24 | AUGUST 10 • 2023 

B

y age 43, I was an 
extremely busy mom, 
and I had never gone to 
Israel in my life. When my son 
Bentzi drafted as a Lone Soldier 
in the IDF in 2021, I was deter-
mined to get to Israel to see the 
land he was helping defend — 
and I wanted to see it while he 
was in uniform! 
In early 2022, I learned that an 
organization called Momentum 
ran a Year of Growth for moms 
of Lone Soldiers, which was 
kickstarted by a highly subsi-
dized eight-day tour around 
Israel. I was one of hundreds 
who applied … and was rejected. 
In 2023, I figured I’
d apply 
again. Cognizant of the fact that 
Bentzi’s service would be ending 
in a few months and anticipating 
another rejection, in the mean-

time I booked a ticket to Israel 
in May. I was surprised when 
a few days before my May trip, 
I received an acceptance letter 
from Momentum! 
Now, with the grace of G-d, 
I have been to Israel twice in a 
matter of weeks!
For my May trip, Bentzi was 
granted the week off, which was 
a beautiful experience filled with 
many important Israeli lessons. 
(My favorite: The dirtier the 
place, the tastier the falafel!) 
In July, Bentzi was on base, 
and I was nervous about how I’
d 
get from the airport to the hotel 
without understanding Hebrew. 
Every Lone Soldier is assigned 
a host family when they draft, a 
local family to go to for Shabbat 
and Chagim. Not every match 
works out, but Bentzi struck 

gold with his and, over the years, 
had told me about Leah Torem 
from the kibbutz, Sde Eliyahu, 
in Northern Israel. When Leah 
heard I was coming, she mes-
saged me asking if she could 
meet me at the airport. I grate-
fully agreed. Leah met me at 
the airport, we took the train to 
Tel Aviv, where she introduced 
me to her son Natanel. We had 
lunch together, I changed money 
(with Leah and Natanel dragging 
my suitcase the whole time) and 
then they took me to the hotel, 
only leaving when I was com-
fortably settled in. 
When I was telling Bentzi how 
nice it was, he said, “You don’t 
know how nice … The kibbutz 
is almost three hours away from 
the airport.
” 
I was blown away by her kind-

ness; we barely knew each other, 
but she’
d treated me like the clos-
est family.
The next day I met my group 
at the Prima City Hotel in Tel 
Aviv. We were 30 women from 
17 different time zones across 
10 different countries — South 
Africa, Netherlands, Thailand, 
Cyprus, Germany, Argentina, 
Australia, Canada, England 
and the United States. We were 
paired off randomly and that 
first night found ourselves pre-
paring for bed with our new 
roommates for the week, who 
had been strangers just a few 
hours ago.
That’s how I found myself 
lying awkwardly in bed in a dark 
hotel room with someone I bare-
ly knew. 
“So, what are your secrets?” 
I asked Renee Goldman of Las 
Vegas, who happily started to tell 
me about her family. 
“My daughter went through 
a hard time last year when her 
best friend died suddenly,
” Renee 
confided, and I grew still … 
because my son’s best friend had 
also passed away last year. 
“
Asher Powers,
” I remembered 
aloud. 
“How do you know that?!” 
Renee demanded.
Instantly we sat up, switched 
the light back on and grabbed 
our phones. What’s your daugh-
te’s name?! Who’s your son?!
We texted our kids and, yup, 
it turned out our kids had met 
while in Israel a few years ago 
and had been best friends ever 
since. 
The awkwardness was gone; 
we were practically related!
Momentum created a unique 
itinerary for us moms of Lone 
Soldiers. On Day Two, we visited 
Nefesh B’Nefesh, where we were 
treated to a compilation of loving 
videos from our chayalim (sol-
diers) welcoming their mothers 
to Israel. We were also gifted a 
complimentary beret from our 
child’s unit. Other special pro-

OUR COMMUNITY

Momentum brings moms of Lone Soldiers to Israel.

A Special 
 Reunion 

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Rochel and her son 
Bentzi, an IDF Lone 
Soldier, outside the 
Old City of Jerusalem

