14 | JUNE 20 • 2024
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THIS PAGE: Mission participants visit with soldiers at an Israeli
army base.
OUR COMMUNITY
ON THE COVER
back to the hotel and curl up in the
fetal position on my bed. But we had
one final stop to make — a barbecue
dinner that our mission sponsored
on an all-female IDF base.
I joined a group of young
women at their dinner table, and
it took a few minutes to figure
out how to communicate. Once
we got past the initial shyness,
smiles spread across their faces,
and a few started talking to us
in English. They came from all
corners of Israel, plus several
were Lone Soldiers from Russia,
Ukraine and Peru. They shared
their personal stories with us, and
we explained our solidarity mis-
sion.
Toward the end of the meal, the
“mission moms” went to the front
of the group to sing the song we had
been singing all week, “United We
Stand” by Yaakov Shwekey. Soon the
soldiers joined us, and the impromp-
tu moment was so inspiring.
Yes, Israel is in the middle of a war
it never wanted. Indeed, the tragic
loss of innocent lives in both Israel
and in Gaza is horrific. But in the
midst of such sorrow, the soldiers
for just a moment acted like any
other young women might. The dif-
ference was these women had their
assault rifles strapped to their backs,
were dressed in combat boots and
fatigues, and were ready to give up
their lives for Israel.
Even though we were there to give
them support and to be their surro-
gate moms for the night, they gave
us something in return, too. They
showed us that it is OK to experience
contradicting emotions. You can be
in pain over the plight of the hostag-
es and the despair of Oct. 7 yet can
still feel joy. Their ruach provided
an uplifting ending to what was an
extremely emotional day.
The deeper meaning of “faith over
fear” became abundantly clear in
the many powerful and personal
stories we heard from Israelis
throughout our mission. A
mother whose son fell in Gaza
shared tales about her son
and how they are honoring
his memory; a man who lives
near the Nova Music Festival
site told us how he rescued
hundreds of people from the
terrorists; an aunt of a hostage
talked about her nephew’s love
for music and talent on the
piano; injured soldiers who we
visited at a hospital spoke of
wanting to go back to the front
lines; a nurse who was volun-
teering with her family on an
Army base in southern Israel
on Oct. 7 explained how she
saved lives, even as she suffered
three bullet wounds herself.
Time and again, their stories
spoke of hope, resilience and
faith over fear.
Our visit to the IDF Shura
Base was especially poignant.
On one side of the base, hun-
dreds of those massacred on
Oct. 7 were brought for iden-
tification and prepared for
burial, and that work continues
today for fallen soldiers. On the
other side of the base, the IDF
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