Posted on 12/06/23
Jerusalem, Israel - Dec. 6, 2023 - December 5 is designated as the International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, better known as International Volunteer Day (IVD), an international observance mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1985.
In Israel, there were millions of volunteers and thousands of volunteer groups and organizations. However, after the October 7 invasion and destruction by Hamas, the list of new and impressive volunteer initiatives in wartime is overwhelming.
An attempt to list them all is beyond the scope of this piece but some of the most impressive start with the established volunteer organizations of ZAKA and United Hatzalah. Starting early on Shabbat Simhat Torah morning, the volunteers raced to southern Israel to try and save lives under enemy fire. Also, the lone soldiers in the IDF are volunteers from around the world, who were and are involved in fighting Hamas and stopping the terror.
Because of the rocket fire from Gaza, and also from Hezbollah from Lebanon, tens of thousands of Israelis have been forced from their homes to safer locations. Many are in hotels in Eliat and other Israeli cities. Besides 70 hotels in Jerusalem, hundreds of people have opened up their private homes to offer refuge to strangers.
The organizations working with volunteers to feed the people in multiple locations and soldiers who are spread around are many. They include the people packing sandwiches each day at Chabad. The volunteers at home who bake Shabbat treats for the Jerusalem Bake Batillion, and send carloads each week to the Hamal HaMatok in Tel Aviv for soldiers in remote locations. The private groups alone that go to bases and grill meats so soldiers get a fresh hot meal are a long list.
Missions have come and are arriving with huge duffels of items for soldiers and civilians who lost everything when Hamas terrorists burned their homes to the ground. Individuals arrived to assist, a dentist volunteered his time and expertise. Lucky to escape with their lives, some did not have anything of clothing to salvage. Everything from washing machines to showers has been donated and taken to where needed. The Michael Levin Base received everything from towels to underwear and more from New York donors for lone soldiers and also lone Bnei Sherut volunteers.
In Jerusalem at the new performing arts campus on Bezalel Street, donors have given clothing, toys, shoes, and more for any of the people temporarily displaced to come and take for free. Also, Chabad of Talbiya has a center set up in the old President Hotel, now called Social Space, with an array of items to help anyone who comes to help. Both locations are staffed with a rotation of volunteers.
The southern Israeli area farmers have been heavily affected. Many foreign workers were killed or kidnapped or left after October 7. Volunteers have gone south (and north) daily to help pick the crops which are ripe now. Other volunteers have brought pop-up farmers markets to multiple Jerusalem locations. People come to buy beautiful produce, sometimes more than they need to support the agricultural communities.
From Facebook and WhatsApp groups, volunteers organize everything from babysitting to tying tzitzit to washing the laundry of people living in hotels.
This list goes on and on with free events planned for Hanukkah to try and brighten the days and nights of those suffering from the results of this war Israel did not start and did not want. One does not need the antics of a medical clown to bring a smile, thinking about the best of these volunteers.
The regular support organizations from Yedidim to OneFamily have been doing more. Schools and activities have been organized by volunteers at the hotels, and cultural organizations like the Tower of David Museum have had free events to entertain people in Jerusalem for an indefinite time. The Tower of David opened on Friday, October 24, for a girl whose bat mitzvah was canceled due to the war and her family having to leave home. Full disclosure, I was honored to be the first photographer asked to volunteer for those special photoshoots.
Starting with the long, long lines on October 10 at the Jerusalem Teddy Stadium with people waiting for hours to donate blood, the volunteerism that has sprung forth in Israel in the past two months is exceptional, to be noted more than one day.
The photo essay includes a portion of the volunteers and sites mentioned in the text.