The Army of Hashem Wears Reeboks
EVERY SON AND DAUGHTER OF ISRAEL NEEDS YOUR HELP
BY SHLOMO PINKUS: AJT ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT
We have been seeing pictures of war in the newspapers and hearing about the soldiers and their families during these trying times. We see them in uniform going honorably and bravely into battle, clearing tunnels, and trying their hardest to protect Israel and its people. If this was all that was written, it would be enough to know that these soldiers are putting themselves in danger to protect others. But, do we know who they really are? The people in the pictures are usually not soldiers; they are doctors, electricians, and teachers. They are everyday citizens called away from their lives and families. Here, in Israel, you know this because when you go to the grocery store and ask to see the butcher you are told he has been called up. When you are on the way to the doctor’s office, you get a phone call that your appointment has been cancelled due to the current situation and that you will have to schedule with someone else.
Most of all, you can tell by the way they are dressed. If you go to the south you will see thousands of soldiers, but not the ones in the papers. You will see the ones wearing Reebok’s because there are not enough boots to go around. There will be some soldiers wearing what are supposed to be bullet proof vests, left over from the ‘67 and even ‘48 wars. One soldier that I know was given a vest with a hole in the chest and was told that it was caused by moths and not to worry about it. This is the way that our soldiers fight for our freedom and for our land. This is the way that the army of Israel is willing to go into battle – in the plainest cloths and protected by the Torah, prayers, and mitzvot of a nation.
They go because they have to. When your nation is in jeopardy, you don’t ask if they have enough boots, you go, and do what you can. This is a side of war or Israel that the news does not show because it would show who is really fighting this war, making Israel seem like less of an aggressor. So, I urge you today to pray. Pray for those who are willing to go forward and for those families that are at home waiting. Learn Torah in the merit of the soldiers, of the everyday people that are risking their lives for our land. And, unite. Unite with each other, for in unity there is strength, and in unity there is the ability to overcome.
If this has moved you please realize that the war is not over, you can donate boots and vests to the soldiers in need. A commanding officer recently told us that over Shabbos his men went into a situation, and the newly donated vests are what saved the soldiers’ lives and brought them back to their parents. Every bit helps, and every son and daughter of Israel is worth it.
comments