Isralicious

Thanksgiving in Israel

14 years ago
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by ck
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Hodu l’adonai ki Tov!

Yes, the word hodu in Hebrew means both Turkey and “give thanks.” And even in Israel, wherever one found Americans last night, one also found festive meals involving Turkey. One meal in particular made even me thankful…

Last night in Tel Aviv, the Lone Soldier Center in Memory of Michael Levin hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for 214 lone soldiers from the Golani and Givati infantry brigades who were given a special and well appreciated leave from the IDF to attend the meal. Lone soldiers are generally IDF volunteers who come to Israel without their families.

There are all kinds of organizations that try to cater to soldiers’ needs but only the Lone Soldier Center in Memory of Michael Levin is run and operated by former lone soldiers, many of whom knew and were inspired by Michael Levin, a lone soldier who fell fighting in 2006 in the Second Lebanon War.

This is from their press release:

“We want to give the soldiers a feeling of family and community. It’s our job to help them feel welcome and connected here,” said Joshua Flaster, a former lone soldier and today director of the Lone Soldier Center in Memory of Michael Levin, the organizers of the Thanksgiving event. “It can be tough at times being a lone soldier- beyond your service in the army, there are social and emotional aspects that are often overlooked.” Flaster recalled, “When I was serving, I always had a hard time knowing I was missing out on holidays and family occasions back home.” The Center arranges social events on holidays and Shabbat, when soldiers often get leave, and brings dozens, or in this case hundreds of lone soldiers together to form a community environment for them. The Center hosts regular meals in Jerusalem, and provides counseling and other support services.

Awesome. Turkey, good friends and a Lions-Patriots game on a giant screen? Sounds good to me! OK except that in Israel “Black Friday” means you’ve been invited to Meah Shearim for Shabbat Dinner. Oy.

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ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

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4 Comments

  • Thanks for the great article. The article mentioned that the party was for the Golani and Givaty infantry units, yet I just wanted to mention that our center, like the party and all other events, is for all lone soldiers, serving anywhere in the IDF, regardless of their unit.
    Ezzy Morgenstern
    Director,
    Lone Soldier Center , Northern Region

  • Big thanks to all the lone soldiers and to the Michael Levin Memorial Center for Lone Soldiers for taking care of the defenders of Israel! We all have a lot to be thankful for –
    I’m sending in a Donation today!

  • Thanks Lone Soldier Center for helping the volunteers who come from the entire world to serve in the IDF.