Mother’s Day is a time to honor the women who hold our families together, often through unimaginable challenges. For the wives of Israel’s fallen soldiers, every day is a reminder of both their sacrifice and their strength. These are the women who must rise each morning to comfort their children, manage their households, and carry forward the legacies of their loved ones, all while wrestling with profound loss.
As American families gather for brunches and flowers, these women face a different reality – one defined by quiet resilience, endless courage, and the weight of holding their families together in the absence of their loved ones. They carry a unique and heavy burden, honoring the legacies of their fallen loved ones even as they build new futures for their children.
The Silent Heroes Among Us
They are the women who kiss their children goodnight while fighting back tears. The mothers who answer impossible questions like, “When is Daddy coming home?” They are Israel’s IDF widows – women who never asked for this title but now bear it with remarkable dignity and courage.
These mothers represent the backbone of Israel in its darkest hour. When the world sees headlines about conflict, these women see empty chairs at dinner tables. Their strength isn’t measured in battlefield victories but in the quiet, heroic acts of getting their children dressed for school each morning, comforting them through nightmares, and holding their hands on first days of school – all while silently shouldering the weight of profound loss.
A Mother’s Impossible Journey
This is Joanna Hertz’s reality, whose world changed forever on May 6, 2024. When First Sergeant Nachman Natan Hertz fell defending Israel’s northern border, Joanna didn’t just lose her husband – her daughters Abigail and Talia lost their father, their protector, their guide.
Today, Joanna carries the weight of his absence. She is both mother and father, protector and provider, struggling to make sense of a world forever altered. With little family support, the daily challenges can be overwhelming – from comforting her daughters in moments of grief to managing the financial burdens left behind. The worries that keep her awake at night are both profound and practical: How will she afford a place for them to live? How will she help her daughters navigate milestone moments without their father? How will she find the strength to smile on days when grief feels overwhelming?
Why Israel365 Steps Forward
At Israel365, we believe that supporting these heroic mothers isn’t just charity – it’s a sacred obligation. When a soldier falls in defense of Israel, their sacrifice deserves more than our gratitude; it demands our action.
Our commitment to IDF widows and their children goes beyond financial assistance. We create a community of support that reminds these families they are not forgotten. Your donations provide immediate relief for pressing needs like housing costs, childcare, and educational opportunities – but they also deliver something equally valuable: the knowledge that Joanna and mothers like her don’t stand alone.
Be The Light Campaign: A Mother’s Day Promise
This Mother’s Day, we invite you to join our Be A Light campaign to support families like the Hertz family. Your contribution honors both the fallen heroes and the mothers who must now carry on their legacy.
The Be A Light campaign is the heartbeat of Israel365’s mission. It’s a call to stand with Israel’s most vulnerable – widows, orphans, Holocaust survivors, and injured soldiers – turning compassion into action and ensuring that no family stands alone.
Every donation sends a powerful message to these incredible women: Your husband’s sacrifice matters. Your strength inspires us. Your family’s future matters to us all.
When you support this campaign, you’re not just giving money – you’re giving hope. You’re helping ensure that Abigail and Talia can still have the opportunities their father dreamed of for them. You’re easing the burden on a mother’s shoulders during the hardest chapter of her life.
The Prophetic Movement of Our Time
For two millennia, Jews and Christians have walked separate paths. Today, through Israel365, we’re witnessing something remarkable – people of faith standing together in defense of God’s land and biblical truth, bringing light to Israel in its time of greatest need.
The prophets wrote of a time when nations would stand with Israel and ancient promises would be fulfilled. That time is now, and by supporting Israel’s heroic mothers, you become part of this historic movement of redemption.
This Mother’s Day, Connect Your Celebration to Their Courage
As you honor the mothers in your own life this Sunday, we invite you to extend that circle of care across oceans to include Israel’s heroic IDF widows. While they may not celebrate Mother’s Day in Israel, your recognition of their struggle on this special American holiday creates a powerful bond of solidarity. Nachman gave everything for his country and his people. This Mother’s Day, what will you give to support the family he left behind?
Join our Be The Light campaign today. Together, we can ensure no mother stands alone.
