30 | DECEMBER 14 • 2023 
J
N

S

hortly after Rosh 
Hashanah, David 
and Mira Benjamin 
moved from their house in 
Southfield to an apartment 
in Beit Shemesh in Israel. 
Their oldest child had already 
moved to Jerusalem; their two 
younger children are studying 
in Israel, one living at his 
yeshivah and the other living 
with them in Beit Shemesh. 
David and Mira knew 
what to expect: getting their 
paperwork in order, applying 
for new jobs, awaiting the 
arrival of their belongings 
and furniture, and setting 
up their apartment. A 
couple of weeks after their 
arrival, though, the terrorist 
attacks from Gaza changed 
plans for the whole country. 
Suddenly, Israel switched to 
total mobilization, calling an 
estimated 300,000 reservists 
into the active military. 
All over the country, 
businesses had to replace 
workers who were now in 
the military; the greatly 
enlarged military had to 
find new infrastructure for 
support. Just as quickly, the 
civilian population of Israel 
mobilized to provide support 
wherever needed. Then David 
and Mira had a new priority, 
volunteering. 

CHURNING OUT 
SANDWICHES
Mira recalls that “the first 
place we went to was the 
Aroma café, which is a chain, 
but this one happens not 
to be open to customers. 
Instead, they are using their 
staff and their space and 
volunteers to make different 
kinds of sandwiches for 
soldiers.” 
In response to the terrorist 
attacks, Yariv Shefa, owner 

of the Aroma chain with 125 
outlets in Israel, the United 
States and Ukraine, closed the 
Aroma Espresso Bar in Beit 
Shemesh, the flagship facility. 
Instead of serving customers, 
each day, the facility turns 
out about 10,000 sandwiches 
to feed soldiers throughout 
Israel. 
Mira worked on “omlette 
sandwiches, cheese 
sandwiches, tuna sandwiches,” 
and even, at a separate time, 
“deli sandwiches.” 
Mira asks us to picture the 
scene: “They covered all the 
tables with Saran Wrap.” The 
staff breaks down making a 
sandwich into discrete steps. 
They set up volunteers each 
at a station with a specific 
task, such as “put cheese and 
tomatoes and pickles and 
other condiments,” and then 
pass the sandwich along to 
the next station. Meanwhile, 
she says, “The staff is really 
busy; they are running 
back and forth refilling the 
supplies of what we need. 
“They also then have some 
people putting the napkins 
in the bags, and putting the 
sandwiches in bags, even 
writing messages on the bags 
for the soldiers,” she added. 
The volunteers are, 
says Mira, “of all ages, 
from kids to older people. 
It is a very lighthearted 
atmosphere, comfortable. 
Everyone is friendly. You 
get to meet people from the 
neighborhood … or not. 
Some people drive from other 
areas to come and help.”
Outside the Aroma cafe, 
David observes, volunteers 
were “making boxes, 
and putting the bags of 
sandwiches into the boxes.” 
Others were in charge of 
delivering the boxes to bases 

OUR COMMUNITY

Newly arrived in Israel, these 
Southfield natives began by 
helping out wherever they could.

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Volunteering 
 
from the 
Get-Go

Mira and David 
Benjamin, new 
arrivals in Israel 
from Southfield, 
volunteering at 
Beef Up Our Boys