Show your solidarity and Help Israel to Heal, Rebuild and Recover from the Massacres of October 7th.
The Current Situation in Israel
Every time we think that we have heard the worst of the horrors that took place on October 7th, new information comes to light. The steady drip feed of appalling news is relentless, as fresh accounts of Hamas cruelty emerge. Child hostages drugged with ketamine, women falsely told that their husbands were dead, every imaginable evil has been perpetrated on the innocent.
In Gaza, Israeli soldiers are fighting street to street, building to building and room to room. They are risking their lives daily to root out the thousands of armed Hamas terrorists who remain on the loose. The battle is costly, but the IDF is fighting hard to make the Middle East safe. Their war aims are to defeat Hamas, release the hostages and end the rocket fire on Israel.
Israel is a traumatized nation. It’s not an exaggeration to say that every Israeli citizen has been touched by the horrors of October 7th. Israel is a small country and the majority of its population lives within 50 miles of the area where the massacres took place. Imagine if a horde of savages suddenly appeared half an hour’s drive from your home and proceeded to murder, rape, torture, burn and kidnap all and sundry.
Many of the 1,200 dead were attending the music festival at Re’im and came from all over the country. Pretty much everybody either knows one of the dead, or knows of a bereaved family. There are now around half a million people – regulars and reservists – serving in Israel’s formidable citizen’s army. That’s half a million empty places at Shabbat dinner tables, and non-stop worry and anxiety for families.
Jewish Volunteering in Israel
Israel has been badly hurt and it will take an entire generation to work through the horrors. For some, their experiences that day will be a life sentence of trauma and suffering. Following the atrocity at Re’im, some survivors had to be committed to psychiatric facilities. Others are just beginning to process what they witnessed and endured. Israelis are robust and resilient people, but many have been pushed to breaking point – and beyond.
The country has rallied around its hurt and injured in an inspirational display of Jewish altruism and organizational ability. As well as the traumatized and physically injured, there are hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people who fled unsafe areas, or whose homes were burned. Within hours of the attack, a spontaneous volunteer movement began to feed, clothe, and care for the homeless. No Israeli was abandoned or left to suffer alone.
A major problem is the flight of the foreign workers whose labor Israeli agriculture depends on. There is a real danger that crops will be lost because there is nobody to pick the fruit and vegetable harvests. Even while there was still a risk of Hamas rockets, volunteers flocked to the farms and kibbutzim, often accompanied by armed combat soldiers. The volunteers milked herds of dairy cows, checked irrigation systems, and undertook vital maintenance to keep Israel’s high tech agriculture running.
A second wave of volunteers, organized via WhatsApp and Facebook groups, began arriving from the cities by carload and busload. They are continuing to work with farmers to pick crops that are ripening in the fields. The goal is twofold; to save the farmers from bankruptcy and to keep Israel’s supermarket shelves stocked with fresh produce. This scale of Jewish volunteering has not been seen in Israel since the earliest days of the state.
Find the Right Jewish Volunteer Programs
Israel is a robust society that reacts to hardship and adversity with determination and innovation. But it still needs all the help it can get and there are plenty of exciting and rewarding Jewish volunteer programs in Israel for American Jews, find out more with Gil Travel Group. Apart from any practical assistance you can deliver, you will be helping out just by showing up. As Israel fights to overthrow the Hamas terrorist regime, and works to get back on its feet, seeing foreign tourists and supporters is a real morale boost for the population.
Although there are many urgent requirements for Jewish volunteers, many programs require a working knowledge of Hebrew, specialist skills or a minimum commitment of time. The most accessible and practical opportunities for American Jews who are making a short visit to the country are on the farms. You don’t need Hebrew to spend a day picking tomatoes or cucumbers or helping out with other farm duties. You don’t need to be young and fit either. Everybody is welcome and every little helps!
