Staff Sgt. Noam Apter was a handsome 23-year-old officer in the Israeli Defense Force. A scholar and warrior, Apter studied for his rabbinic degree at the yeshiva in Otniel, a Jewish settlement in the south hills of Hebron. On Dec. 27, 2002, Apter was learning at the yeshiva with his friends and comrades while on unpaid leave from the IDF. That night, as the Jewish Sabbath began, the entire yeshiva sat down to the traditional Friday night meal, a joyous meal of song and dancing. Apter was on kitchen duty and brought out the food to over a hundred assembled...