When your country is small and at war, you don’t know where tragedy will strike. Yesterday morning, Staff Sergeant Dvir Emanuelov became the first IDF soldier killed in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip. His mother, Dalia, helps run the nursery school my children attend. Last year, she was my son’s teacher.

Dalia is a strong woman, warm and full of life. But she has known far more than her share of personal tragedy. Two years ago her husband died after a long illness. Because of this, Dvir was offered an exemption from combat duty. He turned it down.

He was killed by mortar fire during the assault on the Jabaliya refugee camp. Before going in, he sent his mother a final SMS, which I just heard her read out on the radio. “We will show the world that we can fight back,” he wrote. “I am taking care of myself, please you take care of yourself too. We will restore the honor of the Jewish people.”