Max Levin, a 21-year-old New Community Jewish High School (NJCHS) graduate and Israeli soldier, is recovering in a central Israel hospital following injuries he sustained Wednesday in the Gaza Strip, when a booby-trapped house collapsed, killing three members of his paratrooper unit and lodging shrapnel above his right eye.
Bruce Powell, head of school at NCJHS, said that Levin's parents, Bud and Judy, are with their son in Israel and that he may be discharged as early as Friday. Powell, who spoke with Judy Levin before she and Bud left for Israel on a flight from Los Angeles, said that when the explosion occurred, Max was in the back of the three-story house and his fellow fallen soldiers were in the front. The IDF said the three killed paratroopers were Lt. Paz Eliyahu, 22, Sgt. Shahar Dauber, 20, and Sgt. Li Mat, 19,
Levin was immediately airlifted for surgery to Rabin Hospital in Petah Tikva where, Powell said, dozens of strangers have brought him food, gifts and warm wishes.
An August 2012 Jerusalem Post piece reported that Levin, a St. Louis native, arrived to Israel that month with a group of 350 immigrants making aliyah from North America.
On July 20, another local IDF volunteer, Max Steinberg, 24, ” target=”_blank”>@thesichel
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