When I met Reuven Magen last month at a Niagara winery, he was sipping ice wine, joking with his pals and admiring the view of the Escarpment. In his baggy shorts and loose tank top, he looked like a West Coast surfer dude, which makes sense, since he spent his early years living in San Diego, Calif., before he and his family moved to the West Bank settlement of Elkana.

Reuven was clearly having a good time, but the crutches he used to get around the grounds (full disclosure: it was my in-laws’ winery), told a different story. Last summer, Reuven found himself in the middle of a bloody war with Hamas as a member of the IDF’s armoured corps. He was just 19 years old.

He was stationed in the Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza, where some of the heaviest fighting took place. Later, he entered Dir El-Balach, another area where the battles were fierce. It was near the end of the operation, and he was looking for Hamas terror tunnels. 

Reuven can tell you what happened next:

“When we got back [from Dir El-Balach], it was at night… We had personnel carriers that came to take us [the last] few miles to the border.

“We were sitting a few minutes, waiting to go, and I guess Hamas saw us leaving, so they sent mortar shells at us.

“One of them hit one of the carriers and made a big explosion. Five people were killed and 15 injured. I got a big chunk of my leg blown off. My bone, my leg, muscles, everything.”

Reuven remained conscious as medics put him on a helicopter to Tel Hashomer hospital in Ramat Gan. He was operated on immediately. More operations followed, and then a long and painful rehabilitation process.

Now, he’s nearing the end of his rehab. At least he hopes so. He’s walking a lot better – sometimes he doesn’t even need the crutches. “It’s a miracle,” he told me. “I had no bone, almost no leg. And somehow I’m pretty much recovered. Hopefully I’ll run again soon.”

I asked Reuven whether he sees a better future for Israel. “It’s a tough question,” he responded. “For now, it looks like there is no solution. [The situation] just gets floated along, and every two years it explodes.” 

“We need a good leader that will make peace,” he continued. “For now, it pretty much goes in a circle, and everyone is in the same position. Nothing really changes.”

Reuven and his buddies were in Canada on a tour organized by the Terror Victims Project, a Chabad-sponsored program that offers injured IDF soldiers a trip of a lifetime. Aside from visiting the winery, the group also spent a day at Canada’s Wonderland and played with dolphins. The idea is to give these traumatized soldiers a bit of a break, some time to forget the fog of war, to smile and be happy.

You could tell Reuven was grateful for the brief respite.

“It warms the heart… it makes you feel good to see that you have support outside Israel,” he said.

“It gives you the energy to deal with reality.”  — YONI