Joining the Ranks

Well, ladies and gentlemen, congratulate me. I am officially an Israeli.

I, like my sisters before me, have joined the ranks of women who have tearfully sent their husbands off to war for Israel. I, too, have worried as I scramble to fill his backpack at 4:30 in the morning, if he will have enough clean socks. I, too, have scoured odd corners of the house to pass the time while he's in the field. I've battled my anti-social urge to hole up in the house and my equally maniacal urge to call him every 15 minutes. I've sworn not to ask him when he's coming home anymore. I've walked at night, begging G-d to bring him home safely. I've made him the center of every conversation. I've fought off the urge to buy a pint of ice cream and eat it at one sitting. I've threatened to kill the men who have neglected to serve him a single hot meal in 4 days. I've forced myself to make hot meals for myself while he's away. I've planned the meal I'll serve him when he comes home, what I'll wear.

As Yishai says, the hardships are our birthright, too. It stinks. But I swear everyday to love G-d with all my heart, with all my soul, with everything I have. Yishai is all those things.



Pray for the safety and might of Yishai Yaakov ben Tziona.