Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

TEL AVIV (JTA) - For years Shlo Shalfy, a kindergarten teacher here, thought about the day she would send her 18-year-old son off to the army.

She would drive him to Bakum, the enormous military induction base in central Israel, and like all mothers of combat fighters, pray that it wouldn't be their last car ride.

In late March, as Israel was under near total lockdown, Shalfy received a letter instructing her son Ely to report to a smaller, alternative military base. He would need to pack a month's worth of clothes, face masks, hand sanitizer and other essentials, since weekend visits were now...