Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, this Brooklyn family has been glued to their television. The daughter, Pamela Kanner, is scheduled to make Aliyah – move to Israel, in a few days. Her mother tells us that their friends and families all question why she must move there now.
Pamela explains, "It's my ideology. How I want to live my life. I want to start now." It's difficult to decide what to pack when you've got a one-way ticket. How do you dress for your ideology? Pamela adds, "It might be more comfortable here and you might think safer, however, last week someone drew a swastika in the playground. 308 Jewish mothers came to the airport to see their children move to Israel through the organization Nefesh B'Nefesh. More than 100 will soon be wearing IDF uniforms.
Before leaving, Mindy and Randy Levine invited these lone soldiers to a Yankees Baseball game. While many Israelis would see Oren Burstein living the American dream, he sees it differently. "When I'm studying math in New York and I hear about a terror attack in Israel, I feel I need to be there, that's why I want to go into the army." Oren's two brothers also served in the IDF.
Yeshayahu, Oren's father recalls, "When I heard about the mission in which Givati soldiers were killed, I immediately thought it could be Ariel." He knows that the decision to move to Israel and join the army has to be Oren's. Oren sums it up, "My dream is about to come true." Erez Halphon from Nefesh B'Nefesh was concerned that people would want to put off going to Israel during the present military operation, but no one cancelled. We wish these proud new Israelis all the best.
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