Grandma's army

We are at present almost at the end of   three weeks of mourning in which the Jewish people recall the many tragedies they suffered - culminating in the loss of the first and second Temples, and exile. The Temple was   the focus of national identity and the unifying   spiritual centre of the ancient Jewish nation.   It was the repository of the Holy Scriptures and other national literature and the meeting place of the Sanhedrin, the highest court of Jewish law during Roman times. When it was destroyed - and the people who were not killed were exiled and dispersed - what could possibly   sustain them as a Jewish nation? Altogether the Jews were exiled from their land for almost 2,000 years. Especially in this period of mourning, the parallels to another exiled people were brought to my mind. The Chinese have a lot to answer for. I am not talking about the coronavirus, but of the great national tragedy which befell Tibet. It began with the occu...

Israel's management of the coronavirus epidemic is proving to be one of the most challenging events since the establishment of the state. Meanwhile, IDF recruitment continues as usual, as does combat training, with adjustments made in order to comply with the guidelines of the Health Ministry.  To date, 23 IDF soldiers have contracted the coronavirus, and 5,600 soldiers are in quarantine, of which 240 are “lone soldiers.” With four grandchildren in the IDF, I was interested to hear from them how the coronavirus impacts on their army service: Amitai , who is in the Armoured Corps, began an officer’s course 7 months ago and last week the concluding ceremony was held – for the first time, with no family or friends with whom to share their celebration. The course was carried out as always, beginning with the cadets from all of the ground forces. The subjects they studied were focused mainly on leadership, ethical values, command and basic warfare. The coronavirus ...