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“The Three Mothers”

Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi

At last year’s official ceremony at the Kotel marking the
beginning of Yom HaZikaron, the Ramatkal (Chief of �taff) of
the IDF, Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi, delivered a short
speech entitled “The Three Mothers.” Widely celebrated
throughout Israel, we are honored to share an abridged English
translation of his powerful speech.

he journey home of the Jewish
people to its land, from all
corners of the world, is an
Tunprecedented event in world
history. We must remind ourselves that
it is a miracle, even though we now take
Israel’s existence for granted. But the
story of our people and our land is also
a story of individuals, young and old,
fathers and mothers, and it is about
three mothers that I wish to speak
today.
The first is Rachel Imeinu, who did
not have the chance to live in this
land. She arrived at the land, but
died shortly afterwards without
meriting to live in it. When her
children were exiled generations Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi delivering his speech, "The Three Mothers."
later, and they passed by her grave, fundamentally changed this situation; their family name to Yisraeli, and set
ְ
ָהיֶנָּב ל ַע הָּכ ַב ְמ ל ֵח ָר םי ִרּור ְמ ַת י ִכ ְּב י ִהְנ ע ָמ ׁשִנ ה ָמ ָר ְּב לֹוק, with incredible determination and up their home in Kibbutz Dovrat, a
“A voice was heard in Ramah, a bitter despite enormous challenges, waves of home filled with Zionism and Jewish
and mournful cry, Rachel, crying for her Jews began to return to Israel, forming values. She had five children, two of
children” (Yirmiyahu 31:14). Her cry was
heard, and the Navi tells of the promise, a new society and the State of Israel. We them sons – Effi and Dedi, the closest
ְ
ְ
ָ
ם ָלּוב ְג ִל םיִנ ָב ּוב ׁש ְו …ה ָע ְמּ ִד ִמ ךִיַני ֵע ְו י ִכ ֶּב ִמ ך ֵלֹוק י ִעְנ ִמ, are the banim sheshavu ligvulam, the sons of brothers. Effi became an officer in
“Stop your voice from crying, and your of Rachel who have returned to their the IDF, and then a trainer for tank
eyes from tears… for your sons will land. We have returned, to remain here officers. Dedi followed his brother to
return to their land” (Yirmiyahu 31:15– forever. But the journey home has come serve in the tanks, and became Effi’s
16). Rachel may not have lived in the with an unbearable price, which brings student in a tank officer course that
land, but G-d promised that her children us to the second mother. was never completed. The Yom Kippur
would one day return. Nechama left her home in Ukraine, War interrupted that course and both

Our people lived the majority of its and together with her husband Yosef brothers were sent to the Sinai Desert.
history outside of our Land, where we who had fled from Nazi Austria, made On the second day of the war, Dedi’s
were powerless and persecuted. Zionism Aliyah to Eretz Yisrael. They changed tank was hit by a missile. Despite the

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