46 | MARCH 21 • 2024 
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y daughter, Elana 
Chanofsky, drafted 
as a Lone Soldier in 
the IDF in 2019 and served in 
a mixed combat unit. When 
the war broke out, she’
d been 
out of the army for two years 
already; to her disappoint-
ment, she was not called up as 
a reservist.
Since Oct. 7, I’ve listened to 
her accounts of running for 
shelter during rocket attacks, 

heard which of her friends 
were called up, and the horror 
she felt after hearing that her 
commander, Maj. Avraham 
Hovlashvili from Ashdod, had 
been killed. 
Wanting to offer Elana a 
break, I offered to fly her to 
Detroit. She refused to leave 
Israel. I realized I’
d have to go 
to her!
In November, my husband, 
Avy, and I traveled to Israel 

together.
The airport was somber; so 
different than in the past. The 
hustle and bustle was gone; it 
was eerily quiet. The hallway 
toward the immigration check-
point was lined with pictures 
of the hostages, an immediate 
tangible reminder of what is 
happening. The circular court-
yard overlooking the duty-free 
area was like a ghost town; 
usually there are so many peo-
ple, you can’t even get a table. 
It was amazing to reunite 
with Elana. I hugged her tight-

ly and explained, “I just want-
ed to make sure you’re OK.
” 
She said, “Oh, mom, you’re 
so cute. Of course, I’m OK!” 
I’m constantly blown away 
by my daughter’s strength, 
resilience and determination. 
I’ll be frank, I still sometimes 
think of her as my little girl 
in pigtails, so it’s weird to see 
her carry a gun. (She has a 
permit.)
We were eager to help the 
war effort in any way. In our 
luggage, we carried supplies for 
soldiers who are serving on the 
front lines and hand-delivered 
those supplies.
We shopped in five dif-
ferent supermarkets, buying 

hundreds of dollars worth of 
protein bars for soldiers on the 
front lines with money we had 
raised together with Sidney 
and Shoshana Katz. 
There are WhatsApp chats 
that list volunteer opportuni-
ties in Israel, and we scanned 
them daily. There are many 
locals and visitors also eager to 
help, and opportunities were 
snapped up almost as quickly 
as they were posted. We never 
knew what the day would 
bring; each day was different; it 
kept us on our toes — literally!
We picked up a trunk full of 
condiments and delivered it to 
a base. Apparently, not all the 
food they receive is tasty — 
and sometimes you just need 
ketchup!
Another time, we drove 
to Haifa to pick up scopes. 
We stopped off at a farm in 
Karmel and helped clear out a 
greenhouse for replanting. We 
also delivered packaged food 
in Jerusalem; we labeled and 
sealed barrels of dried goods 
and sleeping bags. 
My favorite was when we 
volunteered to help with a 
few shifts at a pop-up bar-
becue center near Ofakim. 
We helped serve the soldiers 
burgers, soups, fruit, salad and 
ice cream. There was even a 
laundry truck and a truck to 
get a haircut or shave. It was 
such a great feeling to be able 
to do something practical for 
the soldiers who are doing so 
much for us. 
Elana and I were invited 
to her friend’s house for a 
Thanksgiving dinner and drove 
over, but it turned out that the 
IDF had deliberately finagled 
with the GPS app Waze in that 
area, and we got lost. What 
was meant to be a 30-minute 
drive took us over two hours. 

Former Lone 
Soldier Mom 
Visits Israel

Daughter refused to leave, 
so mom makes a trip 
to the Jewish homeland.

JESSICA CHANOFSKY AS TOLD TO 
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER 

ERETZ

LEFT: Jessica Chanofsky volunteers. 
BELOW: Jessica Chanofsky with 
daughter, former Lone Soldier Elana.

