Many different groups of people serving in the IDF share the status of ‘lone soldier’. From a person born in Israel who’s estranged from their family, to an oleh from New York like myself who chose to draft with their parent’s full support, the term encompasses a wide and often complicated range of circumstances. Because lone soldiers come in so many different shapes and sizes, it can be difficult for organizations like Ach Gadol to pinpoint the exact brand of support each soldier needs most. One soldier might struggle financially, one with the language, and one simply to make friends on base. In order to best utilize each volunteer’s gathered wisdom and personal experience, Ach Gadol often pairs big brothers and sisters with soldiers from similar backgrounds.
Lone soldiers’ experiences adjusting to Israeli culture often differ based on their country of origin. Shared culture can enable soldiers to build sub-communities within the larger lone soldier world, and find others who understand what being a lone soldier has meant for them. In this post, we meet some members of a core community within the Ach Gadol network – soldiers who made aliyah from South America. “You find olim from South America mostly in combat positions, and they’re usually quick to volunteer for things,” says Ach Gadol founder Daniel Aharon. “Despite their relatively small numbers compared to the other olim (only about 8%), they tend to acclimate extremely well into Israeli society.”
We’ve spoken to several soldiers and volunteers from South America to explore their experiences in the IDF, and how culture has played into building their support system.
Martin Weinar is a volunteer at Ach Gadol who made aliyah from Buenos Aires in 2015. “I made aliyah because I wanted to be independent,” he told us, “and I knew that wouldn’t happen in Argentina because of the economic and security situations. I grew up in a very Zionistic home, with a lot of love for the Land of Israel. We define ourselves as Jews mainly with regard to tradition and culture, and less religion. We don’t keep Shabbat or kosher, but I always felt connected to the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.” His father was always playing Israeli music in the car, and Martin found himself deeply influenced by his family’s effort to entwine Israeli culture with their own.
He served as a combat soldier in the National Emergencies unit , and extended beyond his obligatory service to become an officer. He explained that, “[Serving in combat] felt the most significant. There are other positions that I would define as even more important, but unfortunately I’m not good with computers or with intelligence, so I took up arms and charged forward.” Martin believes one of the factors that made his absorption so smooth was that Israelis seemed not to have any negative stereotypes about South Americans. The Israelis he met throughout his service, he recalled, were quick to accept and like him. “They were always trying to help me with everything. There aren’t really stigmas about South America, and that’s amazing.”
Yosef Rothstein, who immigrated from Columbia to serve in the West Bank police force, had a similar experience with the Israelis he first encountered, describing them as, “prickly on the outside, but soft and sweet on the inside.” He said that, “in Colombia, people are warmer and more polite, but they aren’t always honest with you. Israelis, on the other hand, aren’t trying to please and aren’t particularly warm, but as you get to know them, you realize that they’re more similar to you than you think. And even when they don’t seem to like you, they are with you.”
Yosef, also, was raised with a profound connection to the Land of Israel. “I grew up in a family that instilled Jewish values in me,” he shared. “My father taught me to pray, just like his father taught him. Prayers like, ‘blessed is the builder of Jerusalem,’ ‘return to Zion,’ and, ‘from the four corners of the earth to our country,’ are some of the ones that influenced me and formed my identity as a Jew. I realized that immigrating to Israel was not only my dream, but the dream of my people. I grew up in a very Zionistic community. I studied at the only Jewish school in Colombia and was the head of education and culture in the Jewish youth movement. For me, it was very obvious to make aliyah. It was to fulfill a dream of 2000 years. It wasn’t just a feeling – it made sense.”
Since completing his service as a commander, Yosef has remained in Israel and built a life for himself. He explained that this chapter of his life in Israel is as essential to the dream as his service. “Some people come to Israel just to serve in the army, but I came to Israel to be in Israel. I have some friends who returned to their countries as soon as they finished their service, and others who didn’t know what to do with themselves and didn’t really do anything. To me, though, it was clear that the army, while essential, was a just phase of life. Israel is the goal.”
As volunteers at Ach Gadol, Martin and Yosef have been big brothers to many other soldiers from South America. “It’s much easier to connect and understand how they feel,” Martin explained. “All of the things that my soldiers tell me, I remember feeling the exact same way… Of course, I would be happy to be a big brother to a soldier from any country. But I think it’s more comfortable for my soldiers to confide in me when they know I understand their culture.”
When Yosef was a soldier himself, he had a big brother from Ach Gadol who also immigrated from Columbia. He feels their shared culture enabled them to build a deeper connection. “Not just… because of the language, but because of the mentality too. Our ways of looking at the world were very similar. It helped him understand me more than I understood myself.” Eli Ackerman, a soldier of Yosef’s currently serving in the Nachal Bridage, says his experience of being a lone soldier from South America has been greatly impacted by the large community of South Americans here in Israel, many of whom knew each other prior to their aliyah. “I’ve known [Yosef] all my life,” he told us. “He’s helped me so much to understand my experiences and thoughts.”
Integrating into a new culture is never a simple process, and adjusting simultaneously to military life doesn’t make it any easier. The experience of serving as a lone soldier is an incredible melting pot of people from every part of the world and from every sort of circumstance who have found themselves in Israel, in the IDF. A new oleh is often at a crossroads of identity, trying at once to maintain their own cultural identity and embrace the cultures of the Israelis and other foreigners they meet. In pairing soldiers with big brothers and sisters, Ach Gadol helps each soldier to find that balance, and introduces them to the people and communities that can each understand another portion of their unique experience as a lone soldier.
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