A Pleasant Surprise for a Change
- Gil Afriat
- Oct 29, 2023
- 3 min read
Tiferet Yeshua Congregation
Tel Aviv
I was traveling in the US with my family when Hamas attacked Israel, and, it took us several days to make it home. Miraculously, we got onto an El-Al flight and were honored to fly with almost one hundred young Israeli reservists returning to fight: most of them would go straight to their bases from the airport. These are the same scenes my parents told me about during the 1973 Yom Kippur war.
Supporting Soldiers and Civilians on the Homefront
Once home, we realized how much better it felt to be here during this crisis – something which must sound strange. It was difficult being in the US where life was continuing as normal while a horrific massacre and war were happening at home. Here we discovered amazing solidarity and unity among the people like I never felt before. Everyone is doing what they can to support the soldiers on the front and the displaced families. The blood banks are full. Southern IDF units have been overwhelmed with care packages.
A Call for Help
At the same time, we have been hearing of needs and shortages in army units called to the northern border, especially in reserve combat units. We made a call to our supporters abroad that we want to prepare 400 care packages for combat units. Thanks to the warm and generous response, we have already been able to put together 200 boxes with the help of volunteers at Tiferet Yeshua. After everything was packed up, several young adult volunteers and I caravanned in our cars to the border with Lebanon planning on connecting with a paratrooper platoon stationed there that would be grateful for supplies.
A Welcome Near the Lebanon Border
Just before we made it to the paratroopers’ base in the Upper Galilee, a beautiful red sunset flamed over the mountains. Then we were welcomed by all the soldiers. The army contact with whom we had coordinated the delivery thought the platoon would be away training. So we were surprised to find them there.
When we began unloading the packages, suddenly I heard a booming voice call out, “Gil Afriat, is that you?” I turned around and saw a dear face I know well; Yehuda Bachana, a leader from Netivya congregation in Jerusalem was part of the paratrooper unit! After unloading the packages, the soldiers offered us coffee. We had many wonderful conversations with the soldiers, many of whom who wanted to talk to us about our faith.
When one soldier heard that I serve at a Messianic Jewish congregation and work part time as an engineer at Intel, he told me excitedly, “Hey, I work at Intel too!” It turns out we work in the same group, just in different cities. At that point, he yelled out to one of his friends, “Hey, get over here!” The friend is a new engineer I recognize who recently joined my group. “When this is over,” he said, “let's have lunch in the cafeteria together.”
We stayed for a long time talking with the soldiers. I was in awe at the grace on our visit. Another soldier who lives in Tel Aviv told me, “When this war is over, I'm coming to visit you all.” We were invited to stay for dinner, but it was late and we still had a long drive back, first descending the small winding Galilee roads in the dark. So, we decided it would be best to be on our way.
God surprised us in many ways. We are honored to be able to serve these amazing soldiers who are giving their all to protect Israel. Yehuda later told me that the soldiers love the things we put into the care packages (protein bars, energy bars, caffeine gel packs, among other items) which are perfect for long strenuous training and days-on-end of combat. We told them we want to prepare another 200 packages for them, and I asked for an update about what they need.
Please help us continue to bless and shine God’s love to these dear soldiers that He connected us with!
