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Volunteers For IsraelVolunteers For Israel
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Subjects > World > Countries?Create > Israel
a special web contribution by NBR Senior Producer Wendie Feinberg
There isn't much room inside a tank.
I realize that small but significant fact as I find myself wedged into a corner inside an Israeli army tank, trying to pry off the port side cover of its air filtration system. Trying, but not succeeding. The white, round cover refuses to budge. I attack it from another angle, but only manage to whack my elbow on a metal rod jutting out from the tank's floor.
My faded green army uniform is now stained with grease and my sweat, but I am determined to get this cover off. I try a frontal assault using a screwdriver to chip away the layers of white paint sticking the cover to the metal panel behind it. It starts to move -- slowly -- but it's moving. Two minutes later, I pull the cover away, turn to climb out in victory and promptly hit my head on a pipe running across the top of the hatch.
Like I said, there isn't much room inside a tank.
http://www.nbr.com/feinberg/wendie.jpg Wendie Feinberg with Elan, the tank repair supervisor, in the tank repair shed on the base
So what am I doing inside a military tank just outside of Ashkelon, Israel anyway? I'm a journalist, not a mechanic; an American citizen, not an Israeli. And I'm a 40-something woman trying to keep in shape, not an 18-year-old lean and mean soldier. I'm taking part in a program called Volunteers for Israel, Sar-El in Hebrew, that brings together people from all over the world to see another side of the country, a side most tourists will never see.
I'm Jewish, but you don't have to be to participate. This is not an ``on-the bus, off-the-bus'' type of trip. It's a working trip, and in many ways, a labor of love. Volunteers take the place of Israeli army reservists, who stay in their jobs or in school, helping to aid the country's economy.
Here's how it works:
As it turned out, our volunteer group was there at a particularly interesting moment in history. The Israeli army was pulling out of South Lebanon after two decades of occupation there. It was a tense time, especially on our base. Just about all the soldiers had family or friends who had served in Lebanon, and there was a concern that our tanks might be needed on the northern border if the pullout went badly. The base was on standby, but ultimately was not deployed.
http://www.nbr.com/feinberg/wendiefriends.jpg The author with Aimee, a volunteer from Holland, and Ezra, the baker, in the base bakery
Admittedly, this is not a trip for everyone. It takes an adventurous outlook and a willingness to forgo some creature comforts for a while. So why do it? Why did I take three weeks out of a busy life and job to work on an army base in a foreign country when I could have been vacationing anywhere in the world?
There were two reasons. One, because it's a unique way to get to know the Israeli people. I had the chance to work side-by-side with them and to learn about their lives and thoughts. At the same time, they learned about mine. Many soldiers couldn't understand why my fellow volunteers and I would leave our families, homes and jobs to spend time on a hot, dry army base. Others welcomed us warmly, dusting off rusty English language skills and eagerly showing off pictures of their families.
I also did it because it's a matchless opportunity to get to know the real Israel, to discover a sense of Jewish identity and purpose and to pitch in and help where help is needed. And I got to help mold some Israeli opinions about American Jews and our relationship to their country.
Volunteer trips like this are becoming more popular these days, so if you're looking for an incredible and important way to spend some time, check this program out to see if it's for you.
My VFI assignment wasn't easy. At times it wasn't particularly fun. But it was always rewarding and always special, and you can't say that about many three-week interludes in your life. And to my Israeli friends on the base: Tanks for the memories!
http://www.nbr.com/feinberg/israel.htm
See also:
Demon in the Box - Jews, Arabs, Politics, and Culture in the Making of Israeli Television
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