By Jeff Lipton
So when the high school said it was looking for student volunteers to work on an army base in Israel later this month, Rachel did not hesitate to sign up. She is among 25 students at the school who have announced their intentions to volunteer on the base, providing much-needed relief for Israeli soldiers, who could then tend to other matters such as their jobs and their families.
The newly launched HAFTR program is called Sar-El, which means servant of God. Earlier this year, some students and their families visited soldiers in a solidarity mission to Israel.
This month's trip will last about 10 days. The students will leave Saturday night, May 24, and return either June 3 or 4, school officials said. The main goal is for them to work on an army base to relieve the soldiers, who can then go home to their families for a weekend, said Naomi Levenbrown, a HAFTR administrator.
Their duties may include taking care of paperwork or helping to clean up the base to keep things in order.
I always wanted to help out, said Gold. This is a great opportunity to go to Israel for the first time. They really need volunteers. A lot of people over there have been taken out of their jobs to do the paperwork at the army base, and we could do some of that work. Whatever needs to be done, we can do. I would love to help out.
She did not hesitate to say that she is scared about traveling to Israel, with tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians running so high and with the backdrop of a U.S.-led coalition war against Iraq. I'm scared, but I'm going anyway, Gold said. We can also go in the shops and help out the economy while we're there.
She said it's no less safe in Israel than it is anywhere else in the world. She explained that her parents have been very supportive of her decision, and added that an army base in Israel, surrounded by military personnel, is probably one of the safest places to be in that country.
Levenbrown had said the students probably would not be sent to Israel if the war in Iraq was ongoing, unless the U.S.-led coalition were in a mop-up role at the end of the war.
HAFTR students have not shied away from travel to Israel, despite the unrest in the Mideast and the continuous suicide bombings over the past few years. She said the overwhelming majority of the 137 HAFTR seniors will study there for at least a year beginning in August. Their parents are a little nervous, but the kids will go, Levenbrown said. But it's the individual choice of any parent or child.
Stanley Blumenstein, principal at HAFTR High School, said that volunteering on the army base is the highest form of charity a person can give.
He said the safety of students is always a concern whenever they go to Israel, whether to study or to do volunteer work. But we've always had students go to Israel to study every year, regardless of what the situation is over there, he said.
Some have called the students heroes for traveling to Israel under those circumstances. I don't think I'm a hero, said Gold. It's part of being a Jew. We all feel the same way. It's a great opportunity to help out.
