JEWISH BUSINESS EXCHANGE
ARE WE CRAZY? page 117
DETR0111
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Next time you feed your face, think about your heart.
118
Go easy on your heart and start cutting back on foods that are high in saturated
fat and cholesterol. The change'll do you good.
American Heart Association
WERE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE
Jacob Jacobi, the commander
of the base near Safed, believes
in Sar-El. "You can say the best
thing in the world, but when you
come and see it, it's better," he
says.
He says in Hebrew: An eye can
see better than an ear can hear.
The work volunteers do is need-
ed, he says. Looking at a bunker
on Ramat HaGolan, where a
handful of young soldiers sit be-
hind concrete fortifications, en-
dure whipping wind and stare at
the empty terrain of Syria — we
can't help but agree.
Leat Spitzer, a madricha
(group leader), says she sees vol-
unteers from age 18 through 85.
Cory Smith, a 23-year-old from
Memphis, made aliyah last No-
vember. He visited Israel for the
first time with Sar-El in 1994.
"I was looking for a new start,
a new place with new people," he
says. "I felt nationalistic about
Israel. I guess rm a '90s Zionist."
You could say the same about
Lionel Rothenberg, 72, from
Green River, Wyo. Mr. Rothen-
berg has volunteered with the Is-
raeli army 54 times in a period
of seven years. Why does he keep
coming back?
"I liked the work I was doing
and thought I was doing some-
thing worthwhile."
But he does not see as many
people sharing his feelings.
"Years ago, more people came
with the desire to help Israel. As
the years passed, that desire has
waned," says Mr. Rothenberg. "I
think I get more out of the pro-
gram than I put into it."
Mrs. Solomon, who has vol-
unteered for Sar-El about eight
times, and Mr. Rothenberg are
not anomalies. Many volunteers
are repeaters, who say they come
for the camaraderie and for the
laughter.
"As soon as you get off that
plane, there's just an overall feel-
ing that you get. You just belong
here. It's addictive," says Mrs.
Solomon.
But is that feeling because of
the place — Israel — or the pro-
gram?
"Both," she says, "because
that's how I always come."
And you have to, in a way. In
Israel, you cannot separate the
army from the state, defense
from love of country. To live in Is-
rael is to live on your guard, cher-
ishing every moment as if it could
be the last.
"A repeat volunteer is twice as
useful for the army because they
know just what to do," says Rick-
ey Cherner, the American pres-
ident of Sar-El.
Says Amy Spiegel, "I think it's
a good way for people to get a
taste of everyday Israel, as op-
posed to being on a tour and just
seeing tourist sites. You hear Is-
raelis, see how they work." ❑
Playing The
Violence Card
Israel's intelligence gathering has been hurt, and
Yassir Arafat is taking advantage of his gains.
ERIC SILVER ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT
I
f Israel's intelligence chiefs
know what they are talking
about, Yassir Arafat has
taught Binyamin Netanyahu
a cruel, Machiavellian lesson.
The suicide
bombing that killed
three young women
in a Tel Aviv cafe
demonstrated that
the safety of Israelis
depends to an un-
comfortable degree
on cooperation be-
tween Palestinian
and Israeli security
services. Further, it
showed that the
Palestinian leader
can turn the faucet
on or off to achieve
his political ends.
Police and workers
examine the debris
after an explosion set
by a suicide bomber in
Tel Aviv.
Israel's prime minister's
charges that Arafat gave the
llamas Islamic militants a
"green light" to resume terror in
Israeli cities was no knee-jerk re-