Jerami Shecter says her life changed dramati- cally when she went on a Birthright Israel trip in 2001. The experience prompted her move from working in the corporate world to living in Israel. Now she is director of the Arizona Chapter of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.
Shecter lived in Israel from 2008-11 where she met her husband, Nir Peled, who served in an elite unit of the IDF. After their daughter, Eden, was born, the couple decided to move to the States. Shecter had worked as a Jewish professional for 12 years and had been involved in FIDF for about a decade. When her husband got a job at Intel in Chandler, the national FIDF office asked if she would be interested in heading an Arizona chapter. Jay Bycer and Laurie Schwartz had hosted a launch event in December 2010, and Shecter officially opened the new chapter in early 2011.
FIDF National President Julian Josephson says the Arizona chapter has gotten off to a great start. FIDF is designed to develop and nurture bonds between U.S. citizens and members of the IDF, says Josephson, emphasizing that FIDF provides for the welfare of soldiers and never funds weapons or equipment. “We’ve gotten tremendous interest from the community,” he says, noting Arizona has hosted several IDF soldiers to enhance that bond. Shecter says she loves bringing the soldiers to Phoenix and Tucson, noting that the impact of the soldiers on American supporters is profound. Not only do they speak at synagogues and to youth groups, but they stay with host families who develop deep connections with the soldiers. She says the soldiers, most of whom are on their first visit to the United States, also get a lot out of the visit: “They walk away saying, ‘People from Scottsdale care about us.’ They know they have a family of people here who love and care about them.” Since her husband served in the IDF and her grandfather, now 94, was an American liberator of the camps in Europe, she has a deep connection to both ends of an annual FIDF trip to Poland and Israel called “Holocaust to Independence.”
This year’s April 8-19 trip took more than 100 prominent FIDF lay leaders and supporters from the United States and Panama accompanied by 50 IDF officers to Poland and Israel.
On the eve of his departure for the trip, Arizona FIDF member George Weisz recalled growing up among a large concentration of Holocaust survivors in Skokie, IL. He says he and his wife, Leesa, both learned about the Holocaust “from the first-hand accounts of neighbors who had numbers branded into their arms.” “I have always wanted to visit the concentration camps, al- though with mixed emotions as anyone has who travels to these horrific sites,” says George. “But you know you must go” to learn, witness and understand the unthinkable in order to help ensure that “we will never forget … (and) that it will never happen again.”
“Now, imagine traveling to those sites escorted by Israeli soldiers and survivors carrying the Israeli flag who perform special ceremonies at each location and then fly to Israel aboard an Israeli air force plane in time for the celebration of Israel Independence Day and dinner with the President of Israel. It is the ultimate symbol of our survival.” Last year Arizona FIDF Leadership Council Chair Judy Laufer and her husband, Nathan, participated in the journey. “My husband and I were reluctant to go back to Poland, where both our families had been victimized, but knowing that we would be walking into the death camps with the Israeli soldiers, we decided to go,” she says. “We felt great pride marching into Auschwitz with Israeli officers, a Torah, and the Israeli and IDF flags. Heading to Israel and celebrating Israel Independence Day gave us a whole new appreciation for our history and the need to secure our homeland. We take great pride in our soldiers and realize that as long as we have Israel and its proud military, there will never be another Jewish Holocaust.”
“We learned IDF was not just a word or an organization,” says Judy. “We saw and met these bright young soldiers. We were able to talk with them and hear their stories, their passion for defending the homeland. We saw where the dollars go when we visited the bases – a new gym, a synagogue, a hospital – things that make the young soldiers’ lives just a little bit easier. Their appreciation was overwhelming for all the funds that they received from FIDF.They are putting their lives on the line every day and they were thanking us!”
George agrees: “FIDF fulfills David Ben-Gurion’s vision for an American pillar of support for Israel’s soldiers. To those unfamiliar with the FIDF, I describe it as the USO of Israel. But it is the USO on steroids. It not only provides … comfort (to) our men and women in uniform, but it provides resources for families of soldiers killed in the line of duty, rehabilitation for wounded soldiers, spiritual resources and college scholarships for service personnel. It also builds synagogues and wellness centers on military bases and provides financial aid so soldiers can do their jobs without the constant worry of supporting their families back home.”
George and Leesa say they are involved with numerous valuable pro-Israel and Jewish community organizations, but “discovered FIDF was the only organization that provided resources directly to the Israeli soldiers, those on the front lines, every single day, protecting a nation and our heritage. … They not only protect Israeli citizens, they are protecting a land that is a crucial haven and home for every Jew around the world.”
Friends of the IDf/Arizona Chapter: fiDf.org arizona@fidf.org | 602-388-8344
