opinion
BY JENNIFER SCHRUTT
T oday is Enlistment Day. We have spoken about
this day forever, and now it is here, and I must
“walk the walk” that Israeli mothers have walked for
almost 75 years.

My oldest child and only son will put on a green
uniform with a Star of David emblem to join the
Israel Defense Forces. His protection, welfare and
fate will no longer be in my hands.

How do you spend 19 years caring for every
injury, kissing away tears, ensuring safety from
proper car-seat installations to endless coats of
sunscreen to obsessing over nutrition decisions,
racing to every hockey game, searching desper-
ately for Hebrew tutors, driving teachers, bagrut
exams, graduation … and now just let go? This
was not in the Nefesh B’Nefesh brochure when
they generously assisted us with our aliyah seven
years ago.

It’s astounding to me that this carefree, laid-
back child of mine, who made me a mother,
now becomes the target of so much hate simply
because he puts on this uniform and fulfills his duty
as an Israeli citizen to protect the Jewish people.

And it’s a duty that my son at the tender age of
18 years old fully understands. Earlier this year, he
participated in a school trip to Poland, along with
two other schools, and allowed me the privilege of
accompanying his grade. In total, there were more
than 120 boys.

I think back to my senior year of high school
growing up in South Florida, and the contrast in
maturity and outlook could not be greater. Toward
the end of the trip, the boys talked about how
they had always known that they had to serve
in the Israeli army after graduation. What they
didn’t know until then was why it was so crucial to
serve. I was blown away by their insight. It was in
Poland that these teenage boys internalized and
understood that the survival of the Jewish people
depends on the strength of the Israeli army to
protect it.

When we decided as a family to return to the
Jewish homeland, it was just after “Operation
Protective Edge” in 2014. Like so many other wars
in Israel before it, that military effort, which came
on the heels of the tragic kidnapping and murder
of three innocent Israeli yeshivah boys, shone a
light on the totally opposing attitudes Israel and
Hamas have toward the value of human life.

Respect for life is a cornerstone of Jewish val-
ues and Israel’s national character, while Hamas
and other terrorist organizations glorify death and
18 AUGUST 25, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
and made up its mind about the Jewish state
long ago. Jewish blood is cheap. Still, why should
we care anymore what the world thinks when
we are the most moral army in the world? What
would America, Germany, Canada or Britain do if
mobs of Molotov cocktail-throwing violent terror-
ists attacked their border to infiltrate and kidnap
or kill their citizens?
We should learn from history, using the brilliant
words of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan,
who taught us: “We maintain the peace through
our strength; weakness only invites aggression.”
“Why did they send my son? Why? I want
an answer.” It was a legitimate question from
bereaved mother Nitza that anyone with a heart
can understand. Unfortunately, the answer was
given when Barel first switched his soccer clothes
for the green uniform on Enlistment Day when
she handed her son over to the IDF. I beg God
that Barel’s death was not in vain and that the IDF
has learned from this tragedy so that others may
be spared. Israel needs to untie the hands of our
protectors, prioritize the safety and well-being of
our sons and daughters, and allow force to be a
deterrent to terrorism.

To quote the first female Israeli Prime Minister
Golda Meir: “Peace will come when the Arabs
love their children more than they hate us.” Until
that day, may the IDF find the courage and the
strength to use whatever means possible to pro-
tect our nation’s most precious gift: our children.

They selflessly and courageously protect Israel to
allow every Jew around the world to have a safe
refuge so “never again” does not just become an
empty slogan.

While my son’s American Jewish counterparts
begin their university adventures, I have changed
the trajectory of my firstborn’s path, and now he
must spend the next two years and eight months
defending the only Jewish state on the planet as
part of an army that has been reborn after 2,000
years of exile. He is living my dream — the dream
of our ancestors, the dream of the 6 million who
perished in the Shoah — and I alone will have to
live with that decision, whatever his fate may be.

Meanwhile, I will have his favorite foods ready
for his return, our dog will keep his bed warm, and
I will anxiously wait for his nightly text to reassure
me that he is safe and well-fed. After all, although
the Israeli army is one of the mightiest in the world,
its commanders still instruct their soldiers to “call
their moms first.” God bless the IDF. JE
martyrdom, as evidenced by decades of suicide
attacks, and using innocent civilians and children
as human shields. How can you make peace with
a people that names streets and public squares
after terrorists who slaughter innocent women,
children and the elderly in cold blood? As if the
brutality of violence weren’t enough, Israel — the
one and only bastion of democracy in the Middle
East — is held to an unattainable and totally unfair
double standard that is inevitable in the aftermath
of any casualties.

