EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK Staring Down Evil eremy is a 21-year-old Israeli soldier who studied at London with the intention of moving to Israel to work as a a yeshivah in America. He's in Israel serving Nahal, a doctor.” , support wing of the Israeli Defense Forces. And his Taking Aim story is gripping, especially during this week of Pesach, a festival of freedom, opportunity and rebirth. In his e-mail letter, Jeremy said he felt relief because he had On patrol last week, Jeremy, nine months into a 14-month such an integral role in stopping a would-be bomber. He said stint with Nahal, did what many soldiers do in defense of the he felt consoled because “Yoni's soul should receive merit for Jewish state: He killed a terrorist. In Israel, military service the destruction of evil in his memory" means the likelihood of one day having to shoot to kill. At 9 p.m. on March 30, two riflemen, one wearing an IDF Thank God, terrorists aren't running around the streets of uniform and vest, breached the security zone buffering America. Still, we need to be vigilant because we're vulnera- Morag from Rafah. Guards spotted them crawling toward the ble. road linking Morag with other Gush Katif settlements. The Jeremy's account is both chilling and terrorist impersonating an IDF soldier was killed immediately. uplifting. It's a story of courage and purpose. The other terrorist was shot in the leg as he tried to flee. So It affirms the struggle of sustaining a Jewish he started to crawl toward Rafah, protected somewhat by state in a region of 22 Arab states, the vast bushes and sand dunes. majority sworn enemies of Zionism. At that point, Jeremy's tank was ordered to confront evil by Jeremy shared his story in an e-mail letter crossing the security fence to kill the terrorist. The tank crew I received from a mutual acquaintance, busi- dosed in quickly and from 50 meters away, fired its heaviest nessman Harvey Tannenbaum of Jerusalem. machine gun to cut down the target. ROBERT A. Jeremy and I tried to hook up by phone ear- Jeremy shared his experience so that he could bring Jews SKLAR lier this week, but at the agreed upon time everywhere "one step closer to the events occurring in Israel Editor he had to report for emergency duty and thereby strengthen our ties with the land "Among a myriad of other emo- and the struggles of our nation." tions," Jeremy wrote on April 3, four days after the For me, his experience reinforced the com- terrorist shooting, "I felt relieved and consoled." mitment of the Israeli army to repel invaders, That's because the killing avenged the murder of no matter where they try to strike. Jeremy's friend Yoni Jesner, 19, the victim of a In his letter, Jeremy reflected on God Palestinian suicide bomber. The killing also averted empowering the IDF to protect the right of tragedy in Morag, a hamlet of Gush Katif, a Jewish Israel to be free and fight terror. He recounted settlement near the Canaanite town of Rafah in how HaRav Yehuda Amital, the rosh yeshivah southern Gaza. Morag, a military outpost that (head of school) of Yeshivat Gush Etzion, turned civilian in 1985, is home to 150 Jews. described Israel: a state that is ours after we had Gush Katif is one of 17 settlements that Israeli nowhere to go, a state with an army after hav- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wants to uproot as part ing no one to protect us, a state that tries to Yoni Jesner of a unilateral withdrawal from preserve and promote Jewish values after the Gaza Strip. those same values were mocked, spurned and The 42-month-long intifida almost wiped out. waged by Palestinian terrorists As .I read Jeremy's letter, I pondered one of has left at lealst 957 Israelis and the most basic of all Pesach messages: that we foreigners dead and thousands as a people must be on guard — always — more physically maimed or emo- against those who would threaten our Jewish tionally scarred. Jeremy — sol- birthright. diers don't use their last names The Haggadah affirms how God's unfail- in public — is a graduate of the ing help has sustained us since the exodus Yeshiva University High School from Egypt more than 3,200 years ago. Los Angeles. He enlisted in the Oppressors have risen up throughout the IDF to be part of a system,-he ages yet God has always been there to give us said, that "prevents people from the faith and fortitude to confront adversity. experiencing the same pain I was intrigued by how Jeremy defined through which I suffered by the Kiddush HaShem, the sanctification of God's loss of Yoni." name. The sanctification is best exemplified Yoni, 19, of Glasgow, by the 1948 creation of the State of Israel Scotland, was one of six people after Hitler tried to destroy European Jewry. killed when a Hamas-inspired suicide bomber blew himself "Kiddush HaShem is not just about dying in the name of up in Dan bus No. 4 in'Tel Aviv on Sept. 19. Yoni, who led God or killing terrorists," Jeremy said, "although those are Scotland's Zionist youth movement and Jewish youth coun- two excellent examples. cil, had gone to Israel to study at a Gush Etzion yeshivah. "Especially as expressed through establishment and contin- It's noteworthy that he was named after another brave Jew, uous vitality of the State of Israel, it is about everyday life — Yoni Netanyahu, killed leading the Entebbe rescue that saved about living each day with an intense passion to serve God in 104 hijacked hostages on July 4, 1976. any and every capacity" "It was your love of Israel and Judaism that brought you I found resonance in Jeremy's expression that God's will is here to study and it is here you now rest," said Ari Jesner, there for the taking in all of our actions, not only in those eulogizing his younger brother Yoni. "It was your love of few intense moments when the good that we do is clear and mankind that was going to take you to medical school in tangible — like stopping a terrorist. ❑ 4/ 9 2004 5