Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu writes the final letters of a Torah scroll dedicated to Israel’s fallen soldiers. Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO.

JNS.org – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday wrote the final letters of a Torah scroll dedicated to Israel’s fallen soldiers.

The Torah scroll was one of 73 scrolls donated in August and showcased during a large ceremony at the Western Wall before being sent to chapters of Yad Lebanim, the organization tasked with memorializing Israel’s fallen. Some of the scrolls were found in the basement of a European synagogue after years of neglect and are still undergoing restoration.

Representatives of bereaved families such as Miriam Peretz, the mother of two slain soldiers, attended Thursday’s event.

“The completion of this Torah scroll represents the sanctity of life and the great pain that we feel over the loss of our sons and daughters. But this is the price of the lives we live….You know this, Miriam [Peretz]. I know it. This is a terrible price but it is the price of life,” Netanyahu said.