Volunteer for a Day on an Israeli Farm or Kibbutz
There’s occasionally some confusion about the differences between farms and kibbutzim (the plural of kibbutz). A kibbutz is a rural community where the residents work together and share responsibilities, decision making – and any profits. Most started out as farming settlements, but today they also have light industry and even high tech businesses. Be’eri and Kfar Aza were two kibbutzim that suffered terribly on October 7th. Residents were massacred, tortured and kidnapped, and many homes were burned.
Kibbutzim and farms urgently need help and there are Jewish volunteer programs starting up all over Israel. We are in the winter season now, which means a mixture of pleasant sunshine and days of rain. A lot of Israeli produce is grown in high tech greenhouses, as well as in the fields, so rainy days aren’t a problem for volunteers. The work is not strenuous and the atmosphere is fun and friendly. Volunteering on the farm is a great way to meet local Israelis and to make lifelong friends.
When you visit a farm on the Gaza border, you may also receive an English language briefing on the military situation and the history and significance of the Gaza conflict. It’s usually possible to chat with serving IDF soldiers and hear their first hand accounts of the fighting. If you wish, you may also be able to visit the ravaged kibbutzim and speak to the brave people who are working to rebuild them.
Are Jewish Volunteer Programs Safe?
Your trip to Israel is organized and led by experts with local knowledge, who also coordinate closely with the security forces and police. The war is currently confined to certain districts of Gaza and Hamas is under severe pressure from the IDF. The rocket attacks that previously plagued Israel have (largely) abated, and most Israelis are getting on with their day to day lives. Children are back at school, businesses are operating and there is also plenty of cultural activity and even nightlife.
Your group itinerary will be planned with safety as a primary consideration, and nobody will take any risks. The security situation aside, Israel is a remarkably safe country compared to the US and ordinary crime rates are low. Many people arriving to join Jewish volunteer programs are surprised at how (outwardly) normal things seem. It’s only when you start talking to Israelis – the stressed wife with three young children and a husband fighting in Gaza, the man who lost a nephew at Re’im, the little girl who is too afraid to sleep at night, and a hundred similar stories – that you realize how tough things are.
Explore Israel During Your Trip
Although your trip to Israel will include participation in important Jewish volunteer programs, it will also include many aspects of a Jewish heritage tour. There will be lots of chances to explore some really amazing places and to meet some fascinating people. Israel is probably the single most interesting country in the world and you’ll experience it to the full!
Israel is the spiritual home of the Jewish religion and there are literally thousands of years of history, archaeology and historical architecture crammed into a tiny country. Your trip will take in the key religious and historical sites in Jerusalem, including the Wailing Wall, the City of David, the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and Southern Wall excavations.
Other days will be spent exploring the stunning natural beauty of the North and the barren Dead Sea wilderness. The trip to the Dead Sea is arranged so that you’ll get a chance to visit Qumran where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The trip will include a visit to the logistics center established by “Ahim Laneshek” (Brothers In Arms) to help with the emergency relief effort, and a chance to talk to Israeli volunteers. As you tour Israel, you’ll have the option to attend lectures and briefings by experts, and to gain unique insights into Israeli life, history and culture.
Volunteering in Israel is a wonderful way to explore your own Jewish identity and to make a deep connection with the Jewish state and its people. Whatever you do to help, even just talking and listening to people’s stories, will make a practical difference, and the country desperately needs tourists. Just by showing up, and staying in hotels and eating in restaurants, you’ll be helping the Israeli tourist industry (and thousands of families that depend on it) to survive. You’ll return to the US with memories – some happy, some sad – that will last a lifetime.
Author Bio
Iris Hami is President of Gil Travel Group, the largest travel management firm sending people to Israel. She has over 40 years of experience in the travel industry, and uses that knowledge to craft unique Jewish journeys around the world. Her company has won multiple awards, including one from State of Israel Bonds for Extraordinary Achievements Promoting the State of Israel. They send over 40,000 travelers to Israel and other international locations each year and their clients include well-known Jewish organizations such as Birthright, Maccabi USA, Israel Bonds and many more.
