Sar – El Revisited. Part 2

A correction: The operation in Gaza was called Solid Lead (not iron) because it started during Chanukah and dreidels are made of lead (didn’t know that). I think I read in an American publication that it was Cast Iron, which may have been a loose translation.

Our workweek started with a Tu’bishvat celebration. We were joined at flag raising by some “important people” and a group of hearing impaired children.


Watching them sign the words of Hatikva brought tears to my eyes –literally. The base rabbi said two prayers: one for rain and one for the safe return of Giliad Shalitt’s (the soldier captured in Gaza) Tree planting was next. A fellow volunteer, Doris shared the activity with a new fb.



With the trees in the ground and a bag of nuts and dried fruits in our hands, we went off to meet our manager, Shuki and begin to work in earnest.Shuki himself is a volunteer. A retired sergeant with 28 years in the military, he returned to oversee the warehouse. We would be sorting and repacking the duffel bags for the infantry troops. Before this could be done, the uniforms needed to be sorted for wear and tear and by size.



In just 2 days, the girls, 6 of us, sorted a palette’s worth of uniforms and sent 420 pairs of pants, 390 shirts, and 235 jackets to the warehouse in Beer Sheva for repair or replacement. Please don’t think that I personally counted them. We bundled them in 10’s and they were counted as we loaded them onto the truck.

While we sorted clothing outside the warehouse, the boys were doing “man’s work” inside!




Not bad for a bunch of mid-aged men! We decided this would be the centerfold for the next Sar-El newsletter.

We had a few “welcome” meetings. The Chief Operations Officer, a major explained the workings of the base. Sde Treiman is a static logistic center whose main function is to resupply the troops in the south. The Territorial Logistic Brigade provides a wide range of recovery efforts. There is no ammunition stored on the base due to its proximity to Gaza.

I met the Brigade Commander outside the dining room and was invited to have lunch with him (with Doris and Patsy, too).


He was the most gracious, hospitable man, who was interested in who we were and most appreciative of our volunteer service. Lunch with the officers was a treat; aside from being served, there were napkins! The Commander spent last year in Washington DC at an officer training college. That is important information in as much we were able to converse in English!

We did have the regularly scheduled "receiving our wings"/epaulettes ceremony:



And the next day, the rabbi’s prayer was answered…in a very BIG way. Windstorms, starting at noon translated into major thunderstorms by late afternoon. Torrential rains, huge lightening strikes and very loud thunder boomers resulted in a 15-hour power outage! No hot water and limited facilities in the kitchen. Almost like being back in Girl Scout Camp! Evening activities were cancelled; too bad!

Stay tuned for the National Elections –
And, of course, the adventure continues…