As a teenager, the walls of my room were adorned with sports paraphernalia, most notably anything Miami Dolphins. As I got older, I realized they were just great athletes and not a whole lot more, and so my interest moved into the field of entertainment. During that period of time I had many autographed photographs of singers I admired such as Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra etc…
At a certain point, I realized that none of these people were worth admiring beyond their talent and eventually pictures of family and friends replaced them.
It’s funny how your understanding of what makes a hero changes as you get older, and nowhere was that made more clear to me than this most recent attack on our people. Suddenly, my picture of a hero became a little different. The people who shielded their children against the terrorists, those who fought evil, the grandmother who cooked a “last supper” for her captors before their meeting with Allah, not to mention, the entire Israeli army.
And as we enter day four of this unwanted war with evil, more definitions of the hero surface.
This morning, I got off the phone with my high school buddy Ric of over 35 years who lives in Yerushalayim. He tells me that his daughter’s platoon was ambushed on Saturday, yet B”H, she was away on a training mission that weekend and miraculously avoided the terror. Yet within days, she went back to the very post where all of her friends and fellow soldiers were ambushed. If there was ever a get out of jail card, I think this would qualify, as I know I’d need a few weeks to process the mental trauma endured. But not their daughter. She’s a hero.
Where does this strength come from?
Turns out the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree as her dad explained to me, “Avi, this is our home and she’s got a job to do. The buck stops with us. Who’s going to do it if not us?” Wow! And I thought Rambo was tough. Believe me when I tell you that nobody loves their kids more than my buddy Ric, but he, along with his wife Shira, cast aside their own needs for Klal Yisroel’s. Like so many other parents, they have put their money where their mouth is, supporting and nurturing their children’s love of Eretz Yisroel. There’s a bunch of children from our community of Hollywood, Florida and Boca Raton who have served proudly in the IDF, and a great deal of that is due to the teachings of their parents as well as the schools.
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes—and ages. Take, for instance, Mike Ripstein, early 50s, who was vacationing in Miami and attending a business conference. He got the call and before you knew it, was back in full gear, armed and ready to serve in Israel’s reserve unit. Sure he could’ve just sent a check, or perhaps nurse an aching something, but heroes don’t roll that way. They’re not looking for excuses. If anything, they’re just looking for a reason. A reason to be put to the test and fight darkness with light. Sometimes that light comes in the form of a soldier, sometimes in the form of a parent worried sick about their loved ones, or sometimes it can be in the form of a man spending $500,000 on tickets for all active duty soldiers flying to Israel. Wow! Such ahavas Yisroel is the perfect antidote for the evil these reshaim (evil ones) perpetrated, yimach shemam (may their memory be erased).
Inbar Lieberman, the 25-year-old security coordinator of Kibbutz Nir Am, heard explosions early Saturday, when the terrorists launched their attack. Lieberman rushed to open the armory, distributing guns to 12 other people. She placed her squad of kibbutzniks in strategic positions across the settlement and set up ambushes that caught the gunmen off guard, killing five terrorists by herself, while the others killed another 20 terrorists.
Brothers and sisters of Israel: We are glued to the news, saying Tehillim, sending money and care packages, and praying for God’s good blessing upon the whole nation of Israel. So many of you are showing us through your sheer courage and determination how to trudge on with strength. I can’t tell you how many friends have been tossing and turning and thinking about the pain that you, our brothers and sisters in Israel are enduring. After all, if it’s hard for us in America, how much more difficult is it for you, who are actually dealing with this madness? (I have a slight idea because my daughter just made aliyah and calls me every time a siren goes off.) When you hurt, we may not be there, but a part of us shares in your pain, and we, in some way, are with each and every one of you. The Tehillim and tears we share all connect in some way, and ultimately, with Hashem. K’ ish echad b’lev echad. Indeed we are all one.
Please know that while we may not have your photographs hanging on our wall, that hardly stops you from being our heroes.
Some years ago, I attended a speech defending Israel in Washington. Bibi Netanyahu was flown in by helicopter, approached the microphone, looked at us and said it best. “Mi k’amcha Yisrael, who is like Your nation, Israel?”
Indeed.
Avi Ciment lives in Florida and is a longtime columnist for The Jewish Press. He lectures throughout the world and has just finished his second book, “Real Questions Real Answers.” He can be reached at www.AviTalks.com.
