Reflection on Volunteering in Israel

By Arieh Waldman

Hello from Jerusalem. By the time you read this, it will be 3 weeks since I arrived in Israel on Dec 1st. I spent the first 2 weeks in the Jerusalem area and the 3rd week down near Rehovoth and Hadera. Thanks to a discussion with a friend of mine in Toronto, it occurred to me I might be able to do something positive here in Israel as I am healthy and speak Hebrew. And with the blessings of my wife, Val, and children, I bought a ticket with El Al through New York. It turns out the healthy part is important and the Hebrew part, while good, is not essential.

Before leaving, I contacted some “Civil” organizations in Jerusalem and they sent me some forms to fill out. What was I able to do here? The first job was delivering two suitcases I brought with me from Toronto full of warm undergarments and toques (Canadian-speak for knitted hats). The toques were knit by people from Ottawa and Toronto and went to “Sole” soldiers (soldiers without family in Israel; usually new immigrants) serving on various fronts here in Israel. The undergarments were donated by friends and congregants of HBT, along with some letters from the kids at HBT. The second job was to donate blood to Magen David Adom (spoiler alert – if you are over 65, get a note from your MD that you can donate).

After having a good cup of coffee with some additional nourishment, I then proceeded to work in a warehouse packing boxes of essentials to be sent to evacuees from the destroyed settlements near Gaza. Very organized and all done by volunteers from all walks of life. The next 8 days saw me working in agriculture planting butter lettuce (“silk lettuce” in Hebrew), pulling weeds on the same organic farm; working at Hadassah Hospital in the cafeteria or delivering clean bedding (2 shifts); accompanying a sight-impaired evacuee to medical appointments (2x); and helping an elderly couple fix some mosquito screening on one of their doors.

As I said above, Hebrew is good albeit not essential to help out and do what I did. In the end, I was able to visit my friends and family and volunteer a fair amount. In all cases, being here was received well and with gratitude; I truly feel It has encouraged all the people with whom I had contact, despite the tough times we are all going through.