Sar-El Participant to Ride   through Negev   By Stacey Miller

It's a long way from Durham, North Carolina to Israel, but Sar-El participant Marv Axelrod has made the journey and doesn't intend to stop there. Axelrod who retired from the New York City board of education fourteen years ago, intends to keep busy during his visit to Israel, though not in the conventional way that most tourists do. Right now the veteran Sar-El volunteer is on an army base, but immediately afterwards, Axelrod will don his cycle helmet and climb aboard a bicycle to peddle three hundred miles across the Negev Desert in Israel. While he has never ridden a bike in desert conditions before, he does have considerable biking experience having completed both the MS150 and the Ride Across North Carolina in the late 90's. Also Axelrod and his wife have biked around Holland, Spain, and Nicaragua. Axelrod has raised $3,600 in donations from his bike ride all of which will be given to the Arava Institute, an academic, environmental studies and leadership institute situated in the Negev Desert.

 

Andrew Zusman, Sar-El volunteer from 2006 recently made aliyah and is now serving as a combat soldier in the Kfir Brigade. He is posted at the same base where he volunteered and he sees things on the base that he helped to build as a volunteer. From all of us at Sar-El, Kol HaKavod Andrew!

 

 

 

Jean Comley, a veteran Sar-El volunteer, made aliya 18 months ago.. Besides staying involved in Sar-El, Jean has been volunteering with HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), an organization whose mission is to help refugees worldwide. HIAS is headquartered in NY; Comley volunteers through its Europe and Middle East office in Tel Aviv.

 

"This work has been a real eye-opener for me," Comley says. "Before I became involved with HIAS I had no concept of this problem in the world - we didn't see refugees in Mississippi or on the farm in Indiana where I grew up. I never realized that there were so many people who are persecuted, who have no place to go, or have no place where they are wanted or welcomed."

 

Comley interviews refugees from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Darfur. Many are fleeing religious persecution or genocide, many have walked hundreds of miles in search of refuge. "My goal is to help them find safety. But too many times I find that they do not fit the legal definition of 'refugee'," she says. Now Comley is studying refugee and immigration law - subjects that never existed when she was in law school.

 

"It's most rewarding to know that I'm part of an organization that takes this mission seriously and reaches out to help. I hope to contribute to making this world a better place."

 

But she adds that no matter what other activities she is involved in, Sar-El and her Sar-El friends remain a most important part of her life.

 

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Many of you may know Mark Werner, a six-time Sar-El volunteer.  He has written a book about his volunteer experiences entitled Army Fatigues: Joining Israel's Army of International Volunteers (Devora Press 2008).  The book carries endorsements from Alan Dershowitz, Joseph Telushkin, Danny Gordis and other prominent writers.

 

Here is what Joseph Telushkin has to say about Army Fatigues:
       

"Mark Werner is a born storyteller....Army Fatigues is a sort of 'City Slickers' with a Jewish twist that will tug at the heart of any committed Jew."

Army Fatigues will bring back fond memories for Sar-El veterans.  It may also inspire and attract prospective Sar-El volunteers.  The book can be obtained through all major book retailers or from Amazon.com.

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Sar-El volunteer and artist Karen Keys

has posted a sampling of her latest works. Take a look by clicking on    http://web.mac.com/kikeys/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html