By Dorit Sasson
I find myself at Kibbutz Ortal, in early morning mountain mist, visiting Karina Bender from Argentina, a fellow soldier I met during basic training in August 1990. Ever since native British Michelle dropped out from her garin, Karina is now one of two female girls.
This remote area of the Upper Galilee is a part of Israel I’ve not yet experienced. In this remote, tucked away corner, I’m following the footsteps of my old friend Nufar, an old friend from Jerusalem whose family subleted a loft apartment in 1981 at our New York City apartment building. Her mother Nima, was a gifted pianist like my Mom and her Dad was a scientist from Hebrew University. At the time, we were both ten years old in Westbeth.
Nufar, or “Nuffie,” was my childhood heroine of courage.
So naturally, she modeled courage to me at a young age. Yes, it IS possible to speak another language in a foreign country. Yes, it IS possible to feel confident about subjects that feel slightly out of your comfort zone.
If Nufie could do these things, so could I.
Or couldn’t I?
So when Karina asks me to convince her Argentinian cousin Deborah about what it’s like to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, I’m tickled by this. Me – a lowly soldier being asked to give advice? Why me?
Walking around Ortal eyeing the Hermon Mountain slightly from a distance feeling all the memories with Nufar wash over me, I feel as if I’m Nufar’s protégé or shadow. I find myself chatting with Deborah about the strategic vantage point of the Hermon mountain from one of Nuffie’s “private” tours I took in the summer of 1989 as a kibbutz volunteer, the summer before leaving New York City for good.
Since I’m on break from the army, Karina, her friend Ben and I take a trip to Jerusalem and once again, I follow Nufar’s footsteps to her home town of Jerusalem. We start at the Wailing Wall and enter the old city of Jerusalem. I want to experience the Israel of places that still captivated my sounds and senses.
In Jerusalem, Ben wants to enter the Muslim quarter, and I hear a battalion of fearful voices – don’t go there. You’ll get shot and blown up my terrorists. But upon witnessing the sights and sounds of the old city, my fear quickly wore off. Ben bought a nifty pair of trousers and I bought a beautiful Beduoin embroidered sheet for my single bed even though it was made for a double bed.
That night, I settled in for a good night’s sleep. Nufar's mother, Nima, gave me the key to their apartment and I had the entire apartment to myself which overlooked the Knesset and the Wailing Wall. I was in heaven even though Nuffie was far far way - traveling the world of East Asia....
Book Summary:
At age nineteen, Dorit Sasson, a dual American-Israeli citizen, was trying to make the status quo work as a college student―until she realized that if she didn’t distance herself from her neurotic, worrywart of a mother, she would become just like her.
Accidental Soldier: A Memoir of Service and Sacrifice in the Israel Defense Forces is Sasson’s story of how she dropped out of college and volunteered for the Israel Defense Forces in an effort to change her life―and how, in stepping out of her comfort zone and into a war zone, she discovered courage and faith she didn’t know she was capable of.
Paperback: 337 pages
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: She Writes Press (June 14, 2016)
ISBN-10: 1631520350
ISBN-13: 978-1631520358
Amazon Link: click here
About the Author
She lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and two children.
Find Dorit Sasson Online:
Website: www.DoritSasson.com, www.GivingaVoicetotheVoicelessbook.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoritSassonauthorAccidentalSoldier/
Twitter: @VoicetoStory
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/givingvoice/