COMMUNITY VIEWS
A Special Trip To Israel:
Serving In The Israeli Army
T
COOKIE KOBLIN
Special to The Jewish News
his is a very special year.
The State of Israel is
turning 50 and, in Septem-
ber, I will celebrate my
60th birthday. I decided to combine
these two special events.
In the last 25 years I visited Israel
17 times, and in six of the previous
times I had volunteered to work in the
Israeli army. I found this work fulfill-
ing because I actually gave of myself. I
had always done this by myself, but
this was to be an extra special experi-
ence.
I called my roommate from the
University of Michigan and convinced
her that this would be a great oppor-
tunity to renew our friendship with-
out husbands, children or grandchil-
dren. The two bubbies signed up. This
was our chance to be kids again, to
celebrate with Israel and contribute
hands on.
Rhoda Shapiro, my college room-
mate, lives in Cleveland and is the
director of Na'amat there. We spent
many hours on the phone planning
and coordinating our meeting in New
Jersey to begin our birthday venture.
Our long-distance phone carriers were
thrilled with our endeavor, and we
have thought of having them under-
write the whole adventure.
, We were met at Ben-Gurion Air-
Cookie Koblin is a West Bloomfield
resident.
port by our 29-year-old madrich
(leader) two hours late, which is typi-
cal. Savalanut (patience) became the
watchword of our 18-day stay. We
were transported by truck to our base,
a major ammunition base located
between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. There
were 16 people in our group, nine
men and seven women aged 50-78.
I had been part of the program
before so I expected the barracks to
have cots in a room that housed four
to five people, bathrooms outside with
a trough sink. This base was a pleasant
surprise since it was not the usual
minus-one star hotel.
The commander was thrilled to
have us. He actually provided sheets
for our cots and gave each of us a
ceramic mug filled with candy, and
our rooms had been painted by the
soldiers.
I was also delighted to find shower-
heads on the shower and a curtain
around the shower room. I began to
feel like I was at the Hilton.
We then went to our first dinner;
our meals were provided since we were
on the "American plan." The problem
was that there was no distinction
between breakfast and dinner: hard-
boiled eggs, cucumbers, tomatoes,
yogurt and bread and jelly. Lunches
were good: soup, chicken, pasta and
sometimes beef. Actually, it was a great
spa and we all lost weight.
After the meal, we lined up outside
with the soldiers for a moving Yom
Hazikaron ceremony. It touched my
heart so deeply as I looked at these
Israeli Army buddies Cookie Koblin and
Rhoda Shapiro.
young boys and girls (18-21) and
thought of the years of battle, the ter-
rorism, the loss of life — I wished that
peace would finally occur.
The next morning, we were issued
our uniforms, boots, socks, belt and
hat. We received two sets and lived
and worked in them for the next two
weeks. Our personal clothing we
washed in the trough and hung on an
outside clothesline.
Our work day was seven hours; we
had nosh breaks, lunch breaks and
constant water breaks. My job was in
a huge building with a conveyor belt.
Bullets were dumped out and we had
to separate the different kinds of bul-
lets: the tracers, piercers, the old, the
new, recycling these bullets and
repacking them in gun belts.
It really tickled me. I am a partner
in the Bloomfield Keego Resale Shop
and I spend all year separating and
recycling all sorts of things. I had trav-
eled 7,000 miles to have a busman's
holiday. But not all was lost as I did
have the opportunity to do latrine
duty and kitchen duty also.
After work, we were expected to
attend lectures and discussions, with
the lecturers sent by Sarel. There were
history lessons and discussions about
the problem of maintaining a Jewish
identity in a democratic state.
We were taken on two trips, one to
Beersheva an _ d a Bedouin museum
and, on the last day, a mini-trip to
Jerusalem and the Arab village of Abu
Gosh to see a pre-crusader monastery.
We were allowed off base on the week-
ends and were able to enjoy the excite-
ment of the 50th celebration.
What a high as we watched Itzhak
Perlman and the Israeli Philharmonic
in Jerusalem and the air show on the
beach in Tel Aviv with millions of
Israelis. In general, we just kvelled see-
ing the Israeli flag flying everywhere.
The Volunteers for Israel program
was founded in 1982 during the war
with Lebanon. Civilian volunteers
ARMY on page 31
LETTERS
sometimes 30 below. The house was a
log cabin, part below ground, with a
dirt floor. Their living conditions were
quite primitive. Their nearest neighbor
was two miles away. After the death of
their sixth child, they gave up the
hardships of the farm and eventually
immigrated to Detroit.
Because my grandfather had been a
blacksmith, he was able to find work
at Ford Motor Company as a tool-
maker (another occupation many do
not associate with Orthodox Jews).
Today, there are almost no Jewish
farmers left. Many of them left farms
for the big cities like Detroit. Their
descendants still live here and recall
the stories their Orthodox parents and
grandparents would tell of life on the
farm.
David A. Kruger
West Bloomfield
7/3
1998
28
Kudos For A
Great Event
The People
Celebrated
Kudos to all those involved
who made the Sunday (June
14) Walk for Israel so special.
What a fabulous feeling of
pride to walk as one from our
wonderful Jimmy Prentis
Morris Jewish Community
Center down our tree-lined
streets of Oak Park and
Huntington Woods. The joy
and excitement of being
together were felt by every-
one and the events at the Zoo
were terrific.
How lucky we are to be
part of this beautiful community.
I love Jews. And Sun-
day, July 14, I was in
total elation.
Living in a world
of my job, family and
shul, I was not
informed of the cele-
bration of
Israel's
Clara
Kleiman 50th birth-
enjoys
day held at
the
the Detroit
Israel
Zoo until I
Fest.
saw a plane
flying over-
head, waving a banner to announce
the observance.
Then, going to the Jimmy Prentis
Morris Jewish Community Center to
Shelly Nadiv
Huntington Woods
inquire as to the nature of the celebra-
tion, I was informed about the Zoo
observance. My 7-year-old son and I
went to the Zoo and had the very best
time we've ever had in our five years
here.
Everywhere were Jews. The Zoo
was closed except to those in celebra-
tion of Israel. There was a collage of
sects ranging from the Orthodox
through whatever we call the unobser-
vant. It was beautiful.
Undeniable was The People. All for
one, together for recognition of God's
land. What a party! This was second
only to the Birkat haChamah, the cele-
bration every 28 years marking the
placement of the sun in the heavens. I
merited to be at the kotel for the last
one, which was publicized as having
100,000 Jews together in the Old City
of Jerusalem. Boy, was that great!