Why?

Why would a 17 and a half year old girl from Boca Raton, Florida leave the comfort of her home, family, and friends to make Aliyah and join the IDF? That idea sounds crazy, and in all honesty, despite the 1,001 times I have been asked this question, I have yet to formulate a coherent and logical answer. But I will try. Israel - the tiny dot on the world map - is my people’s homeland. Period. It is the land that G-d promised us in the biblical times of Moses, and it is the land that we, today in the 21st century, have the privilege and right of calling ours. However, there are those in the world whose sole purpose it is to annihilate Israel, and in doing so, destroy the Jewish People. However, you and I both know that will never happen. Why? Because now, for the first time in 2 millennia, we have our own country, our own government, our own army to protect us. The purpose of the State of Israel is to serve as a homeland for every jew in this world, to protect us against the evil that threatens our existence. When my family was being gassed and burned by the Nazis during the Holocaust a mere 70 years ago, they didn’t have anywhere to go- they didn’t have anyone to protect them. But now we do. So who am I not to defend the country that exists to protect my family and me? It is my obligation and responsibility to defend what is rightfully ours so that our brothers and sisters can live in peace without the threat of destruction knocking at their front door. What I’m doing is not noble - every teenager my age in Israel has to join the army. What I’m doing is, in fact, the fulfillment of my own responsibility to my land and people.