This has been a challenging year and after months of battling the coronavirus, Israel is finally beginning to resume a new type of routine. Spring is all around us but with the air of renewal typical of this season also comes sadness, we mark Israel's Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day.
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There are many families with which I would like to visit, yet there never seems to be enough time. Still, the bond between us stretched beyond time and place and it will remain with me forever.
My military service has presented me with challenges and satisfaction, but in 2006 I decided to embark on a new path. Just before I was to leave the service, the Second Lebanon War broke out. "Just one more assignment," I thought; another opportunity to serve my country.
Overseeing the IDF's Casualty Department, however, is a glimpse into another sphere of life, and once you feel its impact you cannot go back. I was unaware of the meaning of a bereaved family, of the struggles of wounded soldiers, of the battles fought by those disabled in service, or the trials and tribulations the families of ours captives soldiers must endure. I knew nothing of these things โ until I met them.
Since then, many images have been etched in my soul. Accompanying families as they make their way to where a soldier had fallen in an attempt to understand, to follow in their footsteps, perhaps to say goodbye, to experience the same sights, smells, people and landscapes. Many questions arise, to try to understand, to build a story, to learn how to deal with the chasm that has opened in their lives.
Many conversations still echo in my ears, full of memories and anger and pain. I constantly strive to do right by them and their loved ones, to duly represent them โ parents and siblings, widows and widowers, orphans, friends and grandparents, circles expanding with ripples of pain. I seek to effect change, to let truth and justice be the compass for the journey.
Then there are the families of the MIAs and soldiers whose burial site remains unknown. Those who know no peace, always expecting a phone call. A stranger could never understand the horrible uncertainty in which they live โ a life between hope and despair โ driven by the need to do something, anything, one more thing because every moment is precious.
More often than not, military commanders who dedicate the best years of their lives to Israel's security, unfortunately, have to learn that it is sometimes easier to show bravery on the battlefield than it is to face a family whose entire world had just collapsed. Because there is nothing they can do or say to take their pain away.
I appreciate those who understand that being entrusted with the fate of the country's sons and daughters requires us to be worthy of this trust. Those who understand that bereaved families are looking for a hand to grab onto in the great darkness that envelops them, deserve even higher appreciation.
These somber days juxtapose the constant personal grief of the bereaved families with that of the nation. As spring blooms, let us pray for the recovery and health of our wounded soldiers and the return of our captive soldiers, and let us remember the fallen, may their memory be blessed.
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