A Soldier of the Jewish People
by Liron Nagler-Cohen
May 3, 2002
Hatsofeh newspaper

   During the fierce fighting in Jenin, Israel's Commander 
in Chief, General Shaul 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 Majour 
Generals, Avraham Gutman had a long rip on his army 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. Majour General Gutman 
is a religous 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 unit 
when he heard that they  had been called up for "Operation 
Defensive Shield". 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.

    Majour 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.