An Ongoing Connection

One of many things I love about Israel is the bonds it creates among its children. There are bonds from school, bonds from the army. A few weeks ago, Elie went to meet a bunch of his “army buddies.” This weekend, he went back to his yeshiva. Eight others from his group came as well for the weekend.

He took a box of brownies fresh from the oven. I must have put 30 brownies in there. He took the car and, as requested, called when he got there. They spent the weekend catching up. One is married; one engaged. One is about to finish the army as an officer in a few months; two others, like Elie, are beginning their studies.

Elie came back home telling me he had a great time and was glad he went. He’s volunteering for the ambulance squad tonight – he’s already gone out once. “A few drops of rain,” he said, “and people go crashing into each other.”

Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt and he was back home after a quick trip to the hospital to drop off three people. I’m hoping he won’t have to go out for the rest of the night.

As for those connections, it is something that makes a mother feel so happy. These are the people who will  walk through his life in the years to come, an ongoing identity, a connection.

3 Comments

  1. Yes, the connections are strong. Y, my youngest (newest) soldier-son, was home for the weekend. And his friend was getting married. So, he “popped over” to say “Mazel Tov” and meet his former classmates. He was definately not the standard guest at a chareidi wedding: in uniform and without kippah. But he enjoyed the visit. The only note he saw of “reaction” was when a former school administrator (who didn’t really know him at all) passed by him, and he suddenly turned and looked to see who it was that was showing up in spite of not being religious.

  2. These are exactly the kinds of connections olim chadashim like us who came with older kids long for our children to develop. And, having left lifelong friends in The Old Country, we also long for these kinds of connections ourselves…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.