Being Jewish is special. Not because we are the Chosen People, but wherever we go in the world all the Jews are part of our family. They are “mispacha”. We can go into any synagogue in the world and pray together in our common language of Hebrew. We share many common traits together good and bad. The most common trait is “Jewish Guilt”.

It can be given to us by our parents, children, friends or neighbors .We all have guilt. I admit I have carried guilt for many years. A guilt that I do not know where it came from but I think it was from my soul. That guilt came from not being able to do anything to prevent the Holocaust, not to be among the first Zionists, not to have been able to fight with the Palmach or other underground groups during our fight for independence. Guilt for not being a kibbutznik. 

Every time I saw Exodus or a movie about young Israel I felt this guilt. But no more guilt for me. In August 2007 I spent my first two weeks working for Israel to pay what I feel is my debt. I worked on an Israeli Air Force base doing whatever they needed to be done. The work I did allowed the soldiers to do there important jobs to keep Israel safe. It was there I made my decision that if Israel was ever at war again I would return at once. In 2008 I went back with my wife and daughter and to my surprise they loved it. I planned another adventure for April 2009 but in December 2008 we were at war again with Hamas and I was true to my promise. I called Volunteers For Israel (VFI) and made arrangements for my trip to Israel.

On January 18th, I arrived at the Tel Aviv airport along with about 350 other volunteers, most of whom made this trip on the spur of the moment. They came from all over the world to help Israel in its newest battle. Tired of seeing this small state decimated in the news media for trying to survive, they came with new hopes and high sprits that our work would help Israel survive. Jews and non-Jews alike. They came form all parts of the US, Canada,  France, England, Ireland, Holland, Sweden, Finland and other countries.  All to show solidarity with Israel.

As we wait at the airport we are put into different groups that will go to different bases. We start to talk, we start to bond and after only a few minutes of talking we seem to have known each other for years.

Some of us are sent to medical bases, some to support units, some to supply bases. I and my group of 13 citizen soldiers were going to an artillery base which had it's units at the Gaza border and some inside Gaza proper. As we get on the buses we are all nervous and anxious, but all dedicated in our endeavor. As the bus travels to the base I see no signs of war along the way. It’s a peaceful Sunday morning in Tel Aviv. The only thing I noticed was less traffic. On the bus people are talking about the next two weeks, what will we be doing? Will there be a truce or more war? We all had questions but no answers.

Finally after 40 minutes (which seemed like two hours), we reach the base and meet Ruth our “madricha” (leader). She will be responsible for us for the next two weeks.  Ruth is 21 years old and as is the case with other Israeli soldiers, looks like a baby to us. She takes us to our barracks and shows us around the base. Today we get our uniforms and tomorrow the work starts in earnest.

The daily schedule is the same every day.

7:30 am -  Breakfast, assorted salads, sometimes cottage cheese and eggs. A typical Israeli breakfast.

8:00 am -  Flag raising and the news of the day. On Monday we find out Hamas has broken the ceasefire. Later in the day we see and hear the F-16 jets on the way to Gaza for retribution bombing. The sounds of the jets are deafening as they head to Gaza. We all wonder what the Palestinians feel when they hear the sound of the approaching jets. It can’t be pleasant.

8:30 to 11:45 -  work details.

12:00 to 1:00  -  lunch,  the best meal of the day

1:30 to 5:00 -  work

6:00 to 6:45  - dinner, same as breakfast

7:00 pm to 8:00 pm -  daily activity

Work Details

We work in different areas of the base doing different things. Organizing warehouses, re-checking quantities of the supplies, getting ready to receive the soldiers back from the front. Getting supplies ready in case they are needed for another call-up of troops.

We disassemble the M-16 rifles that are brought to us to be cleaned and oiled and prepared for war again. I haven’t touched a weapon since my own basic training in 1963 and most others had never touched a weapon before. It was slow and tedious at the beginning but we were quick learners and started to work faster, but never as fast as the soldiers that taught us.

The real back-breaking work was the combat kits that had to be redone after the soldiers returned. On Tuesday over 300 reservists came back to return their gear.

It was a highly emotional day for the soldiers and us. They were thrilled to be back from the war and many had to go back to their civilian jobs the same day. They were surprised and thrilled that we were there to welcome them back home. Why they asked would you stop your life to help us? The answer was simple we love Israel and we consider you our brothers and sisters. You are defending our homeland too we replied. There was moisture in all our eyes. We laughed, hugged and sometimes sang songs of joy together. They told us of their fears and their hope for peace. To my surprise they all said they feel sympathy and compassion for the Palestinians. It was Hamas they were after, not the poor Palestinians.

When the soldiers returned to the unit they dropped off all the equipment that needed to be recycled as quickly as possible. The combat kit was a duffle bag filled with all their equipment. It weighed over 50 pounds.

All of the contents had to be checked to see if they could be used again or needed to be cleaned and re-recycled. The warehouse was a mess with items all over the place. We had lots of work to do and not much time to get it done. We set up a plan to sort and organize all the items that could be re-used while we waited for supply to bring to us the items missing to fill these kit bags. We worked out two production lines to check for quality, to make sure all items were usable and to refill the bags. This was exhausting work and we dived into it with great enthusiasm and love. We all knew that if we screwed up a soldier could be put at risk in the future and possibly lose his or her  life. This was always in the back of our minds, as we did our jobs. We completed our tasks on time, much to the delight of the regular soldiers who were working with us. We cleaned over 400 weapons and made over 500 combat kit bags plus carried out other miscellaneous work.

As we did this worked we interacted with our heroes. They told us how they didn’t understand why the media was portraying them as the evil ones and not Hamas. "We dropped leaflets to warn them of bombing that was going to happen," a soldier told us adding that after using a Palestine’s home during the fighting he left an apology note to the owner. Just the way our enemies would act?

We worked our butts off for two weeks and then we all left for home. All of us feeling good inside for a job well done. We are all going back soon so maybe I will see some of the other Sar-El participants again. I hope so.

I always wanted to believe I would have been active in a new-born Israel if I was born at the right time, but after this trip I now know I would not have stood by and let my people down. Somehow my feeling of guilt is not as strong as before.

If you want information on how you can help don’t hesitate to call me or go on the web to www.vfi-usa.org.

It could change your life...