A SOLDIER OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE

During the fierce fighting in Jenin, Israel's Commander in Chief, General Sha'ul Mofaz came to inspect the fighting forces in the area.  He gathered the commanders and officers for a briefing.  He suddenly noticed that one of his reservist Major Generals, Avraham Gutman had a long rip in his army uniform's shirt.  He immediately asked him about the tear and Avraham Gutman told him that his mother had passed away the day before and that he had just come from the funeral.  Major General Gutman is a religious Jew
and one of the customs of mourning is the tearing of one's garment.

General Mofaz immediately ordered him to leave the command post and return home to sit Shiva for his mother.  Avraham refused his Commander in Chief and told the following story:

He described how he had volunteered to join his reserve unit when he heard that they had been called up for "Operation Defensive Wall".  Within days his unit began preparations around the terrorist enclave in Jenin.  It was not too long before he and his unit began the painstaking mopping up operation in the city.  In the midst of the second day of battle, as he was speaking to the Regional Commander,  Eyal Shlein , his cell phone rang. He saw that the caller was his 92 year old mother.  All of his family knew not to call him while he was in the army , so the call itself was a mystery.  His commander said to him "Your Imma (mother) is more important
than anything else... answer the call."

His mother said "I have two things to tell you.  The first is that as a
commander in the field you have a responsibility to bring your soldiers back home, safe and sound."

Then she said "Remember Avraham,  You are my revenge against the Nazis."

With that she hung up.

Several hours later she had passed away and Avraham arrived at the funeral.  The family had gathered to bring to rest this strong willed woman who had survived the Holocaust and had built a family of proud, faithful Jews.  Avraham Gutman's family was very happy to see Avraham back safe and sound.  They noticed that he was very quiet and determined and assumed that it must be due to a mixture of grief and battle fatigue.  They could not anticipate the decision that Avraham was to make.  "I am returning to battle.  I have no choice.  This was my mother's last request!", he said and he left.

Major General Avraham Gutman is 44 years old and really did not have to participate in the battles of this war.  But in Israel there is no such thing as being 44 years old.

Every single Jew in this country is over 3000 years old.  It is that fact
that truly guides our lives.