Liam Asher told his mother on a video call that she was crazy to suggest he might want to leave Israel after the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7.
The 20-year-old Pikesville High School graduate, in Israel for a gap year, decided to make aliyah in August and join the Israel Defense Forces. He is currently in basic training, which he started on Dec. 4.
The 1,200 people murdered and the 240 abducted by Hamas made him much more committed to serve, he said.
“This is where I need to be,” he told his mother.
Asher is an Israeli lone soldier (garin tzabar) in a combat engineering unit. The lone soldier program, for 18-to-24-year-olds, facilitates service in the IDF and provides a support system for Israelis and Diaspora Jews who do not have any parent in Israel.
In eight months, Asher will be ready for active duty. He’s ready to serve, he said.
“I didn’t come here because I thought it would be summer camp,” said Asher, a member of Chizuk Amuno Congregation. “I came here to give everything I can, to really be a part of helping my country and my people. It’s a long time, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s nothing compared to the significance of it.”
Asher said he will never forget Oct. 7.
“I was living on a kibbutz at the border of Lebanon when it happened,” he recalled. “I remember that morning very clearly. It was very stressful. My uncle lives in a Gaza border community, and for a long time, I didn’t have any contact with him and my cousins.
“I was shaking the whole day. I could barely function,” he added.
That day, he kept checking his phone. Reports of the number of dead and injured kept going up. “It was terrible,” he said.
Asher had already started the enlisting process when the attack happened. It made him want to speed up the process of him joining the IDF.
“I pretty much told the IDF officer that was managing my enlistment to do whatever he could to get me enlisted as soon as possible,” Asher said. “I want to help. I want to do something.”
Asher spent his gap year in a leadership training program.
“We did some fitness to prepare us physically for the army, and we also did a lot of mental preparation and leadership training,” he said. “That sort of leadership definitely prepared me for the IDF.”
Asher’s parents are both Israeli and raised their children in Baltimore.
“We did not anticipate what happened on Oct. 7, and regardless of what’s going on politically, Liam has remained steadfast in his commitment to protecting the homeland, which I am extremely proud of,” said Asher’s mother, Yifaat Asher.
“We only have one Israel, and we only have one homeland,” she continued. “For him, it was very clear that serving in the IDF was an amazing way for him to live out his Zionism.”
Asher is the first child to leave the nest, his mother said.
“I don’t wish that he was home,” she said. “I know he is where he needs to be. I know that this is the right choice for him. To join the army with the hope of never having to serve is probably unrealistic in a country like Israel where you have to deal with the realities of living in a country that is hated by so many neighbors. You can’t say you want to join the army, but don’t want to be in it when things go sideways.”
Liam Asher’s first name, his mother said, is an acronym in Hebrew for a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah about nations turning their swords into plowshares and that they will not know war anymore. The action symbolizes people’s desire to put an end to war and transform tools of destruction into tools to benefit mankind.
“The fact that he is an IDF soldier now, maybe he’ll wind up being a soldier heading us towards peace,” Yifaat Asher said.
On Dec. 4, she posted on Facebook a photo of her son in uniform with a message: “This happened today. Liam headed off to tironut (boot camp) after being dropped off by family and special friends. This is where his heart and soul have led him, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
