Recently, I wrote a post with the above heading and noted a follow-up coming about another Jewish woman in the Diaspora whose life (and approach to self-service) changed dramatically after October 7th. These “women of valor” so named after King Solomon’s poetic celebration (Eshet Chayil, Proverbs 31) of a woman with “value far beyond pearls,” are everywhere, of course. And if both posts do nothing more than to inspire ToI readers to search out and celebrate the many N’shot Chayil in their own communities, then I’ll consider it a job well done.

Along those lines, meet Adinah Finn, a suburban Los Angeles mom with four kids, whose life changed dramatically after that fateful Saturday in October. Finn grew up in nearby Orange County, with a mixed Israeli American parentage. Hebrew wasn’t spoken in the home, so Finn says her Jewish identity was forged through summers at a local Chabad-run Camp Gan Israel, along with two years at an orthodox day school. “The first time I felt a spark for Israel was on a Birthright trip between my freshman and sophomore year at college,” she recalls. “It inspired me to return three years later with my now-husband [Dr. Richard S. Finn, professor of clinical medicine, Hematology/Oncology at UCLA] and his father, who had never been. I met Richard at an L.A. singles event because there were so few Jewish boys in Orange County.”

Dr. Finn’s busy medical career kept him on the road, which left his wife to run the home. When their second oldest graduated high school and decided to spend a gap year at a seminary in Israel, Finn felt the tug to reciprocate. She became a “host mom” to an Israeli grad, also doing a “gap year” as a cultural ambassador in the US. This shinshin (a Hebrew acronym for shnat sherut – year of service) created what Finn calls, “my first personal connection to Israel. We had been there as a family several times,” she notes. “But this boy was the same age as my daughter, and he was going into the army right after his time with us. Through him, I had a stake in Israel. Through him, I became vested in its people.”

Run by the Jewish Agency, the Shinshinim program arrived in Los Angeles in 2018. Finn signed on in 2022, bringing the Israeli teen into her home for a full year. “Our shinshin went back to Israel just before October 7th,” she continues, “and began his military service a month later, on November 3rd. I spoke to him right after Yom Tov on that horrible day, and I said, ‘Please, just stay at home. Please stay safe.’ And he said: “No, I’m going to go help the........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)