Opinion and Commentary:

Book Review: The life of a volunteer in Israel

By Sybil Kaplan

June 20, 2008
 

In 1982, the Israeli military establishment created Sar-el, Sherut l'Yisrael, Volunteers for Israel, a program to bring volunteers to army and navy bases for two to three weeks, performing basic work to free up Israeli soldiers.

Since then, more than 100,000 volunteers from 32 countries have been part of this special program, living on Israeli military bases in "austere or primitive" living conditions, eating in the mess halls, wearing fatigues during the work week with a special blue and white striped patch, slipped over the shoulder epaulette on the army shirt, to identify the people as volunteers to the Israeli soldiers.

Mark Werner, a corporate lawyer from Raleigh, N.C. in his 40s, son of a Holocaust survivor, married with two children, and one of those volunteers, has written about his four trips in this book, in diary fashion.

In October-November 2002, he was assigned to Batzop Base near Ramleh where he cleaned rifles, laid bricks, and repaired helmets. Bus bombings were an almost everyday occurrence, and terrorists were attacking people in Jewish communities on a regular basis.

In October-November 2003, he returned to Zikkim, near Gaza. For me, this was the most interesting segment because my own daughter, who served two years in the Israeli army, was stationed part of the time at Zikkim. This book really gave me a better inside feel for the base, which is extremely close to Gaza. Here, Werner mostly worked in a warehouse. Terrorists were still in full force during this period.

His third trip was July to August 2004 and he was stationed at Betzet Tira, south of Haifa, a base that supplied Navy equipment. Here, he also worked in a warehouse, the kitchen, garden, and did heavy work with pipes. Kassams were being lodged into Sderot, tunnels were discovered from Egypt to Gaza, terrorists were shooting at buses and cars, but around this base, things were very peaceful.

His fourth trip was July to August 2005, and he returned to Betzet Tira Navy Base to do painting and work in the pipes warehouse. This was the period of the Israeli disengagement from Gaza, and many soldiers from his base were sent to the Gaza Strip to help.

During all four trips, volunteers had free weekends, received frequent lectures on a variety of topics related to Israel and the military, and were taken on field trips.

One of the most interesting aspects of these diary entries are Werner's weekend visits to Israeli relatives and friends.

Why would people volunteer? A desire to show Israelis how they felt and connect and support Israel and to impress a feeling on one's children and grandchildren.

What did the volunteers gain? New friendships and camaraderie with the fellow volunteers and the Israelis on the bases, an opportunity to get to know Israeli soldiers, and a view of how Israelis view the Israel-Arab conflict.

As someone who lived and worked in Israel for 10 years, who is in daily contact with my American-Israeli and Israeli friends and whose daughter made aliyah, I found this book quite special. I probably know more than the average person about the army and army bases from what my daughter told me or from what I could glean from her. Werner does concentrate more on his own experiences than those of his comrades, but you do get a glimpse of what this means to people in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and older as Werner describes it. On his first base, his roommates were a 60-year-old and two 72-year-olds. On Zikkim, his roommates were a 57-year-old teacher and a 62-year-old retiree from New Zealand.

This is the kind of a book anyone who has visited Israel and thought about going back, other than as a tourist, ought to read. The book is a marvelous piece of public relations for Sar-El. We also learn a lot about the lives of the soldiers with whom he speaks, and the significant role played by the military in Israel's democracy.

Sybil Kaplan is a journalist, book review, lecturer, food writer, author of three Jewish children's books, and synagogue librarian from Overland Park, Kan.