The words of Nitza Shmueli, the mother of
21-year-old Border Police officer Barel Hadaria
Shmueli (of blessed memory), reverberate through
my head at 2 a.m.: “My son is fighting for his life,
his blood, his breath, for nothing,” as her son
fought until his heartbreaking last breath last
August during massive riots along the Gaza bor-
der. In this case, our troops were “unprepared”
for the massive rush toward the security fence
that separates the Gaza Strip and southern Israel.

The IDF soldiers did not open fire at the crowds
that suddenly attacked the fence out of concern
that they might hit civilians also in the area. What
about concern for Israeli soldiers first? As the
Torah states, “If someone comes to kill you, rise
up and kill him.”
Jews value life over death. This is what dif-
ferentiates us from our enemies. In this case, a
juvenile terrorist who was following orders of his
people shoots our innocent soldier point blank in
the head in cold blood. Yet our soldiers hesitated
to respond preemptively as thousands mobbed
the border and left our soldiers vulnerable. Why Jennifer Schrutt is the director of development at
not? The court of public opinion has chosen sides JNS.org.

vadimrysev / iStock / Getty Images Plus
A Mother’s Pride and Joy,
and Worry and Fear



nation / world
Turkey, Israel to Restore Full Diplomatic Relations
Turkey and Israel will return ambassadors to their countries, ending a four-year
rupture, as each country seeks to expand ties and influence in the Middle East,
JTA reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu announced the news on Aug. 16 after Lapid spoke with Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The agreement follows a visit to Ankara in March by Israeli President Isaac
Herzog, who met with Erdogan.

It was Erdogan who initiated a suspension of ties after violence flared on the
Israel-Gaza border following the Trump administration’s decision to move the
U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in 2018.

Ties were previously strained in 2010 after Israel’s deadly raid on a Turkish ship,
the Mavi Marmara, which sought to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza, but Israel
and Turkey reconciled in 2016.

Israel seeks to build on the 2020 Abraham Accords, which normalized relations
with four Arab countries.

Illustrated Version of Anne Frank’s Diary Removed from Texas Shelves
A school district in suburban Fort Worth, Texas, ordered its librarians to remove
an illustrated adaptation of “The Diary of Anne Frank” from their shelves and
digital libraries, along with the Bible and dozens of other books challenged by
parents last year, JTA reported.

The book purge at the Keller Independent School District in Keller, Texas, was
requested on Aug. 16 by a district executive in an email.

It was the latest in a string of book removals being implemented at schools at
the behest of conservative activist parents and school board members who are
challenging a slew of texts on grounds ranging from their LGBT-friendly content
to their supposed connections to “critical race theory.”
“Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation,” by Israeli filmmaker Ari
Folman and illustrator David Polonsky, is a 2019 illustrated adaptation of the
bestselling diary by the teenage Holocaust victim.

Later in the week, Superintendent Rick Westfall said the illustrated adaptation
and other removed books would be back on shelves “very soon.”
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Fire Destroys Building at Grossinger’s, ‘Dirty Dancing’ Inspiration
An abandoned building on the site of the late Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel
was consumed by fire on Aug. 16, New York Jewish Week reported, citing the
Liberty, N.Y. Fire Department.

The resort, which closed in 1986 after 70 years of operation, was demolished in
2018. It was one of the largest and best-known destinations in the “Borscht Belt,”
the Catskill Mountains region that served as a popular Jewish vacation destina-
tion well into the 1960s.

It was not immediately clear what the building was used for, the Associated
Press reported, although comments on the Facebook post suggested it was the
former house of Elaine Grossinger-Etess, the daughter of the resort’s celebrated
hostess. The resort is often cited as the inspiration for Kellerman’s Mountain House
resort in “Dirty Dancing,” the 1987 period rom-com starring Jennifer Grey.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, though police received reports of a
teenager running into nearby woods, the Mid Hudson News reported.

Sierra Club Reschedules Israel Trips Canceled Under Pressure
Five months after canceling its planned trips to Israel, and then — following
outrage from Jewish organizations — apologizing days later and saying the trips
would be reinstated, the Sierra Club has quietly posted a new excursion to Israel
for next year, J. The Jewish News of Northern California reported.

Called “Natural and Historical Highlights of Israel,” the two-week trip in
March will include many of the same activities the Sierra Club offered before
activists convinced the environmental nonprofit to cancel two Israel outings:
snorkeling, bird watching, nights on a kibbutz and a visit to Tel Aviv. JE
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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