If you know Michael Gordon of Highland Park, one of the leaders of Central NJ Stands With Israel, you know that he is a take-charge guy who often finds a way to partner with other activists and quickly mobilize communal support for Israel. When he and his wife Shari decided to visit Israel to show their support during the current conflict, he was not going to wait until they found an organizational solidarity mission that met their schedule, price range and ideas for service; he planned their own solidarity tour.
As Gordon, a hearing instrument specialist with Beltone Hearing in Flemington, New Jersey explained to The Jewish Link, he found a few Facebook and WhatsApp groups that provided tips on service opportunities in Israel, along with the list of options prepared by Congregation Rinat Yisrael in Teaneck and published as a full page ad in The Jewish Link. He raised $700 from friends before the trip to purchase and distribute toys to the children of evacuees. And then he and Shari, an HR specialist in benefits analysis for Conduent in Florham Park, New Jersey, went off to Israel for a year-end visit from Dec. 24-Jan. 1.
The Gordons packed a whole lot of activities into their visit. They joined a 20-person group that left Jerusalem at 6 a.m. one morning and went to a farm in the Gaza envelope, Ein Habesor, where they spent hours on their knees planting lettuce. They found a school that was hosting an effort to tie tzitzit for soldiers using army issued begendim (garments) and joined in. They learned that a Chabad in Katamon had organized an effort to make sandwiches for soldiers and joined a group of 100 in preparing the sandwiches and then cleaning up. (Gordon revealed that the most popular option among the soldiers are the chocolate spread sandwiches.)
Shari and Michael found their way to Chabad in the Pot section of Yerushalayim and joined a smaller group making Shabbat food for soldiers, chopping vegetables, cooking and slicing beef and chicken and then cleaning up. They purchased board games and other toys at Toys R Us and went to the Batsheva Hotel on Rechov Dovid Hamelech to arrange for the toys to be given to children of evacuees from the north.
They also made time to go to areas that exposed them to new perspectives on the conflict. They visited Har Herzl and saw the grave of one of the first soldiers buried there after the state was established on May 20, 1948 as well as the grave of one of the most recent fallen IDF soldiers, Naftali Gordon (no relation), who died on Dec. 10. On the last day of their trip, they went to Tel Aviv to Hostages Square, located near the art museum. They spoke with families of hostages and were awed by the abundance of artwork, posters, signs and other media everywhere, reminding people not to forget the hostages.
Michael shared that he was inspired by seeing signs stating “Yachad Nenatzeach — Together We Will Triumph” and reminders of the hostages with “Bring Them Home Now” postings all over the country. “I was moved by the unity and faith expressed by everyone there,” he said.
His advice to others considering similar self-driven solidarity missions, was succinct: “Do something (to help) and remember the hostages. Everything else is commentary.”
Harry Glazer is the Middlesex County Editor of The Jewish Link. He can be reached at [email protected].
