The problem wasn’t that Avi wanted to go the army. It was that we had no way of getting him out of army service
“W hy don’t you want me to go to the army?”
I looked my 18-year-old son Avi in the eye. “Because I want you to stay frum. And I’m afraid you won’t be able to stay frum in the army.”
We had been through a lot with Avi. Suffered with him through his difficulties learning Gemara. Cringed as his generous yarmulke shrank until it was barely the size of a child’s palm. Watched in alarm as his new friends introduced him to all that the Israeli street had to offer.
Through it all my husband Sholom and I had managed to maintain a good relationship with Avi. We were honest with him and he with us. So when he asked me why I didn’t want him in the army I gave him an honest answer.
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