Baruch told me that he had gotten shot in Syria. He was traveling where he shouldn’t have been and a military patrol stopped him at rifle point. He tried to get away but he took a bullet in the butt, which effectively ended his escape attempt. The soldiers decided to shoot him for being a spy. Baruch started yelling and demanded to see general such-and-such and kept repeating the name. He warned the soldiers that if they inflicted further injury his dear friend, the general, would be very angry and would shoot them.

The Syrian soldiers drove him to a military base and he was brought in front of the commander. Baruch started making all sorts of demands. The commander tried to interrupt but Baruch kept on yelling because he figured his life was over so what difference would it make. Finally the commander said, “Would you please shut up?” So Baruch shut up.

“The commander then continued, “You’re going to be okay, we’ll take care of you. But don’t mention the general’s name again.”

Baruch said, “He’s a close personal friend.”

The commander replied, “Do you hear the shooting in the background? Your friend was just executed as a traitor. You don’t want anybody to know that you knew him.”