My Sar-El Experiences
David Rothschild
In our bunk we had 5 men, and shared the bathrooms with the women. The bunks were not airconditioned, and most of the people brought their cots out to the tent meeting place. It was hot night and day, and there were a lot of bugs. If you like camping, it was perfect! Do not expect the Dan or Inbal hotels on this trip.
A typical day consisted of getting up at 6 (if you are religious and need to pray), breakfast, news, and starting work by 8 AM. At about noon was lunch, and you were finished up at 4. During this time, you wore illfiting uniforms including boots, and the afternoon shower felt like a gift from Heaven.
The food consisted of eggs for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, we were served chicken or meat with rice. Water, or Israeli coffee was served at the meals. I lost 40 pounds on this trip, which I was very proud of.
People are afraid of the work. The work was simple and minimal. The volunteers had to request more work. The work mostly consisted of packing shelves, painting, and packaging equipment. Although the work seemed menial and unimportant, it was greatly appreciated by the officers.
We met some very nice young people on the base. The soldiers would frequently come over and ask questions. They were as curious of us as we were of them. We took alot of pictures with the soldiers.
In the evenings, our madricha would let us off base (to go to the local Mall in Rechovot), or an educational program would be provided. We took three trips including: Jerusalem (not to the Kotel), Tel Aviv, and Rishon LeTzion.
During this visit was the Sarel Festival in Jerusalem. We watched beautiful performances in the Jerusalem theater. Following this spectacle, we spent the weekend at a soldier's rest facility in Ashkelan. In Ashkelan, there were hundreds of volunteers mainly from France. I had one of my best Shabbat's praying Sephardic, and eating delicious Morrocan cuisine. I also spent another weekend in Jerusalem. You are free to go where you like on the weekends.
Our group became very close (most of us were from the New York City/Philadelphia area), and we have had frequent reunions. This is one of the advantages of being on a smaller base.
My next trip was the following summer, and again in August. This time, I was placed at a popular base Tzrifin-Matzlach. I arrived with a group of about 20 people, and there was already a group at the base. This time, we had airconditioned rooms, and the demographic was more diverse. We had many young high school kids as well as older adults. There were also Christians, and the residences of the volunteers were much more spread out throughout the country. The second week, many of the earlier volunteers left and were replaced by volunteers from Croatia.
The work we did this time around was more sustantitve than the first tour of duty at the smaller base. This time, we were doing maintenance on the tanks and heavy vehicles. We still worked as hard as we wished. We were told to take frequent water breaks. There were some problems with communication, and it is best to know some Hebrew. We were fortunate to have a few translators amongst the volunteers.
One fantastic evening was spent visiting the ill in the base hospital. Most of the patients were soldiers suffering from minor illnesses, and they were all glad to see us. Two days after our visit, I sustained a minor injury and was brought to the hospital. When word got out that I was there, I received many visitations from the people that I visited earlier.
At night, we took several trips including Rishon LeTzion, Tel Aviv, Zichron Yakov, Ramat Ha Nadiv, and Jaffa. As a descendent of Baron Rothschild, I was greatly impressed, and in awe of seeing these sights. I doubt I would have known about these sights had I traveled without this group.
The worst part of this trip was the Shabbat spent at the volunteer hostel in Jaffa. It was not the best place for a Shomer Shabbat person to be since there were few other religious people. After attending Friday night prayers in town, a Shabbat meal would be spent alone eating airplane food. There was also a television blaring on Shabbat inhibiting one from feeling the spirit of Shabbat.
I would do the program again, and in fact planning my next visit. If one is looking for a luxury vacation, there are many solidarity trips going on. If you are looking to do a lot of touring, again I would not recommend this program. Sarel is an excellent way to visit Israel economically, and come away feeling accomplished. You meet many nice people, and get to interact with Israelis. Even though your a little ragged (dirty clothes, tired, maybe bruised a little), you do not want to leave. Upon your return to the States, or wherever, you can only think when you will return. If you are young and single, you also will not be disappointed.
See you soon,
Kol Tov,
David Rothschild
Brooklyn, NY