Dear Everybody:

I recently returned from my first Sar-El experience. And what an experience it has been. In two words "five star." What may have been lacking in accommodation was compensated by the food - believe it or not!

The care we were given reminded me of my days as a pre-teen at a luxurious summer camp in Vermont. Our madrichot (counsellors) Anat, Eliana and Michelle made sure that we lacked for nothing, trying to spoil us as if we were their grandchildren. Except that they felt the same way. As Eliana put it, "It is as if I've acquired a dozen grandparents."

Their caring and professionalism throughout the 14 hour days was unfailing.  Most impressive was their knowledge of Israel and of Jewish practices, and their commitment to serving the country and its people. They are made of the same material that helped build the State of Israel.

Not only were our madrichote continually watching out for our welfare, so were the shop foremen who supervised our work. Kourdani is a supply base and I worked for three days under Shmilo, who at the time was in charge of rebuilding automobile and truck radiators. The remainder of my ten days were spent under Gabi, packing various rebuilt auto and truck parts for either storage, shipment to other bases, or for sale, often to third world countries. These men are long-time professionals, and work with an unwavering love for Israel and concern for the welfare of their workers.

The theory is that one reports for work immediately after flag-raising at 7:00 a.m. However, they would not permit anyone to actually start working before serving coffee to all, usually with cookies or cake. Since breakfast was at 8:30 a.m. we had to stop work by 8:15 to wash up and go to the dining hall. A madricha visited us at our workplace during the middle of the morning to check how we were managing and to tell us of the morning newscast. Lunch was at 12:30 p.m. and we worked from about 1:15 to 3:30 or 4:00 p.m.

The madrichot prepared programs for us almost each evening. These included a session on the history of the IDF and how to identify officer ranks. Another included a game based on the geography of Israel.

Events conspired against a full two weeks of work. One afternoon we visited the old Acco fort and waterfront, with Anat fulfilling the role of tour guide. We finished early on both Thursdays because our Madrichot were called to meetings at Sar-El headquarters in Tel Aviv. Optional tours at reasonable prices were offered both weekends, one to the Negev with overnight in a 'Bedouin tent,' and the other to Jerusalem with an overnight stay at the King Solomon Hotel. There I met volunteers from other bases and from the Tel HaShomer hospital. Our army ID gave us free or reduced cost entry to all sites.

I also had the opportunity to spend one hour talking to Yariv Rat, an instructor at the Central Police Academy. We had a wonderful exchange of views, especially since our thoughts were identical. He was staying overnight at the King Solomon Hotel with 48 of his recruits to deal with threatened violence at the Temple Mount on the following days. Because the government had pre-positioned an overwhelming number of forces at the site, the demonstrations petered out.

I need not tell you that Pamela does a fabulous job coordinating the volunteers from all over the world on a one-by-one basis. She considers herself on duty 24/7.

Notwithstanding the protestations of the madrichot and our work supervisors, I feel that I received much more than I gave. Arguably, the most poignant moment in my visit happened in Mike's Place, a blues restaurant and bar (which was attacked by a suicide bomber last year).  One of the young waiters noticed the Sar-El insignia on my jacked and asked about it. When I responded that I was a volunteer at the Kourdani army base, he grabbed my hand, shook it and said: "Thank you sir."

Sar-El is one of the best kept secrets in Montreal, thank you again.

Phillip Greenberg