AN ARMY OF ANOTHER KIND

The armed forces are not the only forces in Israel. No less powerful are the forces of grass roots activities which have spread out across Israel in their thousands. This was brought home to me by my eleven-year old great-granddaughter who, together with her younger brother, prepares sandwiches once a week for the needy.

The project all began approximately four months ago, when  a married couple Ravid and  Aya Strul from Hadera initiated a completely new concept. They loaded into their car a small children’s table, a chair, homemade wrapped sandwiches, and a placard with the words “a sandwich for  anyone in need – free”. The plan was to  look for a likely place in which to unload. They described the first time as thinking “you have an idea how it will start but have no idea how it will end”.

Not only has it not ended but it grows from day to day. The Hadera volunteers now run a bigger stall two days a week always on the same days and times. Not only sandwiches but cakes and biscuits (donated by a bakery), pitot with falafel and all the trimmings (donated by a kind local owner of a falafel cafe). Including other goodies such as oranges and drinks. Aya works as a kindergarten teacher and, from the very beginning she recruited the parents of the kindergarten children, who prepare baskets full of sandwiches with an inscription from every child, plus a drawing and sticker.

There is a whole army of volunteers, mostly acquired through “what’s up” and “facebook” and word of mouth. As of now, the project has amassed over 7,500 helpers! The idea has been adopted in towns all over Israel – Ashdod, Haifa, Jerusalem, Petach Tikva, Beer-Sheva, Shderot, Herzliya, Hod Hasharon, Tel-Aviv, Acre, Nahariya, Natanya, Pardess Hannah to name just a few. So many small stalls which help to feed so many.  The “old timers” who come regularly for their particular favourite fillings, are mostly old poor people, although all ages are received.

The small stalls which light up the street have been, for some time, much more than a sandwich stall. People come and stay to talk and laugh. A hug and warm words change the reality of the “other” and of the volunteers themselves since, to give is to receive back.  The tables become like an “overflowing fountain”. The Hadera crew described a typical day when every time they thought they were finished, another car pulled up and brought another batch.

One day a new inspector, with a walkie-talkie hanging on his shirt, arrived. Although the stalls are not licensed, he continued to walk as if it was invisible. The stall volunteer called after him if he wanted a sandwich or a cake. He smiled and said “No, give the sandwich to someone who needs it”.

My granddaughter,Ya’ara, is the mother of four children from the ages of 11 to one year and holds down a fulltime job outside her home. She lives on a moshav (agricultural settlement). Ya’ara read about the project on facebook and decided to start-up a stall in her nearest small town of Gedera.  Her daughter and son enthusiastically prepare and wrap the sandwiches after getting all the ingredients from their mother. She also adds lemons from her tree and pureed fruit and vegetables which her baby, who was born very prematurely, doesn’t need any more. Additional Gedera volunteers replenish the sandwiches and add other goodies. 

The Strul family can’t believe the remarkable response to their simple concept and of the extent of “good” there is everywhere. They say: “If you have chosen to `see` what is around you and to help, there’s no going back to the way you were before”.