It’s Saturday night and the center of town in Jerusalem is hustling and bustling with teenagers as well as with couples who are out for a night on the town to grab a slice of pizza or a pita filled shwarma.
Ilan (real name changed for security reasons) is also out in town, but as he takes a bite of his falafel, his mind is on tomorrow morning.

All soldiers know that ‘Basa’ (Hebrew slang for bummer) feeling when the weekend is coming to an end and they are packing up their gear to return to base. There is an IDF saying amongst soldiers that goes something like this;

‘Every Shabbat has a Moztei (end of) Shabbat

What they are saying is, ‘don’t get too excited for Shabbat, because every Shabbat ends and we will all be back in uniform before we had a chance to relax and we will be back to the grueling training and operations as we protect Israel.

For Ilan, the end of this particular Shabbat was especially difficult. Ilan is a ‘Lone Soldier in the IDF. He like 6,000 others volunteered to serve in the IDF even though their families live abroad. Ilan’s family have not seen him for over a year and they could not afford a trip to Israel. Standing Together was contacted by a friend of the family and told us about Ilan’s situation and we decided that Ilan was the perfect candidate for the Standing Together Lone Soldier Family  Project.

We received an anonymous sponsor to pay for Ilan’s parents to come visit their IDF son and after attending their son’s IDF graduation they once again were able to spend Shabbat together as a family. There is no possible way that I can describe the emotional high that is felt when parents of Lone Soldiers are reunited with their children who are defending Israel.  There is more love in the initial hug than I can possibly put into words.

There is absolutely no price tag we can put on the reaction and the tears of happiness that flow down the cheeks of parents and their Lone Soldier children as they are reunited.

We receive many emails and phone calls from parents of IDF soldiers who request our assistance so that they can attend their child’s IDF graduation. We would love to help each and every one of them, but we are limited when it comes to funds and that’s where we turn to you.

Our goal this year is to reunite a minimum of 12 Lone Soldiers with their families. (one a month)
IDF soldiers are working hard to defend Israel, I am asking you to partner up with us so that we can give Lone Soldiers what they miss most; their family.

 

If you wish to make a  donation by check in the United States, please make your dollar check payable to
Standing Together  INC. and mail to:
STANDING TOGETHER INC. 
c/o Eric Wolf
20 Florence Street
Great Neck, NY 11023 
Or click here to Donate Online 

Ilan’s family did not want their names published and we are of course respecting their wishes, but I wanted to show you what it looks like when Standing Together reunites IDF soldiers with their families.

Here is a video of another priceless meeting between a Lone Soldier and his mother.

 

Many people ask what they can do to show support for IDF soldiers
Help us get the word out by sharing with friends and family and let’s continue saying
THANK YOU to the men and women of the IDF

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