IDF soldier speaks at memorial service in Arlington Heights

Emil Tesler spoke about his experiences serving with the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks during a memorial service Sunday evening in Arlington Heights.
Karie Angell Luc/for the Daily Herald

A soldier who served with the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza in the months following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks recounted his experience at a memorial ceremony in Arlington Heights on Sunday.

Emil Tesler, previously a member of the IDF special forces mainly in the West Bank from 2018 to 2020, had moved to Toronto to start a new life in security and as a locksmith.

But on October 7 last year, while celebrating the Simchat Torah holiday, he received news that his brother Din Tesler was in danger while working security at a music festival where hundreds of Hamas terrorists were killed .

He packed four suitcases and rushed to Israel, where he was reunited with his brother, who survived by hiding in the bushes before being rescued by the IDF.

Emil Tesler told an audience during a memorial service Sunday in Arlington Heights that the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel and his service in the Israeli military since then had strengthened his faith.
Karie Angell Luc for the Daily Herald

The next day he joined the IDF reserves.

“(My brother) cried hard to me, 'Please don't go.' “They will kill you,” Tesler, 25, told his audience at the memorial service hosted by the Chabad Jewish Center in Arlington Heights.

In November, he and his unit entered the Gaza Strip, clearing the ground path for units to follow in the Netzarim Corridor.

“I’ll never forget it,” he said. “I saw my friend step into a booby trap and the explosion. Thank God no one was killed.

“We have always believed in it because God is with us,” he added.

Tesler said the events of Oct. 7 and his experiences since then have strengthened his faith.

Rabbi Yaakov Kotlarsky of the Chabad Jewish Center of Arlington Heights addresses the audience Sunday during a memorial service for the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel.
Karie Angell Luc for the Daily Herald

“You see me with the tzitzit right now. You see me with the yarmulke. “I wasn’t that type of guy before,” he said. “Oct. 7 changed me. And I hope it changed everyone.”

Tesler was preceded by a speech by Rabbi and Chabad co-director Yaakov Kotlarsky. Five candles were also lit, corresponding to the five levels of the soul in Kabbalah.

“When a person leaves this world, his soul soars,” Kotlarsky said. “But part of her soul remains down here in this world. If a person loses his life, he is not lost forever.”

Bob Silverstein of Elk Grove Village was among those in attendance.

“This young man is an ordinary citizen who felt like he wanted to do the right thing for his country,” he said of Tesler. “And he did it. He has made a personal sacrifice and is willing to do more.”