Thousands of Americans are reassuring Israelis that they are not alone by traveling to Israel to volunteer in the country’s north and south. One organization spearheading volunteer missions to Israel is Jewish National Fund-USA, which has sent 3,500 eager volunteers to Israel since October 7.
“It has been 15 years since I last came here [to Israel],” said mission participant Tori Lynn Leibovic, 31, from Brooklyn, New York. “I learned about Israel’s history and wars [at my Jewish Day School]; however, I never really ‘felt it’ until October 7 following Hamas’ unprecedented attack against Israeli communities.”
Jewish National Fund-USA volunteers pick eggplant in Israel's north
Every other week, Jewish National Fund-USA brings hundreds of volunteers from America and around the world to help repair, rehabilitate, and rebuild the communities it has worked with for decades along the Gaza border and in the north.
Volunteer activities include painting buildings, constructing outdoor furniture, cleaning up parks and playgrounds, cooking food for soldiers, picking fruit and vegetables, packing care packages for people in hospitals and soldiers, and much more.
“Mission participants should be prepared to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty,” said Jewish National Fund-USA Director, Northern California, Martha Kariv, who led a July volunteer mission.
However, she was quick to add that the trips also include “emotional and inspiring visits to major hospitals and experiences meeting with disabled soldiers. Volunteers also visit the site of the NOVA music festival massacre and plant trees.”
The missions have attracted participants ranging in age from 18 to 93. They are led by a professional tour guide and protected by an armed security guard.
Volunteer Tori Lynn Leibovic picks eggplants in northern Israel
Asked if she had any reservations before coming to Israel, Leibovic explained, “If my Holocaust survivor grandparents could come to pre-state Israel in ‘46 and fight in the Haganah (the precursor to the Israel Defense Forces), I think I can pick some onions for a day.”
She added, “There’s only so much you can see (regarding the situation in Israel) on social media. You have to come here and be on the ground seeing the realities for yourself. I live in a part of Brooklyn where I’m surrounded by anti-Israel people all day long. It’s important that I can bear testimony to what really happened here on October 7 amidst the unrelenting disinformation campaigns.”
For more information about volunteering in Israel with Jewish National Fund-USA, visit jnf.org/volunteeril, call 877.563.8687 or email travel@jnf.org.