On Tu Bishvat 5770, Bnei Akiva of NY, spearheaded by Liad Zimmerman, raised $1500 for Mishloach Manot for Israeli soldiers.

When the launching of this project was presented to me, we decided to find our own BANY bogrim who are currently serving Israel in the IDF and deliver a Purim surprise for them and their unit.

Early Monday morning, February 22nd, myself, along with six involved bogrim, rented a van embarked on a day-long journey around Israel, delivering enormous purim packages. Packed tightly into the van were cartons (meticulously decorated by our packing volunteers the night before!) of every imaginable treat, from hamentaschen, to chocolates, to cans of soda, every type of snack food, and more, along with festive raashanim.

Our first stop: The Golan Heights, just outside Katzrin, where Highland Park, NJ boger Avi Sholom (Lavi) is based with his Tanks unit. Avi was currently in the "shetach" where he works and lives in an impressive Merkava 4 tank. We arrived at the shetach (having received special clearance from Avi's supervisors) to a smiling Avi, who emerged from underneath the tank he was working on. Avi, who is towards the end of his service, had been having a difficult few weeks, feeling isolated in the remote Northern Israel, couldn't have been happier to see us. Beaming, he showed us around his tank, let us climb it and go inside, explained how it works and told us funny stories from his training. We gave out wafers to his army friends while singing "mishenichnas adar" on guitar. He told us his nickname within his unit is "chukuriku", referring to his love of snacks and treats, and he laughed to his fellow soldiers about how now he had a massive stash of nosh to share with them. As we left, Avi said, "you have no idea how much it means to me that you came all the way up here. You made my day!"

Next we made our way south west to the Shomron. There, Noam Tokayer (Lavi), originally from Teaneck, NJ couldn’t wait a moment before introducing us to everyone on the base, opening up one of the candy-filled boxes we brought and giving out something to everyone we passed. Akiva Buckman played purim songs on the guitar while the others brought soldiers of all backgrounds into dancing circles. Some of the guys standing on the side took a moment to read some of the cards we handed out – cards made by elementary school children in America and were profoundly touched. Noam’s commander took several cards to hang up on the base office. It seemed to me that for Noam, the excitement of having visitors to show off to his army friends was the best part of us being there. Everyone we met seemed to love Noam, and us by extension. Noam turned to me and said, “it sounds cheesy, but it really means so much to me and everyone here to have you come here and look up to what we do”.

 

As the sky grew darker, we knew we had to be on our way if we wanted to make it to our third and final destination. After mincha at Noam’s base we packed back into the car and drove further south, to the Tzanchanim (paratroopers) base near Be’er Sheva. There, Gabi Magid (Achiya) of New York was closing up his last day on the base. His training was ending the next day with an arduous march (masa) from Rehovot to Jerusalem, which marks their transition to active duty. We greeted Gabi, who had gotten engaged just a few days earlier to BANY bogeret Ariella Eisenberg with “od yishama”, singing and dancing with him and his army friends. Gabi, whose base was to be inspected later that night by a high ranking official, was so happy for the interruption from his endless chores and duties on the base.

On Gabi’s base, the soldiers seemed more impacted by the hand-drawn cards and letters written by the children, than by the mishloach manot. One soldier told me he couldn’t believe that so many cards called the soldiers “heroes” and he promised he would hang one by his bed. After the singing and dancing, Gabi stayed with us for a while, planning what snacks he would bring with him on the masa, and chatting cheerfully until his supervisors came and (after dancing with the group to “ve’nahafoch hu”) had to literally drag him back to his army duties.

 

For the last time that day, we boarded the van and hit the highway, this time back to Yerushalayim. The group was exhausted yet still buzzing with energy, on a high from the day’s events. One volunteer noted: “each base we visited had such a different feel, but I think that each of our soldiers needed something different from us, each one had a different need- something unique that we were able to bring”.

 

Before closing, I want to echo those sentiments: being in the army is not easy, and being a chayal boded (a lone soldier) so far from family is even more challenging. The soldiers of the IDF are truly heroes to us, but our own bogrim who are brave enough to enter the army as volunteers, are more than heroes, they are family. It is our responsibility as a tnu’ah to be there for them during their duty, and be attuned to their individual needs. While some might need an occasional visitor and some nosh, others might be struggling with feelings of loneliness or isolation. While they work daily to protect our County and our People, we need to be thinking of them, and be there for them in whatever way they need us. We are so grateful for their efforts, humbled by their bravery, and proud of their accomplishments.

Purim Sameach!

Special thanks to our mishloach manot delivery volunteers: Shlomo Weissberg (Shevet Achiya), Akiva Buckman, Josh Schulz, Miriam Seidman, Kira Heller, and Elisheva Matanky (Shevet Netzach), without whom this could not have been possible, and whose energy and simcha made a difference to our chayalim. Thanks also to Becky Frankel (Netzach) and her friends who packed the boxes until late(!) the night before.

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