Two Gaithersburg parents embarked on the first Birthright Israel group of Lone Soldiers’ parents who volunteered in the country and reunited with their children in early August.
The Birthright Israel Post-October 7 Volunteer Program is designed for Jewish adults ages 18 to 50. The group of 77 participating parents on this trip included 27 from the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, with the rest from Russia and Argentina.
The parents said the trip — Aug. 5 to 17 — allowed them to spend quality time with their kids in Israel, volunteer and form lifelong bonds with fellow parents of Lone Soldiers.
‘A Sigh of Relief’
Many of the parents reunited with their children at an Aug. 7 ceremony at the Moshe Dayan Israel Defense Forces base in Glilot Junction, according to a press release.
“The kids all came in their uniforms, and we had a special ceremony where we heard [from] someone from the IDF and we met the founder of Birthright,” Jennifer, an attendee from North Potomac, said.
She added that it was “incredible” to see her daughter again, a 20-year-old who made aliyah in August 2024 and now serves in the Israeli Air Force.
“You could breathe a sigh of relief to see her,” Jennifer said. “I think the one thing we all took away was that this is where she’s supposed to be. She was so happy and so proud to be there, and has really embraced the Israeli culture and Israeli life, and has really become a part of something bigger than who she is.”
Yael, an Israeli American resident of Gaithersburg, got to see her daughter a day earlier at the hotel. The 20-year-old is serving as a mashakit — social worker — for IDF soldiers.
The reunion was much needed after seven months apart: “Right away, it was such a huge hug.”
Yael added that her back pain made it uncertain whether she’d be able to come on this trip. Seeing her daughter made everything worth it: “It was such a relief to just be able to hug her and see her.”
“[My daughter] will be here [in the U.S.] in three months, but after that, it’ll be a year until I see her again,” Yael said. “It is tough having that distance and not being able to bridge it. The hug, the physical touch, is what I missed the most.”
Yael’s daughter was able to take eight days off to be with her mom and volunteer with the group, whereas some of the other Lone Soldiers had to return to their bases after a few days.
‘A Love for Israel’
Jennifer, a member of Shaare Torah in Gaithersburg and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, said Israel has long been a central facet in her family’s life.
“We always … raised the kids with a love for Israel and understanding our people’s history and our past,” Jennifer said. “We always knew the importance of a Jewish homeland.”
Jennifer said her daughter, who had been in her first year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Oct. 7, 2023, felt a “really deep sense of purpose” to serve in the IDF, “fight[ing] for the Jewish people’s existence and the security of Jewish people all over the world.”
“I think she truly felt it inside of her that this is what she needed to do,” Jennifer said.
Yael’s daughter had known that she wanted to serve in the IDF since she was in third grade, following in her mother’s footsteps.
“Her dad and I met in the Israeli army, so she heard about our story,” Yael said. “Israel is considered our home, so we always talked about Israel at home. I think that being in the Scouts, [in] an environment that’s very Zionistic … also contributed to that reinforcement.”
Both mothers expressed great pride in their Lone Soldier daughters.
“I made the decision to go back [to the Israeli army] too, so I was really proud of her, knowing how hard it is to be there without family and knowing the gap year — the Mechina — was really, really hard for her,” Yael said. “She stuck it out.”
“I’m incredibly proud of her,” Jennifer said of her daughter. “She has really taken a very difficult time in our history and turned it into something where she feels she can be a part of something greater, where she can make a difference.”
‘A True Friendship’
But not everyone in their communities back home shares that sentiment.
“[Explaining my daughter’s decision to join the IDF] was a lot more difficult than I think I had ever anticipated it being,” Jennifer said. “There are other people — not within our synagogue community or our friend group — who don’t understand why we would be proud of her and why this is something that was so important and meaningful to her and to us. It’s hard to explain that to someone who doesn’t feel the same way.”
Yael said that other than one Israeli friend in Gaithersburg whose daughter is also serving in the IDF, she feels “pretty secluded” as the parent of a Lone Soldier: “People don’t really understand it.”
“I kind of feel a little bit [like I’m] on an island,” Yael said, adding that her co-workers know that she has a daughter in Israel, but tend not to ask about her. “Even when things flare up, [my colleagues] don’t usually acknowledge or ask about her well-being.”
For this reason, both Yael and Jennifer are grateful to Birthright Israel for bringing these parents together.
“I feel like now when something happens, I can talk to this group about it,” Yael said. “I have this kind of support that I didn’t really have before, so that is really meaningful.”
The 27 parents have a group chat on WhatsApp where they’ve continued to stay in touch after the trip.
“In my own community … I didn’t have any friends whose children moved in the middle of a war to join the IDF,” Jennifer said. “So, being with other parents who had the same situation is incredibly helpful because now I have this support group, and the [27] of us have a bond because we’re experiencing things that most other parents don’t. … We really had a true friendship that I don’t know would have been created without Birthright organizing that.”
