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But it was the soon-to-be soldiers without parents in Israel who garnered the accolades.Dani Dayan, Israel’s consul general in New York, credited the entire family unit when it comes to a young adult’s decision to enlist in the IDF.“I have a lot of admiration, not just for these young adults, but for their parents who raised them well. These are young Jews who had many opportunities before them. They could have gone to college or gone into their family’s business, but they decided to come to Israel and enlist and stay in the country. This is something that never ceases to amaze me,” he said. “Despite all this talk about the Diaspora distancing themselves from Israel, there is still a strong love for Israel among American Jewry. There is no doubt that these lone soldiers are evidence of that.”For Rebecca Weiss, an 18-year-old immigrant from Toronto, Canada, her journey to the IDF enlistment bureau began at the age of 12 when she attended summer camp in Israel and began to fall in love with the country.“If you want to live in a Jewish state at my age, to fully integrate into Israeli culture, the best way to do that is to join the army,” she told The Jerusalem Post.As tensions flare up in the South where rockets and incendiary balloons and kites are launched daily, rather than worrying about their daughter, Weiss’s parents are proud of her decision.“We’re not nervous at all,” Jeff Weiss said, explaining that Rebecca’s immigration is a dream fulfilled not just for her, but the entire family.Weiss’s mother, Vicki, attended Tel Aviv University as a teenager with the hope of staying, and regrets not making her time here permanent.For her father, the aliyah dream also slipped through his fingers. “My father, in the ‘30s, was a Zionist who wanted to make aliyah. But as a Holocaust survivor, he didn’t want to have another extended hard life, so he moved to Canada instead. I was going to fulfill that dream, but now our daughter will fulfill it for all of us,” he said.“I think it’s the best time to go! What better time is there?” Gerald Katzenberg, father of lone soldier Gabriel, agreed with the Weiss’s attitude about making aliyah despite tension in the South.“We’re very proud of him. We’re going to miss him tremendously. But we are so proud! He’s decided to take this big responsibility upon himself and join the army and protect the Jewish people,” his mother, Regina, said.Looking back at what could have been was a popular sentiment among many of the adults who witnessed the lone soldiers achieve this milestone.“It’s amazing. In Israel, every 18-year-old has to join the army. We have young Americans who can go anywhere they want, do anything they want, and they are making a choice to protect the Jewish people and do their duty to serve in the IDF,” said Ron Werner, the chair of the NBN Task Force at JNF-USA. “They’re the ones that cause me to tear up. When I see them, I wonder, why didn’t that happen to me?”For JNF CEO Russell F. Robinson, making aliyah plays a critical two-part benefit for the land and people of Israel. “When you’re up on the plane and start to descend, and the tires are coming down and you hear that noise of the tires hitting the runway, you have sent a message to our friends and enemies alike – we are home,” he said.Dayan added, “Imagine a Hollywood movie producer telling Gal Gadot, ‘You have two options. Either star as Wonder Woman or you can watch the film in the theaters.’ Obviously, the right decision is being the star in the movie. That’s exactly the decision you made. You made the decision to be the protagonist of your own story.”Founded in 2002, Nefesh B’Nefesh has assisted in bringing 57,000 Jews to Israel. The organization currently assists 3,200 soldiers in its lone soldiers program.
Starring in the story of their lives: 57 lone soldiers make aliyah
After months of planning, lone soldiers finally realize their dream: Protecting their homeland.
