OTHER VIEWS

Volunteering In Solidarity

Rene Lichtman

Community View

A

few months ago, our organiza-
tion the World Federation of
Jewish Child Survivors of the
Holocaust, held its international confer-
ence in Jerusalem. We had always planned
to have a Volunteers for Israel trip as part
of the conference, and we did. About one
dozen of us who attended the conference
stayed in Israel for the Sar El Volunteers
for Israel program. We were from differ-
ent countries, including the U.S., Canada,
France and Australia. Most of us stayed for
two weeks.
It was a deeply moving experience.
Throughout my stay on the Sar-El program,
I felt that the work I performed helped
Israel and was an effective show of support.
The warm memories I have of the experi-
ence and the new friends I made gave me
an enormous reward, far more than I gave.

Our base assignment was a medical
equipment center. Soldiers at the base are
in charge of checking, selecting, packing
and shipping medical supplies for military,
domestic and international emergency use.
The supervisors are great to work under
and the soldiers are a delight to work
beside. Our young madrichot (emissaries)
were warm and welcoming. We immediate-
ly made friendships with other volunteers.
We quickly adapted to the simplicity of
base life. Breakfast is followed by flag-rais-
ing, a short news report then off to work
assignments. The mid-morning and mid-
afternoon breaks are nice. Lunch with the
soldiers is fun. Between work and supper
is down time or ulpan (Hebrew language
learning classes). After supper is a politi-
cal, cultural or fun evening activity.
Volunteers are clothed, housed and fed on
the base. Shelters are army barracks with
cots. Volunteer fatigues are clean and well
patched. The food was always excellent,
and plenty of it. Lunch is a delicious hot

Rene Lichtman receives Sar-El epaulettes to identify him as a volunteer.

meat meal (with vegetarian options) with
plenty of fruit and veggies. Breakfasts and
suppers are cold dairy meals consisting of
the standard,tomato and cucumber salad,
various types of cheeses and eggs. I just

loved that "basic" lifestyle and the great
food.
VFI is a non-profit, non-political orga-
nization whose mission is to connect

Volunteering on page A20

Israel@60, Taglit-Birthright Israel@8

New York

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his year, Israel will celebrate 60
years of existence. There have
been many ups and downs for the
Jewish state, but one thing has remained
constant: deep connections between Israel
and the diaspora are critical to her surviv-
al, her well-being and to her future. Over
its eight-year history, Taglit-Birthright
Israel has connected more than 160,000
young Jewish adults from 52 countries to
their homeland and their heritage through
a free trip to Israel.
Jacob Strumwasser was raised in
Michigan and graduated from the
University of Michigan in 2006. He recalls
of his trip, "Our Taglit-Birthright Israel
trip helped to construct and solidify a
bond with the land of Israel, her people,
and the worldwide Jewish community. I
say solidify, rather than create because it
seems as though for people on our trip the
idea of creating a connection was absent
only as long as the time for which we
hadn't been to Israel."
"It was on this trip, through the people
that I met, the experiences we had together,
of which I could go on and on, and the spe-
cial connection to the land of Israel — from
the hikes through the rocky Golan to the
quiet times of the desert — that I began to
understand a more spiritual connection to
the world around me:"

"Taglit-Birthright Israel helped to bring
me closer to my Jewish identity and myself.
As a result, each day I look forward to the
opportunity to bring some
positive change to this world.
"I hope to be not only a lead-
er in my Jewish community,
but also a Jewish leader in our
world community:"
The connection created by
the Birthright experience is
incredibly powerful. According
to a recent survey conducted
by Brandeis University, 61 71
percent of Taglit-Birthright
Israel alumni felt a very strong
connection to Israel compared
to 39-43 percent of non-par-
ticipants. Additionally, when the study was
conducted in 2006,41 percent of trip partici-
pants from 2002 engaged in Hillel and other
campus activities compared with 13 percent
of non-participants.

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After The Trip
Ask one of the more than 160,000 Taglit-
Birthright Israel participants about the
trip and nine times out of 10, you will
hear: "It was awesome!" or "It changed my
life!"
Anecdotally, thousands of parents and
grandparents have great stories about a
young adult who went on Birthright Israel
and is now involved in a campus Hillel or a

synagogue or a Jewish cause or even made
aliyah. And the many stories about young
people meeting on a Taglit-Birthright Israel
trip and falling in love not only
with Israel, but also with a travel
mate are truly extraordinary.
"But as wonderful it is to hear
these tales, research from Brandeis
University on the post-college
participants indicates that the vast
majority of stories that are out
there are about a kid who came
back excited about being Jewish,
but who had a hard time finding
anything Jewish to connect to out-
side the campus community. But
that is about to change."
In the last six months, the
Birthright Israel Foundation has been
ramping up the work that we are doing in
local communities across the country so
that they can help more young adults get
connected. To do this, a national initiative
dubbed Birthright Israel NEXT, is working
directly with peer-led, young adult orga-
nizations.
So far, Birthright Israel NEXT has brought
hip-hop artists from Israel to tour the West
Coast, created a show with alumni for
the New York stage and held a multi-city,
simultaneous Chanukah event that included
venues in many cities and much more; these
efforts are already paying off.
With the right effort, the tens of thou-

sands of Taglit-Birthright Israel participants
can get connected to local communities. As
Taglit-Birthright Israel continues to grow
— and to bring larger groups each sea-
son — the organization is also deepening
its commitment to playing a role in each
participant's life when they return to the
Jewish community in the United States. With
continued success, the NEXT generation will
not only feel a strong connection to Israel,
but also a strong personal connection to the
Jewish people.
Taglit-Birthright Israel not only strength-
ens personal connections with Israel as
well as local Jewish communities, but also
enhances personal Jewish identity in many
tangible and intangible ways, the effects of
which will continue for decades. ❑

Jay Golan is president of the Birthright Israel

Foundation. He may be contacted a
jay.golan@birthrightisraeLorg.

Jay Golan will be featured speaker in West
Bloomfield on Thursday, May 22, when the
Jewish Community Relations Council of
Metropolitan Detroit honors Beverly Baker
as the 2008 Israel Activist of the Year. The
event will be held at 7•0 p.m. in the D.
Dan and Betty Kahn Building of the Jewish
Community Center. For more information
about the event or opportunities to pay tribute
to Mrs. Baker, contact the JCRC office at (248)
642-5393, ext. 9.

iN

May 15 • 2008

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