The Charlotte Jewish News - April 2014 - Page 3
Youth Visions
Israeli Soldiers’ Stories: A New Side of the IDF
By Sarah Fellman
Editor’s Note: MZ Teens is a
high school leadership program
run by StandWithUs that prepares
students for the challenges they
may encounter regarding Israel in
college and in their communities.
Temple Israel member and Provi
dence High senior, Sarah Fell-
man, is an MZ Teens intern.
http://www.standwithus.com/abou
tus/mzteens/
I first heard of the Israeli De
fense Forees (IDF) as a third
grader when I attended Camp
Mindy. Every day, at Israel Edu-
eation elass, we simulated IDF
training and learned about Israel
and its neighbors. But it wasn’t
until my involvement with Stand
WithUs as an MZ Teen intern this
year that I learned about an aspeet
of the IDF beyond the training and
wars.
In Deeember, as an MZ Teen
Intern, I ran a program at my
BBYO regional eonvention about
the IDF moral eode, the Ruach
Tzahal, whieh translates to “Spirit
of the IDF.” I wanted to edueate
my peers about the extensive ef
fort made by the Israeli military to
preserve human life on both sides.
I opened up a faet-based diseus-
sion where everyone eould add his
or her thoughts on the IDF’s
morality. We diseussed topies that
ranged from its preeautionary
phone ealls and leaflets before
bombing a Flamas stronghold to
Israel’s promise of uneonditional
return for its soldiers, as well as
the IDF’s portrayal in interna
tional news and soeial media.
After eondueting the researeh
neeessary, I was mueh more in
formed about morality during
both war and peaee in Israel, but
Sarah Fellman
that was just statisties and trends.
I still had little personal eonnee-
tion to the IDF. Flowever, when I
worked with Charlotte Teen
Coalition to host StandWithUs
“Israeli Soldiers’ Stories” Shab-
bat, I had the ehanee to hear about
and understand the genuinely
good intentions - and importanee
- of the IDF.
StandWithUs “Israeli Soldiers’
Stories” features reserve duty Is
raeli eollege students who talk
about their baekgrounds, interests,
and life in Israel and share per
sonal experienees upholding the
Ruach Tzahal, even while faeing
an enemy that hides behinds its
eivilians. Shay and Flen attended
our event and put human faees to
the IDF uniform. They shared in-
eredible experienees.
In partieular, Flen’s story struek
a nerve. Flen, whose grandparents
were Jewish Iranian refugees who
fled to Israel when his great
grandfather was hanged by the
Iranians for being Jewish, wit
nessed a suieide bombing in an Is
raeli iee eream shop as a young
boy. But he was not bitter about
any of this hatred or anti-Semi
tism that had affeeted his life. En
listment is mandatory in Israel at
age 18, and Flen joined the
COGAT (Coordinator of Govern
ment Aetivities in the Territories)
unit. For five years, Flen was a li
aison among the IDF, the United
Nations, and the Palestinian Au
thority. Fie and his unit worked to
serve the Palestinian eivilians and
help outside organizations do the
same.
One day in Flebron, the U.N. li
aison offiee reported that two
Palestinian kids had aeeidentally
set off an unexploded deviee left
for Israeli jeeps to drive over. The
kids were hurt and the Palestinian
medies were ealled, but they
weren’t eoming. That left the IDF
to take over and within five min
utes an ambulanee was at the
seene and within 10 minutes, they
were transported to the elosest
army base - Flen’s base - where
their eare was taken over by IDF
doetors. Flen then faeilitated per
mits allowing the parents into Is
rael to visit their ehildren.
This story exemplifies Israel’s
willingness to eome to the aid of
its neighbors and its unwavering
eommitment to helping eivilians,
regardless of nationality. It also
inspired in me the hope for peaee
and understanding between Israel
and its neighbors: Flen remarked
that when he brought the parents
of the Palestinian ehildren to see
their kids, there was no resent
ment of Palestinian against Israeli
or Israeli against Palestinian.
Though I never heard of
COGAT before, I now realize
what an important role it plays. It
gives me hope that the Israeli-
Attention: Teens, Teachers, and Parents
Is Holocaust Education important to You?
The Levine-Sklut Judaic Library is currently exploring the possibility of estab
lishing a Center for Holocaust and Tolerance Education to serve as a clearing
house for the diverse and valuable Holocaust educational resources this
community offers.
As the region’s only Judaic resource center, the Levine-Sklut Judaic Library
regularly fields inquiries from our community and beyond about the Holocaust,
how to teach it, and how to make this complex topic relevant in today’s class
rooms. Currently there is no centralized source of information on local Holocaust
resources; the creation of a Center for Holocaust and Tolerance Education would
provide a single point of access for all things related to the Holocaust for the
greater Charlotte community. By coordinating and consolidating information about
the full breadth of the region’s opportunities, the Library can do what a Library
does best - connect patrons with the resources that most effectively meet their
needs.
Thanks to a generous grant from Stan Greenspon, the Library has convened
an exploratory commission that will investigate the possibilities and options of a
potential Center for Holocaust and Tolerance Education in Charlotte. A Library
Board Task Force will conduct the research, and an important part of the process
is soliciting input and feedback from our constituents, educators and the public
about how such a Center could be most valuable, accessible and useful to you.
Please assist us in our efforts by taking a few minutes to complete a brief sur
vey.
Please visit www.lsjl.org to fill out survey. ^
Palestinian conflict can be solved
peacefully and makes me proud of
my country’s efforts to help inno
cent people everywhere. I wasn’t
the only one impressed and in
trigued by the soldiers’ stories.
My peers from all denominations
of Judaism jumped at the chance
to ask questions about life in Is
rael, service in the IDF, and more.
It is this kind of experience - a
chance for direct communication
and interaction - that will bring
Jewish kids from Charlotte (or
any other city) close to Israel.
StandWithUs “Israeli Soldiers’
Stories” is about truth, teaching,
and learning, and in order to cre
ate a generation of Jewish leaders
with a meaningful relationship to
Israel, it is important to arm them
with the truth.
The program also instilled
something even more important
than pure knowledge: curiosity.
While Shay and Flen could only
stay for about two hours, the de
sire to learn more about Israel and
to take an active role in its future
is something that lasts a lifetime.
But even beyond curiosity, I be
lieve that the most important mes
sage for Charlotte Jewish teens
and for people everywhere is one
of hope: hope for peace, hope for
a time when the IDF is not
needed, and hope for a better fu
ture for everyone.^
Luck doesn’t buy & sell homes.
Experience does!
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