Gabriel Gershkovich is a Canadian from Hamilton, Ont. He graduated from Hamilton Hebrew Academy, a private Jewish elementary school, in 2013, according to a Facebook post from the school congratulating graduates for immigrating to Israel and “living the dream!”
Gershkovich is featured in a July 2024 post from the “Smiling Soldiers” Instagram account, which states that it is “trying to show the world the real, happy, fun and human side of the IDF.”
The post, which contains several photos of Gershkovich in military uniform, states: “Lone Soldier Gavriel is originally from Hamilton, Canada. He drafted in 2020 to the Combat Engineering Corps., and served there dutifully until 2022. An expert in all things military gear, explosives, and a man of great discpline, Gavriel was a standout soldier during his time in the army. Following his service, he signed up for a Yeshiva for חוזרי בתשובה in Jerusalem called Mayanot, where he thrived and learned, and had an overall great experience. It was there that he was studying when that dark fateful day in October happened on Simchat Torah, one of the happiest days in the Jewish calendar… he was called up to reserve duty almost immediately, and left Yeshiva to protect his people. He would spend a lot of time in reserves, and spent a little while in Gaza, fighting for what he believed in. He is as hardcore as you will find when it comes to his religious standards, and absolutely loved Yeshiva, and never wanted to leave. But he knew, that when his brothers and sisters are in danger, and he has what to offer in his abilities, strength, knowledge, and body, he reported without delay or complaint, and felt honored to serve. Whenever he would get off from his reserve duty for a week or so, he’d go straight back to Yeshiva, take in as much as he could, and report right back to base as soon as he was recalled.”
Gershkovich was also featured in a 2025 LinkedIn post where he is introduced as a rabbi. Gershkovich tells viewers: “I was here in Israel. I went to the army for three years, and I came to learn here in Maayanot for a year. October 7, I went to the reserves, and I fought in Gaza. I was in the reserves for a few months, and then I came back to yeshiva.”
He added, “Having been in Gaza, living and fighting in the war, and also learning yeshiva, I can tell you that learning yeshiva is just as much a battle. It’s not easy. […] Just like soldiers are fighting for something greater than themselves — for Israel, for the Jews, for Hashem — so too can we do it in our […] lives, whether it’s yeshiva, whether it’s in the work place. Whatever it is, we can give ourselves over to something greater than ourselves.”
