Volunteering for Israel

Israel Defense Forces Brig. Gen. Aharon Davidi created the Volunteers for Israel program in 1983, a year after the height of Israel’s war with Lebanon, when the country needed people to perform civilian tasks on army bases and to harvest crops while soldiers went to battle.

Volunteers for Israel places Jewish and non-Jewish civilians 17 or older — 16 if a parent or guardian accompanies them — on Israeli military bases, where they live and work alongside soldiers and other volunteers from around the world. The program, a nonprofit organization chartered in the U.S., partners with Israel’s Sar-El group, a nonprofit that administers the IDF Base Program in Israel. VFI is promoted as a way for people to gain what it calls an “insider’s view of the lifestyle, culture and pulse of Israel” for a week or longer.

On May 10, for the first time in the program’s 33-year existence, a representative, Elliott Setton, 82, of Plainview, presented an overview of its mission in the Five Towns, to a gathering at the Marion and Aaron Gural JCC in Cedarhurst.

“It’s important to promote a wonderful program that helps the state of Israel,” said Stacey Feldman, the JCC’s development director, who helped set up Setton’s presentation.

Setton, a five-time program volunteer, initially got involved through his daughter, Lisa Setton, who volunteered as a college senior in 1990-91. Then, the year after he retired in 2006, the seed his daughter planted took root and he volunteered for his first trip.

“It’s a great experience,” Setton said. “Once the soldiers loosen up around you, you find out how appreciative they are that you are there. There is something about Israel. You’re there in the middle, surrounded by enemies, and people are living a normal life. It helps Americans connect to Israel.”

There are currently more than 700 American volunteers in Israel, and 30 percent are non-Jews, Setton said. The program’s costs include a $100 application fee and airfare. Volunteers work Sunday through Thursday and are free on the weekends. Many visit friends or family, Setton said.

On a base, civilian volunteers wear army fatigues, live in barracks typically separated from soldiers, and get three kosher meals a day. One of the primary volunteer tasks is separating, cleaning and packing soldiers’ uniform kits for the next military operation. Reservists, who make up 70 percent of the IDF, are residents of Israel who have completed their mandatory military service and are then assigned to the reserve force to supplement active-duty forces.

“To gain the view of these young soldiers is very enlightening for both sides,” Setton said. “Asking what their lives are like. There is also a bonding that takes place with your group. I still communicate with people I met from Finland and Romania.”

Rachel Lester, a 2012 graduate of Shalhevet High School in North Woodmere, learned about the program as a sophomore at the University of Southern California and first volunteered in 2014. “I didn’t know exactly what I would be doing on these army bases, what city I would be living in, or anyone going with me, and I wouldn’t find out until I got there,” she wrote in the Jewish Journal. “Crazy, right? Most people who heard this story thought so. But now that I’m in Israel, wearing an IDF uniform, nothing seems crazy anymore.”

Lester, who serves as a Volunteer for Israel campus ambassador at USC, just won the $7,500 grand prize for her submission to the Israel Video Network’s Inspired by Israel contest, which was launched in March and attracted more 100 submissions from around the world. Lester’s video, “Superman’s Got Nothing On Israel,” focuses on the Jewish state’s efforts to provide aid to countries that have experienced mass-casualty incidents. She also writes the Jewish Journal blog “All About That Base.”

To learn more about Volunteers for Israel, go to www.vfi-usa.org.