Thank you letter
My name is Ayelet and I was privileged to be Rivka’s friend in the army, in the officers’ course and in the operational battalion, and we shared some difficult and meaningful days in at the beginning of the war. I wanted to share a story from those days that was very meaningful to me and in my eyes describes Rebecca’s special personality, her strength and resilience, her desire to be, to do her best wherever she is needed, or as her father Robbert defined it – HINENI.
On the third day of the war, amidst the uncertainty and pain. We were conscripted into the reserves after days of action and a persistent contact with the commanders asking them to draft us, we met in Tel Hashomer the recruitment place, and already at the meeting a different and special atmosphere was created. It was so meaningful to see a friend from the past, to sit down in midst of this madness, and shared, shared about the people we lost, difficult experiences we saw and gone. throw the talk we created some kind of “alliance”. Our decision was that we are together in this story, both of us and Tal Or, who was a commander under Rebecca. At the end of this long day after we finished the recruitment process, they commander came to us saying that they don’t need us because they recruited too much people and that we should go home. The three of us exchanged looks and immediately said no, there is no chance, this is our war, this is our division , we must do everything we can to help. I turned to Rivka and Tal and offered to come with me to the south, where I was for the beginning of the war, I saw the situation, and I knew how much people just like Rebecca are needed, someone who will do what is necessary without looking at themselves. Without hesitation, Rebecca and Tal told me of course, we are with you. Without stopping we immediately got into my car and drove off. We went to the Southern Command, where immediately we located a high-ranking officer there, introduced ourselves and said we were here, and we won’t leave without being taken care of for our position, he let us in, included us in meetings and show us presentations and told us that he would help us, we were there in dire straits and with the feeling that the command did not fully understand the situation. We left there after the same officer promised to transfer our names, from there we went to Civilian Volunteering center, and there we offered to help with what we could, in the meantime we thought about what we were doing next. Then the three of us received summonses for the next day, I expected them to tell me – well I’m going home, see you tomorrow, but not Rebecca. A funeral was just scheduled for a good friend I grew up with, who killed in battle. At 02:00 at night, on Mount Herzl. I thought I was traveling alone, that I was alone in grief, for them this was not an option at all. They informed me unequivocally, they are with me. And so we drove. And in the middle of the night after a long funeral, I turn around and see Rebecca with me, waiting for me, supporting me, at a funeral that seemingly has nothing to do with her, but Rebecca is not like that, pain for someone she didn’t know, and the grief of her friend, it’s her grief, it’s her pain. We continued through difficult days of reserve until we split into different positions, and we continued to talk and care for each other amidst all the stress, Rebecca continued to nag me to take care of myself, to see that I’m sharing, if I talk to someone. Rebecca, I want to say thank you, thank you for being a true partner, thank you for bringing me your favorite sweatpants because you knew I didn’t bring myself something to sleep in during one of the hardest nights and days of my life, those days we experienced together will always be with me. Thank you for partnership, for friendship for being a role model, an example of what Zionism is, of seeing others, of selflessness. An example of being able to say here I am ,HINENI.
Ayrlet ben pazi
אדרת
