I need to tell you about the time I walked into The Michael Levin Base expecting nothing and got handed a croissant.
It was Bastille Day, or as the French actually call it, “le 14 juillet” (the 14th of July, no “Bastille Day” nonsense, that’s an English-speakers-only invention, and yes I speak French so I get to make that correction), and I wandered in mid-celebration. There were real French pastries, courtesy of Patachou Boutique on Agripas Street, one of The Base‘s sponsors. There was a room full of lone soldiers and bnai sheruth who had zero obligation to make a random Jerusalem writer feel welcome, and did it anyway. That’s The Base in one sentence. You show up, and somehow you’re family within five minutes. And that croissant was perfection. Why were they celebrating Bastille Day? Because The Base services lone soldiers from around the world, including an impressive contingent from France. And the US. And Canada, Russia, Ukraine, the UK, Australia, I even met someone from Peru!
If you don’t know what a lone soldier is, here’s the short version: it’s someone serving in the IDF without parents or family in Israel to go home to on weekends, no one to do their laundry, no one making dinner, no one to call when things are hard. Bnai sheruth are the national-service equivalent, young men and women who come to volunteer in hospitals, schools, and programs for kids with disabilities, also without a family safety net here. The Michael Levin Base is, as far as anyone can tell, the only organization in the country that takes care of both populations under one roof.
The organization is named for Michael Levin, an American who made aliyah in 2002, joined a paratroopers unit, and was killed in the Second Lebanon War in 2006 at 22. When he first arrived in Israel with no Hebrew and no local family, he reportedly slept on a park bench for two nights because he had nowhere else to go. His dream, before he died, was to build a place so nobody after him would have to do that. The Base, founded in 2020 near Machane Yehuda, is one of a few organizations built to carry that dream out, and it’s grown from about 600 people served in its first year to well over 2,000 today. They have outgrown their current building and they’re moving to a new space at 206 Jaffa Street and opening a second location in Tel Aviv, which tells you something about how much this is needed right now.
The Gala
On Thursday, October 8th, three years and one day after October 7th, The Base is holding its annual gala at the Jerusalem Theatre’s Henry Crown Auditorium. Doors open at 18:45, program starts at 19:30, and there’s a dairy dessert buffet after, so come hungry.
The theme is “Three Years Since October 7th: Where Are We Today?” and the speaker list is stacked. Ezra Katz, Panama’s ambassador to Israel, is speaking, along with Jonathan Conricus, the former IDF spokesman who became one of the most recognizable faces of Israel’s messaging during the war. Michael Dickson, executive director of StandWithUs Israel, is emceeing.
The panel itself reads like a greatest-hits list. Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Israel’s Special Envoy for Trade and Innovation and former Jerusalem deputy mayor, is on it, and I have a soft spot for her. She’s currently running for Knesset on Ofer Winter’s new Amcha Yisrael party list, and she’s fun in person in a way that surprises people. When she was deputy mayor, she showed up to help us film a foolproof mufletta recipe video, no ego, just rolled up her sleeves for our annual Muflettapalooza. Mufletta, if you don’t know it, is a Moroccan crepe traditionally served during Mimouna, the celebration the night after Passover ends, and it is absurdly good. She also hosts The Quad on JNS, which features a running “scumbag of the week” segment that I will not apologize for loving.
Also on the panel: Diane Neal, who you know from Law & Order: SVU and who’s become an aliyah ambassador; Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, founder of Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center that’s sued half the world’s terror financiers; Tila Falic-Levi, community and educational advocate; Yaakov Katz, former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post; and Adir Schwarz, Jerusalem’s deputy mayor.
Rounding it out is Joseph Cohen, founder of the Israel Advocacy Movement, and if you don’t already follow his stuff you should. He’s one of the most effective pro-Israel voices online precisely because he doesn’t just make the case for Israel, he puts the people who hate it on camera and lets them talk themselves into a hole. Entertaining and informative at the same time is a rare combination and you can see him online, or roll up like a baller and see him live at the Gala!
Two honorees round out the evening: Anne and Arthur Gober are getting the Dor L’Dor Award, and Richard Corman, chairman of The Base’s board, is getting the Outstanding Achievement Award.
Why This Matters, And Why You Should Care Even If You Can’t Show Up
Since Bastille Day, I mean “le 14 juillet,” I’ve been to The Base more than once, and every single lone soldier and ben or bat sherut I’ve met there has been the kind of warm and, yes, I’ll say it, wholesome that makes you a little embarrassed about your own cynicism. These are young adults who left their families, their language, and their comfort to serve a country that isn’t guaranteed to love them back the way it should. Meeting them the first time floored me. You expect steely resolve. You get kids who just want a hot meal and someone to ask how their week went.
Three years out from October 7th, the number of lone soldiers has only grown, and so has the need for places like this. You can buy a ticket at causematch.com/gala2026, and if you’re in Jerusalem or can get there on October 8th, go. Sit in the room. Hear the panel. Eat the dessert.
Can’t make it? You can still donate through that same causematch link with no ticket required, or give directly to The Base at thebase.org.il. Going direct also gets you a tax receipt if you’re Israeli, American, British, or Australian, so wherever you’re reading this from, you’re covered.
― Tom Robbins
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