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EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
Special, Yet Ordinary
L
imor Ilan responds to winds of war and songs of
hope with equal aplomb.
In battle, she's a sergeant in the Israel Defense
Forces. On stage, she's lead vocalist of the IDF
orchestra.
In many ways, she's also an ordinary Israeli. She gives her
time and love to people in need, especially the mentally
impaired. She likes to sing for kindergartners and other
school groups to help them develop a taste and appreciation
for opera. And she wants to marry and have children.
The Tel Aviv University student is 23.
I read about her this week in the summer
issue of the FIDF Circle — a Friends of the
IDF publication. Her engaging, unassum-
ing demeanor struck me.
As part of a U.S. tour, Ilan and the IDF
Orchestra performed at an Israel
Independence Day rally on May 15 at Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills.
Back home, they perform at army bases,
ROBERT A. national ceremonies and special events.
SKLAR
The ensemble represents the strength,
Editor
optimism and unity — and ordinary
dreams — of one of the world's great fight-
ing forces. Through music, they define who they are as part
of a people.
In the wake of stirring applause from the crowd of 600 as
she opened the May 15 rally, Ilan put it simply: "It makes
us feel very welcome to see so many
people. It also makes us feel more
Jewish."
Rally co-chair Gary Shiffman of the
Michigan Friends of the IDF told of
how IDF Orchestra performances
§
"motivate the brave young combat sol-
--a
diers and allow them for at least a small
-.7.-
moment, a brief pause, to relax and let
go of some of the stress that's related to
the enormous responsibilities that they
have."
Valuing Li fe
The IDF consists of men and women
from diverse social, educational and
economic backgrounds. Their views on
politics and religion vary. Following a rigorous training peri-
od, most soldiers — many just 18 or 19 — make the rela-
tively short trip home each weekend.
After three years of required service, most men report for
reserve duty one month each year well into their 50s.
Women serve, too. Integration with everyday life keeps the
soldiers grounded; they know who and what they are fight-
ing for.
They learn early not to target civilians, said Michael Oren
of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem.
"From the day of their induction," he said, "Israeli sol-
diers are drilled in the concept of the 'purity of arms' that
mandates that all human life is sacred and that non-com-
batants must never be harmed."
The senior fellow acknowledged that Israel, under almost
constant attack over its 55 years, has on occasion come up
short, but said "the exceptions have been remarkably few."
Last year in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, "23
Israelis — more than all the U.S. battle deaths in Kosovo
and Afghanistan combined — died in 10 days of intense
fighting," he said.
"There was the usual grumbling about 'sticking our necks
out for civilians who only hate us,' but still the reservists
fought on. Jenin was cleared, house by house, alley by alley,
without the aid of air power or heavy artillery, giving civil-
ians time to get out of the way," he added. "Israelis did not
question why. It is what their army, and their country, is
about."
Limor Ilan was born and raised on Kibbutz Emek Jezrael
in northern Israel. Her lineage — Iraqi on her father's side
and Polish on her mother's — speaks to the richness of
Israeli ethnicity. A love for Jewish culture and arts sprang
from these roots. She has found the time to study opera in
the Music Academy at Tel Aviv University.
Ilan's story puts a human spin on the IDF, a true people's
army. In her, you see that Israel fights out of necessity, not
choice. Palestinian terror has taken at least 824 Israeli and
foreign lives over the past 34 months.
Behind The Smiles
Western nations publicly deplore Israel's military sweeps in
response to terrorism but don't shy away from soliciting its
insight into weaponry and intelligence. Only the U.S.
stands firmly with Israel, even as President George W. Bush
steps up to the urgent role of Mideast mediator.
Left untold at the May 15 rally was a peek into the home
life of the nine IDF soldiers-performers.
Shari Kaufman, who co-chaired the rally
with Shiffman, captured the essence of that
silent message.
"We don't know if any of the kids up
here singing and smiling are kids whose
families don't have enough food in their
homes," she said. "All we do know is they
are helping secure our country and fighting
so hard so that we can have a land of peace
to go to."
Kaufman stirred souls when she urged
lending support so "soldiers don't have to
go through the garbage to find food for
themselves and for their families, and don't
have to do anything more successful than
what they already do, which is securing the
borders and making sure there are no sui-
cide bombers killing innocent soldiers and families."
Mahmoud Abbas, the new prime minister of the
Palestinian Authority, got some high marks for his White
House talks with President Bush last week in advance of
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's 'Washington visit this
week.
Still, Abbas seems merely a pawn of his boss, Yasser
Arafat, who only has eyes for a Palestinian nation that
absorbs Israel. The Bush-hosted shuttle diplomacy took
place amid weekend reports that Israeli security agents
foiled two would-be suicide bombers tied to the terrorist
militia of Arafat's Fatah movement.
The generosity that American Jews expressed at IDF con-
certs in the metro areas of New York, Boston, Detroit and
Los Angeles this spring wasn't lost on Limor Ilan.
"There's a feeling that people in the United States really
want to help Israel," she said. "This has helped me under-
stand that Jews throughout the world feel as indebted to us,
the IDF soldiers, as we do to them." ❑
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