Jewish families in Pittsburgh played host this month to a unique group of emissaries from Israel who, in their own way, may have accomplished more to strengthen bonds and increase understanding between American Jews and the Jewish State than an army of official “shlichim.”
The visitors were members of the Disabled Veterans Organization of Israel, all former soldiers who fought in Israel’s wars and suffered permanent disability. They say, with conviction, that theirs is the only Jewish organization in the world that does not want new members. In fact, they pray fervently that their ranks will not be increased.
Twelve of the vets just completed two weeks as the guests of Jewish families here who, in the words of one host, welcomed them as they would their own sons returned from war. The people-to-people project, now in its second year, owes its inception to Mrs. Sylvia Robinson, currently a vice-president of the Women’s Division and secretary of the Board of the United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Her husband is Donald M. Robinson, a well-known philanthropist and civic leader in the Jewish and general community. He is a national chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency, and the chairman of the Global Budget Committee and vice-chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee.
The idea of bringing disabled Israeli war vets to spend time in American Jewish homes came to Mrs. Robinson while she and her husband were attending a JDC budget committee meeting in Geneva in 1974. She established the project the following year with the aid of the Pittsburgh UJF.
The visits are not funded by the UJF, however, but by monies raised separately and specifically for the Israeli veterans program. This year Mrs. Robinson encouraged the communities of Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia to undertake similar programs of their own and she offers advice to other interested communities throughout the U.S.
INSTILLED PRIDE AND IDENTITY
“We here in Pittsburgh are the real beneficiaries of this program,” Mrs. Robinson said, “for we are now more fully aware of the real cost in human terms of Israel’s struggle to exist. Getting to know these men and their experiences and the difficulties they have overcome has enriched our lives. They have provided us, and even more importantly, our children, with a greater pride in our Jewishness and a stronger identification with our people in Israel,” she said.
Scores of Pittsburgh families volunteered to serve as hosts for the Israeli visitors, opening their homes to them. This summer’s program included tours of Pittsburgh landmarks, a visit to Washington where the former soldiers and their hosts were greeted by Israeli Ambassador Simcha Dinitz and a tour to Niagara Falls, N.Y. where, one of the vets remarked. “Israel could use just a little of that water.”
According to Mrs. Robinson and other hosts, “These men did not invite pity; their open attitudes and lack of self-consciousness invited true acceptance and boundless affection which they returned as would a loving son.” Mrs. Robinson reported that “The men laughed a lot and complained about gaining weight under the watchful eyes, of their new ‘Jewish mothers.'”
FRANK IN THEIR IMPRESSIONS
They were frank in their impressions of America, of Jewish family life here. One vet remarked “In the United States children are more educated to sports. You are losing children here religiously only because there is not enough education.” Another enjoyed America’s Bicentennial celebration, but observed “On Yom Haatzmaut (Israel’s independence day) we have dancing in the streets. Fireworks are much better in Tel Aviv.”
The guests urged their hosts and other American Jews to return their visit. “We see your factories here. Please come to Israel, build something that can produce and sell products out of the country so it will bring money to Israel,” one said. Another noted that Americans come to Israel to work on kibbutzim. “We want you to come to the border towns, the development towns, with poor people, not well educated, with economic problems. You can help them make better workers so they can teach their sons better, and a higher level of life,” he said.
The men were asked if they would want to return to Pittsburgh. They replied, “We love our adopted families here. We feel very close. Pittsburgh is very wonderful. But to come back to? Israel is to come back to.”
LIKE ONE FAMILY
Yaacov Meoz, a 31-year-old native Israeli who was wounded in the Yom Kippur War and is now the general secretary of the Tel Aviv branch of Zahal, the Israeli defense force, was the group leader. He said what impressed the group most were the families with whom they stayed. “Each of us knows how American Jews help Israel, but it’s more than that. After an hour together we are like one family. For years. Perhaps forever.”
Meoz related that there are 21,000 Israeli disabled veterans and there are more than 13,000 widows and families. “And we are only 28 years,” he remarked. “Our country, with five wars and wars in between wars, and we couldn’t see the end of this.” Furthermore, he said, “More than 90 percent of the Zahal membership is living with a disability. We have a saying: ‘You have to learn how to live with your disability and not as a disabled.’ If you are living this way, then you are a completely normal man.” The ages of the Israeli visitors ranged from 25 to 42.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
