‘We all share this bond’
Parents of IDF lone soldiers visit their kids, thanks to Birthright Israel
It took one summer on a Young Judaea camp and Israel program to convince Isaac, a Jewish teenager from northern New Jersey, that he’d “found his people.”
A subsequent gap year in Israel through the same Zionist youth movement — and the desire to help protect his people at a difficult time — motivated Isaac to take the next step. He made aliyah last January and began preparing for service in the Israel Defense Forces.
But it’s never easy to move to a different country very far from your parents, even extraordinarily supportive ones like Isaac’s. Nor is the separation easy for the parents of lone soldiers like Isaac, who are not only unable to see him regularly but are also concerned about his safety during wartime.
Which is why Isaac’s dad jumped at the chance to participate in a new Birthright Israel initiative. For the first time since the launch of Birthright’s highly subsidized Post-October 7 Volunteer Program for Jewish adults from 18 to 50 years old, parents of lone soldiers now serving in the IDF were invited to join — even if they are over 50.
The inaugural group of 77 parents — 27 from the United States, the rest mainly from Russia and Argentina — landed on August 4 for two weeks of volunteering and some precious time with their sons or daughters. There were three participants from Bergen County — Isaac’s father and a couple who declined to be interviewed.
In keeping with military protocol for the security of the soldiers and their parents, we’ve omitted obvious identifying details such as last name, specific hometown in New Jersey, and photographs.
“It was extremely nice to meet other parents,” Isaac’s dad said. He is divorced from Isaac’s mom, yet in the spirit of their harmonious co-parenting style they both readily signed permission papers for their only child to draft into a combat unit.
“Sometimes I feel alone at home because I have nobody to talk to about the experience my son and myself are going through, and now I have a whole community of people I can talk to from North America and Australia,” he said on one of his final days in Israel.
“It was a very diverse group — religious parents, secular parents, people who hadn’t been to Israel before, or who’d been to Israel many times. We all share this bond. That sense of community is so important.”
Like him, some of the other parents also had children in Tzofim Garin Tzabar, a program offering support services to young adults who choose to make aliyah and serve in the IDF.
Isaac is housed in an absorption center with 350 other lone soldiers, “including five of my best friends from my gap year,” he said.
The 20-year-old recently finished a three-month Hebrew immersion program for lone soldiers from foreign countries and had a few weeks before receiving his IDF assignment, giving him the opportunity to go to the airport in the wee hours of August 4 to greet his father.
“It was amazing to see him, and the Birthright people took care of all the logistics so there was no stress on us,” Isaac said.
The program arranged for all the parents to meet up with their children, even those actively serving, on August 7 at the Moshe Dayan IDF base in Glilot Junction, followed by three days of parent-child togetherness.
Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, head of the IDF Manpower Directorate; Israeli-American physician and philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson; and Birthright Israel CEO Gidi Mark all were there as well.
“There are not enough words to describe the deep admiration we have for you, the lone soldiers,” Gen. Bar Kalifa said. “Watching you hugging your parents after such a long time is a great joy and a deeply emotional moment.”
“Birthright Israel has never before hosted a group of participants who are parents of lone soldiers serving far from their home countries to protect Israel,” Mr. Mark added. “I salute each of the soldiers, but also their parents, for raising such brave young people. It is inspiring to see young Jews willing to leave everything behind to serve the people of Israel — you truly deserve immense credit, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
The parents were lodged in a hotel in Tel Aviv; their children were given rooms at the same hotel during the days they were together.
Divided into English, Russian, and Spanish-speaking subgroups, the parents volunteered in agricultural fields such as Meshek Michaeli near Gaza, packaged food for the needy at local charitable projects across Israel, and toured Gaza border communities, including Sderot and Re’im, that bore the brunt of brutal terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023. They also met with senior IDF officers and municipal leaders.
“Working at farms near the Gaza border, you hear explosions all the time,” Isaac’s father said.
But what stays in his memory even more are the words they heard from a mother whose daughter was murdered at the Nova music festival and from a teacher who lost some of his beloved students on that dark day.
It also struck him “how resilient this country is. I saw a building that Iran hit near Carmel Market in Tel Aviv, yet we’ve been able to see that the city is thriving and vibrant.”
Five more groups of parents of lone soldiers from around the world are expected to arrive in Israel with Birthright this month, bringing the total to 160 parents.
Founded 25 years ago, Birthright Israel offers multiple short- and mid-length programs in Israel for Jewish young adults. More than 900,000 travelers from 70 countries have participated so far. The trips are made possible by funding from Jewish philanthropists, communities, and federations; the Israeli government; Birthright alumni and their families, and individual donors around the world.
The Birthright Israel Post-October 7 Volunteer Program costs $600 per participant and includes flights and transportation to volunteer sites, accommodations, daily breakfast or an alternative food stipend, health insurance, and educational and social programming. Applicants must identify as Jewish, speak basic English, and hold a passport valid for at least six months after the program’s end date.
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