftali and his friend Eliran Rosenberg were killed.

The evening before that terrible day, Naftali was watching a Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball game with Yehuda at his brother’s house. At some point in the evening, Naftali stunned his brother by saying he thought there would be an attack on the way to school the next day. In effect, he predicted what would happen. When Naftali returned home, he asked his mother if he could drink wine with her, and asked his father for a hug. Even stranger, Naftali asked his parents to let him sleep in their bed with them that night. “He simply felt that something was going to happen, there’s no other way to explain it,” says Yehuda.

According to the bereaved brother, “Naftali’s testament was to bring peace and brotherhood to the world. He did this everywhere he went, but his dream was to do this within the people of Israel as well. Even at home, despite being the youngest, he was the one who made sure to connect all 10 siblings and also ensured that we would have fun and bond together.”

Lanzkron recalls an incident from Naftali’s days as a youth movement member that really represents his special character. “One Shabbat at Bnei Akiva, Naftali happened to be absent. That Shabbat, his fellow group members insulted and mocked the counselors, and the counselors decided to cancel the planned activities. After Naftali heard about the incident, he waited for the next Shabbat and took responsibility for what had happened upon himself, even though he clearly wasn’t at fault. Naftali explained that his friends were probably embarrassed, and he was doing it on their behalf; the main thing was that there would be peace among everyone. Today, our father is proud of each and every one of the siblings because we remained united – that is Naftali’s true testament.”

One of the most moving aspects of Lanzkron’s initiative is that the wooden handles for the restored Torah scrolls are made from trees that were destroyed in the massacre at Kibbutz Nir Oz. “This is the best expression of the verse ‘in your blood you shall live,’” says Lanzkron. “We take death and make life from it.”

Thirty bereaved families have already joined the “Tree of Life” initiative, including the Rivlin family from Itamar, who commissioned two Torah scrolls to commemorate their sons, Gideon Harel (Gigi) and Aviad, who were killed at the Nova music festival in Re’im.

“I thought about how today there are so many streams in the Jewish people, with disagreements about how to practice Jewish law, or how to pray, but there is only one thing that remains singular, unified and unique – the Torah scroll,” says Lanzkron. “Anyone who reads from a Torah scroll, including in the Conservative and Reform movements, reads from a kosher Torah scroll that was written in ink by a scribe on kosher parchment.”

He explains: “We get the Torah scrolls from synagogues in Israel and around the world. Then we run crowdfunding campaigns to help bereaved families who want to memorialize their loved ones. I am the connecting line between Israel and communities overseas from which I raise these funds. The “Heroes’ Scrolls” fund – dedicated to helping families restore Torah scrolls in memory of their loved ones – also plays a critical role.”

Now, he has turned his attention toward Soroka Medical Center, which suffered heavy damage following an Iranian missile strike. The goal is to bring a new Torah scroll to the Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes synagogue located in the hospital, and to dedicate it to give strength to IDF soldiers and security forces personnel and lift up the nation’s spirit, in light of the successes in Operation Rising Lion.

The cost of writing a Torah scroll is estimated at 180,000 shekels. The dedication ceremony is planned for the coming month.

“All these years we have been dealing with the memory of the fallen, the murdered and the casualties. Now we’re also acting to mark successes, because we stood firm against the threat from Iran,” Lanzkron concludes.

Mantzichim has formed partnerships with religious youth movements like Bnei Akiva, Ezra and Ariel, who donate invalid Torah scrolls for repair. “I made a deal with Bnei Akiva: bring us your scrolls, we’ll fix them, return each scroll to the branch it came from, and dedicate it in memory of a branch alum who fell in the war. Everyone benefits from this,” says Lanzkron. “Surprisingly, even the secular kibbutzim are very interested. They take part in Torah scroll letter-writing ceremonies, they order restored scrolls, and they kiss them.”

This project is a continuation of Lanzkron’s personal mission that began after his brother’s murder 24 years ago. “It gives me immense satisfaction because I understand the struggle of dealing with bereavement,” he says. “I want that by Simchat Torah 5786, we’ll have a Torah scroll in memory of every fallen soul.” In the meantime, the project expects to prepare hundreds of restored Torah scrolls, having already collected hundreds of invalid scrolls from synagogues and youth movements across the country