Marcy Tatelbaum, the mother of Sergeant First Class (res.) Yakir Shmuel Tatelbaum who fell during an engagement with terrorists in northern Gaza last week, spoke to Arutz Sheva-Israel National News about her late son and his decision to return to the battlefield a second time.
"It's hard to find the words, nothing does it justice. Yakir had a very strong commitment and belief in serving and protecting this country. Not only that, but doing the best with every day, doing meaningful things every waking hour of the day. He felt that he had the ability to go back into Gaza, and he knew he could do it, and he felt responsible for that. He wasn't just going to sit around the base, there's a war, he's needed and he's going to do it," Marcy related.
The mother shared the difficulty that she had with his decision, "I said to him, 'Listen Yakir, you already did your time in Gaza, your tank got hit twice with RPGs, you yourself said that you had brushes with death, you don't need to do more.' There were so many books he wanted to read, so many shows he wanted to watch, I said 'Just go, you'll have downtime, take the next four months and relax, you already went above and beyond.' And he answered, 'No, not going to do it.' I knew saying that to him wasn't going to convince him, I said it a few times and so did my husband, but we knew he was going to. He had his mind set, and when his mind is sent, that's it."
She recounted that "it was the same thing with the mechina (military preparatory academy), when he was put on a waiting list to join the mechina that he wanted to go to, he got on a bus to the mechina which was in Kibbutz Sufa in the Gaza envelope and approached the heads of the mechina and told them that he wants to get in. When he had something on his mind, that was it.
"That's what he did now, too, he pushed, he found this commander, this company commander, he was told 'no, no, no,' until finally there was a company commander, who was in the tank with him when he was killed, who knew him and said 'I'll take you in with me.'"
Despite her objection to his decision to return to the fighting, Marcy is very proud of her son: "Even though I did not want him to go back in, and the whole time I had bad feelings, I'm still so, so proud. And besides being proud, I also stand behind him for how he stood behind his beliefs and who he is as a person. To be so strong, and be like that. I have such a respect for him."
She looks back at her son's smile: "He also had a serious side, but when he smiled it lit up the room."
Tatelbaum shares that her family was notified of the loss as they were lighting Shabbat candles on Friday. "It was extremely hard on Shabbat. My oldest son was on reserve duty, so they had to get him on the phone, and my daughter-in-law was at her parents, the army right away took him, picked her up, and they came to us. It took a few hours but everybody was together. It was just an excruciatingly hard Shabbat, to be closed in the house, nobody knowing, and we weren't supposed to talk to anybody or do anything about it. They were able to bring our rabbi from the neighborhood here for a bit, for some guidance and talking. And one of my friend's sons was here with us on and off during Shabbat, and it was helpful."
She describes the current complex state of her family at the moment: "One minute we're fine and laughing about stories, the next minute there's this aching heart, it's a real thing, it's a physical ache. I don't know if I can explain it in words, there's a real ache in the entire heart area."
Marcy ends with a message for the nation: "People need to come together to protect this country, no matter what your background is. There are lots of ways to protect the country, everyone could do it in their own way, sometimes it needs to be more balanced on the Torah side, maybe it needs to be more balanced on wearing a uniform in the field. Everything's important, but we need everybody to protect us. I think thousands and thousands of yeshivas in this country are important, and thousands and thousands of people should still be learning 24/7 as they are. But I think there are also hundreds of thousands of people who could also, in this time of history when we need them wearing a uniform, be wearing a uniform."
She emphasizes that she does not want to get into politics. "It's not a political issue; it's a feeling of an olah and of a citizen of this country, who has a daughter who's about to serve also. That's our duty, there does come a time when everybody has to protect the country and at the same time protect it spiritually with the Torah. Everybody has to do their part."