Gilad Shalit

I am so happy to say that Gilad Shalit is free! For those who don't know, Gilad Shalit and two other IDF soldiers were captured in 2006. The war that they were fighting in has since finished, but Gilad Shalit has been kept captive since then. But there has been a small window of opportunity and the government has figured out a bargain to finally bring him home!

Mr. Shalit was a huge deal at my summer camp. We have had many debates over him and then parlaying that into the war. But one detail that stands out about Gilad Shalit, one that has nothing to do with camp, was back in 2006. Back when he was first captured. I think that I first heard about it at the JCC, when I was there for Wednesday Hebrew School. They were selling these dog tags like what you see below. For about $5.

And I bought one. And then promptly forgot about it. During the summer when we were talking about I remembered the dog tag. But I was in Utica, miles away from my jewelry box. And although when I got home, I remembered and thought about Mr. Shalit, the dog tag was far in the back of my mind. But when I heard about his miraculous return to Israel, I remembered something. The dog tag sitting in the back of my jewelry box. I pulled it out. Its sitting on my desk now. And tomorrow I am going to hang it in my locker, to remind me to never ever give up. Gilad Shalit didn't. And now he is home.

Today during the PSAT, one thing that was asked was what year are you graduating/expecting to start college. And so I called the woman monitoring the test and asked her what I should put, because I will be joining the army for two years after high school. And every time I say that, it come truer and truer to me. And I can't wait to make my dreams a reality. I won't be a hero like Gilad Shalit, but I will be doing my part to help those heroes on their way.