Lone soldiers talk about their lives at Bergenfield program
Last week at Bergenfield’s Congregation Beth Abraham, high ranking Israeli military leaders joined current and former IDF lone soldiers for a firsthand conversation about their experience on the front lines. The talk kicked off a two-week speaking tour in the New Jersey/New York area.
The speakers included Lt. Col. (Res.) Liora Rubinstein, CEO of the Lone Soldier Center in Memory of Michael Levin (LSC), Senior IDF Brig. Gen. Amit Edri (Res.), and Israeli and American lone soldiers.
Ms. Rubinstein described the daily support Israel’s longest established center for lone soldiers provides, including housing for 200 male and female combat soldiers in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Beersheba, and Haifa. “We’re there when they come back from the army with hot meals and a community to sit with them to see what they need, whether they have hot meals or where to do their laundry,” she said. “These are very important things for lone soldiers.
“On October 7, like everyone else, we woke up to a completely different reality,” she continued. “Over the past years, we have provided everything from shampoo to Shabbat dinners to mental health support. Yet nothing prepared me for the moment this last war with Iran began.”
Ms. Rubinstein said the decision to keep the centers open was not a simple one; she weighed the safety of her staff driving to the centers, with missiles flying overhead, against their responsibility to soldiers with no other home to go to. “We chose to stay open, and within hours, all of our centers were full. Soldiers came — not because we invited them, not because we sent a message, but because they knew this was their home. They needed a cup of coffee and a hug.”
“And then a lone soldier was killed — Moshe Katz from Connecticut, of blessed memory,” she continued. “Before the funeral, soldiers came to the center. There were no speeches. They simply made something to drink, to eat, and sat together. In that moment I understood, again, this is not just what we do. This is who we are. We don’t just provide services. We create a home.”
Ruchie, a New York-born lone soldier, defied every obstacle to build an extraordinary military career in Israel. She described her decision to make aliyah in 2016 and join the IDF. It wasn’t easy, she said, but she fought her way into the Intelligence Corps, eventually becoming the first female intelligence officer in both a combat engineering battalion and an elite special forces unit. She served on the northern border, dismantled smuggling networks in the Jordan Valley, and deployed to Gaza as a reserve officer after the October 7 attacks, one month after her wedding. Throughout it all, she credited the Lone Soldier Center for providing community, mentorship, and a sense of home that kept her grounded. “Even as an officer responsible for others, I still needed guidance, support, and a sense of family, and they provided exactly that,” she said.
Motty, an Israeli lone soldier, grew up in a large charedi family in Jerusalem. In his teens, he was caught in a cycle of homelessness, substance abuse, and trouble with the law. He received an exemption from military service at 18, a moment he describes as rock bottom.
“Many people don’t realize that Israeli-born soldiers can be lone soldiers too,” he said, describing his rough start and apparent lack of bright future. But a friend’s enlistment became a turning point, and with the help of the Lone Soldier Center, he canceled his exemption and served as a combat soldier and then a commanding officer in Golani. “The Lone Soldier Center gave me the support system I never had,” he said. Today Motty is pursuing a triple major in law, economics, and philosophy, and volunteers as a mentor for at-risk youth. “There’s no limit to what a person can achieve when they believe in themselves, and even more so when they have the support of those who choose to stand with lone soldiers,” he said.
“Just as our team wraps its arms around lone soldiers in a warm embrace, Congregation Beth Abraham embraced our group in the warmest and most loving hug,” Amy Golding, chief development officer for Friends of the Lone Soldier in Memory of Michael Levin, said. “This is the definition of resilience and partnership.”
comments