Elie got his orders for the upcoming Reserve Duty – turns out it is one day and on a base very close to where we live. He thinks it would take him less time to walk there than to take buses because the first thing he would have to do is take a bus to Jerusalem (40 minutes) before taking the bus to base.

He got a piece of paper telling him how to get to the base. It comes with free bus passes on the day so that it will cost him nothing to get there (of course, he wants to take the car…but the thought is there anyway, if not the need). And another paper tells him what he will be doing – he’s excited about learning something new.

And then he told me that a few days ago, he got a new year’s card from the army, wishing him a good year. He laughed when he told me about it and said, “it’s their way of telling you ‘don’t worry, we still remember you.'”