A Point of Clarification:
VFI - Volunteers for Israel and Sar-El - Service to Israel, are both the same
organization. VFI is simply how the program is accessed by people in the
USA.
Check out the Online Slideshow





Isn't time for some adventure?
Imformation and Applications
For U.S. Residents
For NON-U.S. Residents
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Volunteering to work on a Israeli Defense Forces Supply Base
My adventure began on May 20, 2005,
when I flew to Israel, from the USA, for the forth
time. All of my previous trips to Israel had been on organized
tours, which are really a great way to be introduced to this
wonderful country, but, this time, I wanted to contribute
something to help the nation and people of Israel; my labor and
sweat. I am not Jewish, but I hold a reverent interest, a
fascination really, in Israel, because Israel is the backdrop of
the Torah, and other scriptures. Without those faithful Jewish scribes,
stubbornly, and accurately copying the scriptures, I would not
know anything about the wonderful stories of the faithful, like,
King David, Joshua, Abraham and Moses. Or about the God of
Israel, the One True God,
that is revealed in the Torah. To visit the locations told about
in the scriptures, is an amazing thing. Anybody can read about
the Dead Sea Scrolls, but think about actually seeing the place
that they were discovered, or, actually look at the rolled out
scroll of Isaiah that is over 2,000 years old, fantastic!
During the month
of my stay, I worked on two different
bases, one was a brand new general supply base in the north, and another,
a small medical supply base not far from Tel Aviv. I
was fortunate enough to be on my Sar El tour during Israeli
Independence day, and time was taken at the base to commemorate
the event with a traditional toast to the fallen soldiers of
Israel. In addition, we had an eternal flame at the base for a
couple of days that was "guarded" (more like honored) around the clock.
Us volunteers
were allowed to participate in the guarding of the flame along
with the regular soldiers. I considered guarding the flame to be
a special honor for sure, and one that I will not soon forget. The
work was exactly as advertised, menial, but while menial, there
was a good variety of different tasks to accomplish, and,
because there were many helping hands, we accomplished a lot.
Because we felt that our work was valuable, we felt good about
what we were doing.
The
regular soldiers made us feel welcome, and they seemed at times to
be somewhat amazed that folks from all over the world would come
to help them; they oftentimes showed their appreciation. Each
evening, we had a lecture by our Madrichot or sometimes, by a
special guest speaker. The lectures or demonstrations were
usually interesting, and most often fun. I went on 3
Sar El field trips. We had a special guide that went with us as
we toured different places in Israel such as, Jerusalem, Safad,
and Zikhron Yaaqov. One weekend, I went on one of the special
tours arranged by Pam, the Sar El coordinator. I had such a
wonderful time on this extra tour meeting people from other Sar
El bases, and seeing several places in Israel that I had never
been to before. The extra tour was definitely worth the
additional money.

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