A Daughter Joins the Army

Yehuda writes simply and eloquently about his daughter's induction into the Israeli army:

None of these people want war or fighting, but neither will they shirk from it. As we sang the national anthem, I reflected on how the Israeli anthem is one of the few that has no reference to war or conquest, only peace and longing to be free.

...When they were all ready, the commander turned to Ariella and told her that she was the one.

Not only did she carry the extra load all night, but she had to run back and forth between all the groups. She ran three times as much as everyone else did. By the time night was over, her pants were ripped and she was bruised and bleeding.

Her commander finally told them at dawn that basic induction was over and they were now ready for their three months of training. She then spoke to each soldier in turn.

When she came to Ariella, she asked her "I suppose you know why I asked you to carry the communication gear?"

Ariella said, "No, commander."

The commander said, "Because I knew you could. And I wanted you to know that you could. And when I'm not around, I want you to always carry the extra load, because you can."

Read the whole thing.

Comments

[Bookworm]

I thought this was such an important story I made my kids read it. The idea that you could do something difficult, really difficult, simply because you can and because people rely on you was a new one for them.