Slice of Life

On October 9, 1994, Nachshon Wachsman, a corporal in the IDF, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists and held hostage for six days. The Wachsman family asked that Jews say T’hilim for the safe return of Nachshon. In addition, Esther Wachsman, Nachshon’s mother, asked that women light an extra candle for Nachshon when they lit Shabbos candles that week. Thousands of women lit candles for the first time on that fateful Friday night. Jews all over the world were united in their wish to save Nachshon. We were one.

Behind the men of the Israel Defense Forces stands a powerful force with which to reckon: mothers of chayalim. The mothers are known as lionesses, as are the wives of chayalim who are holding down the Home Front. They support their children and advocate on their behalf. They’ve got their backs. Imahot HaLochamim, The Mothers of Combat Soldiers Foundation, was formed in 2014 during Operation Protective Edge, after which the mothers moved into the background and returned to action during the current war.

The safety of our chayalim is uppermost in our minds. This is always the case, but especially on a day like today when we woke up to the horrific news that 24 chayalim had been killed in combat. Each a world of his own. Each an unfathomable loss. We daven daily, multiple times, that they should return home safe and sound, in mind, body, and spirit.

Chagai Luber, a religious settler, is the father of Yehonatan Luber Hy”d, who was killed when fighting in Gaza, and the uncle of Hillel and Yagel Yaniv, who were brutally murdered in a shooting attack in Huwara. Last week, Chagai met with members of Achim LaNeshek, a left-wing group of IDF reservists who protested against judicial reform. The meeting went well and made headway in its goal to foster national unity. After two hours of productive conversation, Chagai told everyone that he must leave. It was time to daven, and he had to say Kaddish for his son.

At the outset of the war against Hamas, a record 360,000 soldiers were called up for reserve duty. The response was remarkable. Soldiers returned home from all over the world, some spending their entire flight sitting on the floor of an airplane. In addition to the inherent danger that is part and parcel of fighting a war, war also can adversely affect many areas of a soldier’s life: family, employment, and education, to name a few. Understanding the challenges that soldiers face, the army and government seek to provide them with assistance.

Residents line the streets waving Israeli flags to accompany a newly bereaved family as they head to the funeral of their loved one killed in battle. We enter the cemetery and pass the table where volunteers offer water bottles, tissues, and T’hilim cards printed with the p’rakim of T’hilim specifically recited during a funeral. We have become all too familiar with the military funerals of the IDF.