The translation and transliteration below are adapted, with permission, from the Seif Edition of the Transliterated Siddur, for Shabbat and Festivals, a Mesorah Publication for the OU Centennial, with Introductory Essays and Comments by Rabbi Benjamin Yudin.

Meaning of "Bond of Life"

The term "bond of life" which appears below in the request that the deceased's soul be "bound in the bond of life," most probably refers to the attainment of greater and greater closeness to Hashem. Hashem is called, "Chai HaOlamim," the "Life of the Worlds," meaning the source of life in "Olam HaZeh," "this world," the world of the here-and-now, and in "Olam HaBa," the "world to come," the indescribable spiritual "world" which we confidently expect to experience, as a cardinal principle of the Jewish faith, after death.

For Martyrs of the Israel Defense Force - Hebrew Text

Min'sharim kalu u-may-aroyot govayru,
b'haycholtzam l'ezrat ha-am,
v'hirvu b'damam hatahor
et rigvay admat kodshaynu.

Zaycher akaydatam
uma-asay g'vuratam
lo yasufu may-itanu l'olamim.

Tih-yena nafshotayhem tzrurot
bitz-ror hacha-yim
im nishmot
Avraham, Yitzchak v'Ya-akov,
v'im nishmot
sh'or giborei Yisra-ayl uk-doshov
sheb'Gan Eden. Amen.

May the L-rd remember the souls
of the fighters of the Israel Defense Force
who gave their lives
for the sanctification of the Name, the People, and the Land;
who died a heroic death
in missions of liberation, defense and security.

They were quicker than eagles and stronger than lions
as they volunteered to assist the people
and with their pure blood soaked
the clods of our holy earth.

The memory of their self-sacrifice
and heroic deeds
will never perish from us.

May their souls be bound in the Bond of Life
together with the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and with the souls of
the other Jewish heroes and martyrs who are in the Garden of Eden.

Now let us respond: Amen.