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Third time lucky
I am a 60+ year old music teacher who visited Israel for the third time this past summer. My first two trips, in 1996 with my husband in 1998 with my sister, were purely were trips for my own personal gain. They were wonderful experiences filled with history, education, the arts, strengthening family ties, etc.
However, my third trip, made alone this summer, was aimed at giving back just a little bit for two weeks (on the Matzrap base). It was on many levels, the most meaningful of the three. One of the highlights of that two weeks was General Davidi's visit to my group to discuss the long history of the areas Jewish/Arab relations. It was a fascinating and mesmerizing lesson, albeit one that was/is fraught with horror, war(s) and an increasing sense of desperation.
On the positive side, there stood your beautiful accomplishment of the realization of your dream, Sar-El. You have devoted a notable lifetime to making Israel a stronger and safer nation and though I have only devoted two weeks to making a small contribution, it was thanks to you that I and all the others in my group of volunteers, had the opportunity to do so. It is a wonderful program and a great legacy to the nation.
When I learned that this year's volunteers had devoted the equivalent of 40,000 reservist hours, I felt proud and thankful to have been a part of that accomplishment. I returned home just before the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon broke out. I was terribly upset by the news, but grateful to realize that some of the medical kits I had assembled would be available to the doctors and soldiers who needed them.
I plan to come back to the program some day, hopefully with my husband, whose work made it impossible for him to come with me last summer. I will always remember you with humility and gratitude. I wish you well as begin a new and well-earned chapter in your life. May you now leave your tasks to the next generation of leadership in the IDF, Sar-El etc.. and reap the pleasures and rewards of retirement.
Once again, I thank you for creating Sar-El and for coming to speak to all of us, to teach us and to inspire us.
Carolyn Bernstein
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