Raising funds to help Israel’s Lone Soldiers

DESIREE RAICHLIN FIRER

Many of these “lone soldiers” have little or no family support in Israel. The volunteer soldier may be a new immigrant, an emancipated orphan, or may come from a broken home. The common calling of these soldiers is to protect the State of Israel and its citizens. In the volatile context of the Middle East, this means a willingness to place their lives on the line.

Soul Workout organised a musical concert at the Linder Auditorium in Johannesburg before Rosh Hashanah, to raise funds for The Lone Soldier Center in Israel. This organisation takes care of and provide for these lone soldiers.

The concert line-up included: Shmuli Brill, Ezra Altschuler, Elton Krawitz, Ilan Herrmann, Ezra Sher and Ezy Slasky, The Alexandra Harmonious Melodies Group, and the King David Sandton boys choir.

The Lone Soldier organisation was formed with the aim of meeting the needs of these young soldiers, which range across the spectrum from basic living requirements, to communal Shabbat meals, to placements with families who provide them with a home from home, to helping them with emotional and sometimes even financial support.

The Lone Soldier Center was founded in 2009 in memory of Michael Levin. US-born Levin was lost in battle during the Second Lebanon War. He had left Dara, his twin sister, a voicemail just before going into Lebanon: “If anything happens to me, I just want to say that I love you and miss you and wish you all the best.”

Michael was shot in the head by a Hezbollah sniper during the subsequent clash of forces in the Lebanese village of Ayta ash-Shab.

Formed by a group of former lone soldiers, the centre is fully cognisant of, and concerned with, the needs and struggles of the more than 6 300 “Lone Soldiers” currently serving in the IDF. The Lone Soldier Center is the first and only organisation in Israel solely dedicated to meeting all of the physical, emotional, spiritual and social needs of Israel’s lone soldiers.