How I spent my summer vacation

Aug./Sept., 2006  

 By Alan Zucker

(edited by Stacey Miller)

On less than a week’s notice after reading a blurb in the Jewish World that volunteers were needed in Israel due to the war, I had my documents submitted, password validated, and e-ticket in hand post haste. A few days later I was in Tel Aviv being picked up by an IDF (army) transport to Tel HaShomer base for immediate duty for the next three weeks.

I was among 35 others – aged up to 91, eight non-Jews and seven people from outside the US- who labored in 102 degree heat in the army warehouses, sorting and packing medical supplies for the front. As a medical logistics base, Tel Hashomer, is the center for replenishing vital medical and surgical supplies. These supplies are packed with great care and precision and must be shipped out ASAP, as they are needed immediately.  

In IDF uniform and standard issue steel tipped boots, we started our day at 7 a.m. with flag raising, army/national news and then went to work until 12 noon.  The 1 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. afternoons were filled with new tasks every day, such as the time when trucks unloaded dirt-caked emergency medical backpacks ( 40 pockets of medical supplies) that needed to be refilled with new supplies and readied for loading to take back to the re-supply zones. Or the days when five of us sorted, dated, and repacked 1000 ml bags of saline solution at the rate of 7,000 bags per day,( making sure to discard the dated bags.)

And then there were the days of very carefully packing surgical instruments of all kinds for sterilization – knowing their use was a life and death issue.

The experience was gratifying and exhausting physically as well as mentally as we all knew the gravity of the situation and the uses of the material we were handling. It made the war very real and gave us pause.

In three weeks, I heard not one word of complaint from any of the volunteers about the food or barracks, hot uniforms, or the heat and humidity – we all knew why we were there. And none of us wanted to leave.

Words do not express the deep feeling of satisfaction we all got from sweating this out and getting our hands very dirty. For whom else would I haul garbage in 103 degree heat for hours a day so as to clear the work zones for the trucks to get closer to the warehouse doors?

For whom else would I ask for more work when the day was really over and all of us were exhausted?

It is a nation with a teen age army – brown, black and yellow skinned 18-year-olds carrying M16’s and who should be at the beach instead of clearing tunnels and patrolling mountain and desert caves and hideouts.

We all did out part – a very small part –  to exhibit to those young people we did not just make a pledge or send a check – we showed up ready for duty – whatever they needed, we did.

We all wanted to make a statement of physical support, that we did not forget that this young, embattled country is still evolving and struggling and needs more than money And we all discovered that this service did something marvelous for us – it fed our souls and made us more complete. We all left part of ourselves back there. We had come home and gave something back.

When I went through security at the airport and the IDF security people checked me, I presented my ticket, passport and IDF volunteer ID card. How many times have you ever heard an Israeli say “ Toda rabah” ? I heard it and I still feel that sense of respect and gratitude. I have never felt so appreciated. Those few seconds of so few words made it all the more meaningful. I was part of something significant. I did something of value. I was an active part of a link in an historical chain that connected me to people and places more important then me…and that made me important too.

That is how I spent summer vacation.

What did you do?

Alan Zucker

518-765-9324

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