12 | DECEMBER 22 • 2022
OUR COMMUNITY
Meir and Menachem Begin, both of whom
formally recognized him for his devotion
and service to Israel.
Fern’s great-grandfather Yisroel Dov
Waxman was also passionate about Israel.
“It was always my great-grandfather’s
dream to make aliyah and join the IDF,
”
Fern said. “When he was in his 80s, he
moved to Israel. He immediately turned up
at the draft office, wanting to volunteer in
the army, saying, ‘I’m sure there’s a job I can
do,
’ but they laughed him off.
”
Waxman didn’t let that phase him. He
often visited bus routes that soldiers were
known to take home after their week on
base. As the soldiers disembarked, Waxman
would stand here, doling out candies and
blessings, thanking them for their service,
singing their praises and uplifting them.
“That’s who our son Zach is named after;
we believe Zach was born wanting to live
the dream of his namesake,
” Fern said of
her only son and youngest child, now 25.
“Joining the IDF was a natural choice
for Zach,
” Fern said. He’
d grown up hear-
ing about his colorful Zionistic ancestors,
attended then Yeshivat Akiva [now Farber
Hebrew Day School] and Camp Stone. “I
watched him prepare mentally and phys-
ically; I saw him study the language … I
knew it was coming, I knew he was trying
out for tzanchanim (the paratrooper’s
unit). But when he called to tell me he was
accepted, it suddenly became very real.
”
When Fern hung up, she couldn’t stop
crying. She was so impressed and proud
of her son — he’d made it! — but, at the
same time, she was absolutely terrified.
Zach would quite literally be jumping out
of airplanes.
“My emotions were all over the place,
and I didn’t know who to talk to about it.
Who on earth would understand?” Fern
remembered thinking.
She called Ariella Nadel, whose son
Yoni had been an IDF paratrooper in
2014.
“Zach got in,” Fern told Ariella. “Now
what?”
“Now we meet for coffee,” Ariella told
Fern, a voice of comfort, strength and
deep understanding of the sleepless nights
Fern would soon be experiencing.
“
Ariella and I met for coffee many times
and each time she gave me just a little
more information,” Fern said. “It was
what I needed to know, but not too much,
nothing more and nothing less. I realized
that while my son had prepared to join the
army, I hadn’t been prepared. The parents
need to know what’s coming, too! Ariella
held my hand throughout; I don’t know
what I would have done without her.”
ON THE COVER
Uri Lorkis with parents
Rabbi Mark and Joanne Lorkis
continued from page 10