At the age when I went to study in yeshiva, most of my peers put on IDF uniforms. While I studied Torah, my brothers took up the sword to defend our people and our country.
The years passed, and I came to understand that service to the people of Israel is not fulfilled through a single role - it is a way of life that can be fulfilled by studying Torah, shaping policy, and by defending our people on the battlefield.
From the moment I left the world of yeshivot, I have walked a long road. I served in various positions at the heart of Israel’s security and diplomatic work, and for the past three years I have had the privilege of serving as the political aide to the Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer.
In that role I felt the beating heart of the State of Israel and of Jewish history: I met ambassadors and foreign ministers, senators and members of Congress, members of the media and opinion leaders. I saw up close how the world looks at us - sometimes with admiration, sometimes with astonishment - how their eyes light up when they speak of what we have built here, of the spirit of our people, of Israel’s strength and its standing in a turbulent region.
But behind all that admiration I knew deep down that our ability to speak of Israel with pride exists only because of those young men and women in uniform who defend it on the fields and at the borders - and because of the fallen, who gave their lives so that we could live here free and secure.
These are the laws of history when it comes to the Jewish people - if we do not defend ourselves, we will cease to exist.
Too many times in the past we were left without a shield: during the pogroms in Ukraine, the Farhud in Iraq, the blood libels, 1920s Hebron massacres, and the concentration camps in Europe in the 1940s. Time and time again - when we lacked the power to defend ourselves, we became prey to the bloodthirsty beasts around us.
And today - today we have a state. We have an army. We have defensive strength. We must do everything we can so we never again become helpless - now it is in our hands. This time, unlike the past, if a pogrom is carried out against us - 350,000 Israeli soldiers will go out to fight.
Today I come full circle. With great emotions I announce that I am enlisting in the IDF. To be part of a link in the chain of generations who dreamed of this moment: a people in its land, defending its own fate.
Perhaps it is rare to leave everything behind in the middle of one's life and don a uniform, but after years of political work, this is another stage in a long journey of service to the people and the state.
This is the fulfillment of a personal dream, and the fulfillment of the dream of a hundred generations.