Rebecca Wolf, back right, works with volunteer Margalit Younger, left, and students from Yitzhak Hanasi, an elementary school, to brighten up the school bomb shelter during the "Leading Up North" project over the winter holidays.
I have often heard Israelis say, "It's a good thing that we have short memories. Otherwise we might die of sorrow." I always found this saying to be sad but also incredibly inspiring. Israelis are able to endure endless struggles and conflicts, yet they are also able to pick up the pieces, quickly rebuild and live life to its fullest.
I got to see this up close when, over the winter holidays, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to volunteer in northern Israel with "Leading Up North," or LUN. I participated along with a group of 120 young professionals, 22 to 35 years old, from the Jewish Coalition for Service, which brings together organizations that focus on social justice and Judaism.
On our way to our volunteer site, I caught my first daylight glimpse of northern Israel after the war. I was shocked at what I didn't see. I didn't see any ruins of destroyed homes, broken glass or abandoned tanks - just evidence of recent rebuilding. If I didn't know that there had been a war in Israel this past summer, then I would not have guessed that there had been one.
We arrived at the first miklat (bomb shelter) early in the morning. We all introduced ourselves and explained why we had chosen to participate in LUN. I was surprised to hear my fellow participants echo my feelings of guilt and helplessness as we watched the war on television, unable to do anything to help. Finally, here was our opportunity to do something, no matter how small, to show our support for the people living in northern Israel.
Our first task was to paint the shelters with blue wash and then create bright, colorful images to make the shelters more tenable for the next time of war. We spent several days traveling around to different shelters with the plan being to paint most of the shelters in the area. One of our most memorable days was spent painting a shelter in an elementary school. The children joined us in our work and had a fabulous time. It was wonderful to connect on such a simple level with the children.
The absolute highlight for me, an event that made this entire trip worthwhile, took place at the end of a long day of painting. Most of the LUN group had left the shelter to use the Internet room. I stayed behind to do some cleaning. Three children came into the room, and their eyes simply lit up. They ran from room to room looking at the flowers, animals and designs, commenting on the difference that we made. They said, "You made it alive."
Later I spoke with Shir, an art student from Tel Hai, a local college, who accompanied us in our work together. She explained how alone she felt during the war when so many people left the North and how meaningful it was for her that a group of Americans would choose to spend their vacations volunteering there.
Solidarity was the point of the entire trip. Simply letting the residents of northern Israel know that we care meant a lot to both us and them. The personal connections that we made with the children and teachers made the trip worthwhile. Politics and the "situation" in Israel and the Middle East are what we see and hear about on the news. However, we miss the opportunity to hear the personal stories and experiences of those involved. This trip gave us that opportunity.
In addition to painting bomb shelters, we spent two days volunteering with the Jewish National Fund (JNF), an organization that has planted trees in Israel since the very nascent stages of the country. Hundreds of thousands of acres of forest were burned by fires that rockets started during the war. Our task was to clear away burnt brush so that new trees could be replanted in the springtime. As I cut down dead trees and helped pile up the remains to be carried away, I couldn't help but remember when I had planted a tree with JNF during the time that I came to Israel on a United Synagogue Youth trip when I was 16.
It was terribly troubling to see so many forests destroyed by the rockets that rained down on northern Israel this summer. During a war, we don't often think about the trees, the nature, destroyed as a result, but this is one of the many collateral consequences of war.
We came to northern Israel in order to help communities that were affected by the war. However, everything felt peaceful and calm. It was difficult to remember that merely six months before, this area had been war-torn. We were reminded of it, however, when we visited the memorial site of 12 milluim (reserve) soldiers who died when a Katyusha rocket hit Kfar Giladi, the kibbutz where we stayed during LUN. We observed a moment of silence to respect the soldiers who had died, and we looked at photos of each of them. It felt so tangible and real.
Along with the photos and candles remained letters that family members and friends had written to express their mourning and longing for their loved ones. In Israel, memorial sites never feel historic, but rather, like living and breathing reminders of the constant struggle that Israel faces for her survival.
A conversation that I had with a resident of northern Israel exemplified the way that Israelis support one another in times of need. Elad, a gas station attendant, explained that he had just finished his army service one week before the war began. He had served his typical three years in a combat unit and returned home a week before the war began. Although he had the opportunity to stay with friends or family in the center of Israel, he elected to stay in the North to volunteer to help people who had remained. The majority of the residents of northern Israel fled to the center of the country during the war. The people that remained were the weakest, poorest and most in need of assistance.
I asked Elad, "You just gave three years of service to your country, why did you decide to volunteer during the war?" He told me that his three years of military service was required, whereas volunteering to help his community was something that he did from his heart. I commented on how wonderful I thought it was that there were many Israelis who chose to stay in northern Israel in order to care for friends and neighbors. He told me, "Rak b'aretz" (Only in Israel).
Elad was not alone in his sentiments. I spoke to other friends who felt the same way. Even my friends who live in Tel Aviv spoke about how life during the war was very different for them. Although the war felt far away, the overall mood was somber - concerts and summer festivals were canceled out of respect for the residents of northern Israel. A number of people risked their own safety in order to go to northern Israel and help in this time of need. As Elad appropriately said, "Rak b'aretz." Due to all of the struggles and challenges the country constantly faces, Israelis are experts at helping in times of need.
Overall, LUN was a 10-day emotional roller coaster, which included laughter, tears, hard work and introspection. I connected with my fellow American Jews who devote their lives to social justice in a variety of ways. I connected with my fellow Israelis and finally had the opportunity to do something that I have wanted to do since the war broke out - show my solidarity with northern Israel and actually do something to help with my own two hands.
Rebecca Wolf, a Phoenix native who made aliyah in 2004, is currently studying at American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. Rebecca graduated with honors from Brandeis University, participated in Project Otzma and Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps, and has devoted her life to promoting social justice in the United States, Israel and the international community.
