30 | NOVEMBER 30 • 2023
J
N
SPC Rachel Baker shares
her story at Shaarey Zedek’s
Veterans Shabbat.
Proud to Serve M
y name is Rachel Baker, and I am
a 20-year-old U.S. Army combat
veteran.”
That was Specialist (SPC) Baker’s opening
line as she began her remarks from the bimah
before a large gathering at the
annual Veterans Shabbat service
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek
(CSZ) on Nov. 11.
I, like everyone in the congre-
gation, was riveted to Rachel’s
every word as she spoke in detail
about the dangerous mission
that was her recently completed
nine-month deployment with
the Michigan Army National Guard in Syria.
Dressed in her fatigues, it was hard to wrap
your brain around the fact that only seven
years prior, Rachel stood before this very con-
gregation as a bat mitzvah.
Rabbi Aaron Starr and Cantor David Propis,
the same clergy who officiated her coming-of-
age service in 2016, were beaming from the
bimah with pride. “It is always an honor and
privilege to watch the children who become
bar or bat mitzvah on our bimah grow up into
mature, committed Jewish adults,” Rabbi Starr
said. “Rachel’s commitment of service and
self-sacrifice to our community, our people
and our country is a blessing to us all. She is
a light in the midst of a dark world. I’m so
proud of her!”
Cantor Propis fondly echoed those senti-
ments. “I remembered Rachel’s bat mitzvah,”
he said. “She is an old soul. And, even at
age 13, demonstrated maturity way beyond
her years. She was raised by two incredible
parents and an incredible grandmother, who
taught her values for our country and Israel.
She is a very special lady and a born leader.”
PATRIOTISM AND PARSHAT
I had the privilege of writing a cover story
about Rachel in the Aug. 4, 2022, edition of
the JN, From Frankel to Fatigues, just prior to
her deployment.
Rachel was brought up in a very patriotic
household, a devotion that extended to the
Baker family’s love for Israel. As I wrote at the
time, Rachel was just a grade-schooler when
the Bakers hosted Israeli soldiers in their
home. Her father recalled then how proud
he was of his daughter who, unsolicited, later
wrote a letter to an IDF soldier thanking him
for “keeping us and Israel safe.” That exposure
and her 14 trips to Israel solidified Rachel’s
Alan
Muskovitz
Contributing
Writer
Proud to Serve
OUR COMMUNITY
SPC Baker on her
base in Syria as a
Chinook helicopter
prepares for lift off.