Following Emancipation in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when large numbers of Jews were conscripted into European armies, traditionalist segments perceived army service as a calamity. As demonstrated by Prof. Judith Bleich in an essay from the TRADITION Archives, extreme prejudice and antisemitism persisted in the armed forces and the promise of equality remained an illusion. However, she suggests, casting contemporary military service in the Israeli Army in terms that smack of the Czar’s Army and the cantonist system, especially at a time such as this, completely misses the point.

Jewish schoolchildren in New Jersey set up a popcorn stand to raise money to send pizza to Israeli soldiers. Avraham Stav got a lump in his throat as he swallowed his slice. In this next dispatch from the frontline, he describes the meaningfulness and sense of worldwide Jewish connection that these acts of support and encouragement have generated—flowing from the Diaspora to Israel and hopefully in the reciprocal direction as well.