A Bullet Between Brothers

Shmulik came home today with a friend in his unit that is staying nearby for the weekend. I don’t mind when my kids bring people unexpectedly…it’s an open door that we have in our house. I greeted his friend and offered him something to drink – Shmulik said he would be right back and disappeared upstairs.

He returned a moment later with a magazine filled with bullets – handed it to his friend, and they said goodbye. Okay…um…huh?

It turns out, his friend left his magazine clip on the bus (luckily an army bus filled with soldiers). He got off the bus, which dropped Shmulik, his friend, and several others not far from our home. As they waited to be picked up, his friend realized that he’d forgotten the bullets/magazine. After a moment’s panic, they called someone on the bus and took care of the missing magazine. That solved one problem, but presented him with another. Without bullets, the gun is virtually useless. Worse, in some ways, it makes them a target. Certainly, it makes them more vulnerable and he would get into trouble were he to be caught without bullets. And so, they came to our house, where Shmulik gave him a spare that he’ll return later.

Every once in a while, life does its own reality check for me. I have loaned my neighbors sugar and milk, eggs and oil. I’ve loaned a vacuum cleaner, a computer, even a car. I have never, in my wildest imaginings, thought I’d see the day when someone came to borrow bullets from our home.

Shabbat shalom – may the Sabbath bring you peace and may those bullets…and all bullets, stay safely in the magazines, unneeded, unused.

4 Comments

  1. I can’t believe I’ve been a combat soldier’s mother for over two years and when you said “magazine” I thought, wow, I’ve seen gun magazines, but a whole magazine just for bullets, must be some kind of mail order catalog.

  2. Never hurts to have a spare magazine around the house. I’ve been interested in Israels Army since I was a young Second Lieutenant in our Marine Corps. I got to see the IDF in action in Lebanon 1982/1983. Very impressive people.

  3. My younger son was a logistics officer. I never ceased to be amazed with what he managed to arrange for friends of his and his siblings who were missing stuff, but I never recall him pulling a trick like that 🙂

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