Compassion and solidarity

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This article was published 15/03/2024 (916 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Bob Freedman heard about a mission trip to Israel, he jumped at the chance to sign up.

“My family told me I was too old to go,” said the 79-year-old about the May 20 to 28 trip in which volunteers will pick fruit or vegetables and do other work in that country in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Then his grandson, Zachary Cohen, 21, offered to go with him. That set his family’s minds at ease. “’Now you can go,’ they told me,” Freedman said.

Freedman and Cohen will be answering a call from the Israeli government for volunteers to help with essential agricultural work. Volunteers are needed because so many Israelis have been called up for military service and because many temporary foreign workers have returned home due to safety concerns.

“They aren’t desperate for volunteers like me to pick oranges,” said Freedman, who retired 10 years ago as CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg. “My grandson will be far better at it than me. I’m going primarily to be a morale boost, to show support for them at this difficult time.”

For Cohen, a student who lives in Florida, the trip will be a time to bond with his grandfather in a place they both love.

It also means doing more than donating money. “Now I can also donate my time,” he said.

Of his grandfather, Cohen said “I think he’s more than capable, but I will look out for him.”

The two will be among about 40 Jews and Christians from Winnipeg on the trip, which is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, the Jewish National Fund and Bridges for Peace, a Christian organization that supports Israel.

Called “Hineni,” which Hebrew for “Here I am,” the goal of the trip is to do essential farm and other labour.

“We’re not going as tourists, we’re going as volunteers,” said Abby Flackman, who is helping to organize the trip on behalf of the federation. “It’s a physical trip, we’re going to be working.”

At the same time, participants will show Israelis “they aren’t alone,” Flackman said. “It will mean so much to them to see volunteers coming from other countries to help.”

Flackman acknowledged things can be dangerous in Israel. “The country is on high alert and security is everywhere,” she said.

Tour organizers will be in constant communication with Israeli officials, she said, adding “if there is the slightest risk, we will change the itineraries. We won’t do anything risky.”

David Greaves, executive director of the Jewish National Fund in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and one of the trip organizers, said it’s more than about just picking fruit.

“Israel is a different place after Oct. 7,” he said, adding the trip will be a way for Israelis to know Jews around the world haven’t forgotten them. “Just being there, giving our time, is valuable.”

For Victoria James, national outreach director for Bridges for Peace and another trip organizer, the trip is a way for Manitoba Christians who support Israel to show that in a practical way.

In addition to working on farms, participants will spend a day at a Bridges for Peace warehouse in Jerusalem. They’ll pack food boxes for newcomers to that country and hand them out at a distribution centre.

“There’s a lot of misinformation about Israel,” James said, including in churches. “This is a chance for people to see what Israelis are up against, a way to show compassion and solidarity.”

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs says about seven or eight similar volunteer trips have gone from Canada to Israel since the attack.

For information, call the federation at 204-477-7424. The registration deadline is Sunday.

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