Ilan Ramon: an Israeli - and Jewish! – Hero

Ilan Ramon, z”l, the first Israeli astronaut, died ten years ago this week when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it was returning to Earth. Ilan was not just an Israeli hero, participating in the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981; fighting in the 1982 Lebanon War; and serving in many leadership roles in the Air Force before training as an astronaut. He was a proud Jew, taking with him into space a copy of a drawing by a Holocaust victim; a small Sefer Torah that survived Bergen Belsen; a coin from the Great Revolt; the words of Friday Night Kiddush; and many other items which carried Israeli - and Jewish - symbolism. Even those who aren`t observant, both in Israel and abroad, can - and should - carry their Jewishness proudly!