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Kenny Sachs

A longtime friend of mine is a close friend of Frankie Sachs, sports editor of The Jerusalem Post. Frankie and his brother Kenny both made aliyah from New Jersey, have served in IDF combat units (Golani), and are now reservists. On Sunday, Kenny was wounded in the terror attack at the Erez crossing at the Gaza border, taking two bullets in a leg. Four reservists were killed in the attack, with four others wounded. Fortunately, Kenny is expected to recover, though he remains in a lot of pain and has a long road of physical therapy ahead.

Today's Jerusalem Post has an article about Kenny. His parents rushed from the U.S. to visit him in the hospital. Do they regret their sons' having made aliyah? Not at all, according to the article: "Nobody wants to sacrifice a child, but we have to defend this land at all costs," Kenny's dad, Mark Sachs said. "It's something I always wanted to do."

As for Kenny, despite the sacrifices he has made, he has no complaints about miluim, his reserve duty: "A lot of people don't feel the same way," he said. "They see [reserve service] as an inconvenience...and look for excuses to get out of it. If we, the citizens of this country don't defend this country, who will?... The first chance I get I'll go to miluim [reserve service], at the same base if my unit has reason to go there," he said.

The devotion of the soldiers to Israel's defense is heroic. In honor of this devotion, it might be appropriate to donate to the Save Our Soldiers fund, which purchases bullet proof vests for IDF soldiers.

Incidentally, Frankie Sachs recently wrote a column about being a longtime fan of the New Jersey Nets. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who suffered through the days of Chris Morris, Pearl Washington, Otis Birdsong, and Benoit Benjamin.
posted on 6/12/2003