Crossing the Yarden

By Yarden Frankl

To Those Who Serve Our Nation

When I see the young men and women who serve in the Israeli Defense Forces, I am relieved. I am relieved that I can sleep at night despite the threats of all sorts of crackpots that rule countries around us. We have some of the most highly motivated, idealistic people willing to serve our nation. And the decision to serve in this day and age is just that: a decision. I mean we can’t pretend that just because there is a draft, everyone must go. Israeli rock stars encourage secular young people not to wear the green uniform while Israel’s religious schools are filled with those who have been taught that learning a page of Gemorah is equal to dodging grenades in Lebanon.

And from conversations I have had with many of the youths who serve, I have a small understanding of what these kids go through when they become soldiers. When they are put through two-day marches with no sleep, they do it. When they are told to run for hours carrying stretchers laden with weights, they do it. Throughout basic training, they go through a punishing regime of physical training that would be impossible for me to even contemplate.

After training, they may be ordered to sit in armored vehicles in the hot sun and roast, and they do it. Some may be ordered to stand for hours and days in the cold and the rain on guard duty — where they must fight constant boredom just in case there will be a few seconds to make a crucial decision that can determine life or death. They are ordered to jump from airplanes with full packs hoping their parachutes will function properly. And they do it.

They know full well that in Israel the next war is always around the corner, and they are ready. They know that they may be sent into combat without the proper equipment, yet they go. I have heard stories of soldiers in Lebanon who went without water for days. They were so thirsty, they had to make do with drinking the oil from cans of tuna. Yet they serve.

Today, soldiers even know that they may be captured by the enemy. They may be captured and paraded on video tapes. And yet they know, that the government may not lift a finger to help them once they are captured. Horrible as this sounds, they continue to serve.

And every year, on Yom Zicharon, when we hear stories of courage and sacrifice, when we visit cemeteries and see the names of those who have fallen, we are all reminded of the ultimate price that many must pay so that we can continue to survive as a free nation.

And for many of these selfless young people, they are ready to follow any order — no matter how risky — to do what they can to protect the nation of Israel. If they are ordered to go into a camp teeming with well-armed terrorists, they obey their orders without hesitating.

Yet some of these courageous young people who help me and my family sleep at night are now in jail. They were imprisoned for failing to obey orders. Because when the orders had nothing whatsoever to do with defending our homeland, when the orders were to carry out someone’s political agenda, when they were ordered to drag women and children screaming from their homes in the ancient Jewish city of Hevron, they said “we cannot obey.”

Wanting to punish them even more, the Army chose the only measure that they knew would really hurt these young soldiers. They have forbidden them from serving in the most risky combat units. The army basically told them “We will not allow you to defend Israel anymore because of what you have done.”

And that should make all of us lose a little sleep at night.

For those who refuse to carry out immoral orders and risk losing what you love to do, I salute you. Sometimes courage is more than what you accomplish on the battlefield.

Shabbat Shalom from our blessed nation.

© 2007 Yarden Frankl