The Friends of the Israel Defense Forces will be honoring longtime Lawrence residents, Suzanne and Barry Gurvitch at the annual Five Towns and Greater South Shore Evening of Solidarity, on May 8.
The FIDF is a non-political, non-military organization that provides for the well being of active IDF soldiers, veterans and family members. It was established in 1981 by a group of Holocaust survivors, and is the only organization authorized by the Israeli army to collect charitable donations for the IDF in the United States.
The gala is a fundraiser, and all proceeds benefit the IDF. The FIDF is in constant contact with the IDF and Israel’s Ministry of Defense, and regularly packages and sends supplies that the soldiers need — from food and clothing to medical kits for backpacks, to fully stocked ambulances.
The Gurvitchs have been involved with the FIDF for 13 years and have personally been affected by their mission as their son, Elijah is a lone soldier in the IDF. Lone soldiers are those who join the army with no family in that country.
“We have a child who’s benefitting from how FIDF works for the soldiers,” Suzanne Gurvitch said.
She attributes her Zionistic — advocacy for an independent Jewish state upbringing and beliefs for shaping her to be apart of the FIDF.
“We’re both very humble, we support it regardless so the fact that they’re recognizing us is very nice,” she said. “It has become so personal to us and we’ve seen first-hand how they take care of their soldiers. We’re happy that on this level we’re able to participate.”
Orna Sheena, FIDF director of Long Island, noted the increase in post-traumatic distress order the soldiers are experiencing.
“From the small island to the biggest islands, we need to rehabilitate, work with and reconstruct projects that were destroyed,” Sheena said. “We are doing whatever is necessary to maintain their well being and now our biggest thing is to fundraise for lone soldiers coping with PTSD.”
The FIDF has committed to helping fundraise for PTSD assistance and creating centers while providing professional help for IDF soldiers to deal with the trauma they experienced.
“Oct. 7 is only part of the narrative, we are not fully recovered from that and are still technically in the war and not done,” she said. “Many of our soldiers left their jobs to fight so they needs financial support and we are helping those who cannot afford high education by providing them with four year education.”
Woodmere resident Jay and Malky Specter founded the Five Towns and Greater South Shore chapter in 2010.
“We lived on Long Island our whole lives and never heard of a Long Island chapter, so we called the office and asked about the LI chapter, it was only on the North Shore,” Jay Specter said. “So we started our own chapter because we have a very strong Jewish and Zionistic community and we needed to have a presence in the neighborhood.”
The first dinner was held at the Sephardic Temple of Cedarhurst with 400 attendees in 2012. The popularity of the event prompted a move to a larger venue.
“I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment that we’re able to pull this off, the South Shore is more of an orthodox community and the commitments to charities are vast,” Jay said. “People step up to the plate and come to an event like this, I’m very proud of them.
To register for the event, contact Orna Sheena at Orna.Sheena@fidf.org or (516)-695-3366 or visit fidf.org/sseos2025.
