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The Lone Soldier Center is a grass-roots
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i non-profit founded by former lone soldiers to support the more than 7,000
lone soldier A lone soldier (, ''Ḥayal Boded'') is a member of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who does not have support in Israel, either because they do not have immediate family in Israel or they are estranged from their family in Israel. Lone soldiers s ...
s serving in the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
. Michael Levin was an American-born lone soldier who fell fighting in the Second Lebanon War. The Lone Soldier Center was created by a group of Michael's friends, fulfilling his dream that one day lone soldiers would have a home away from home to receive meals, advice and help. The Center is managed by over 300 volunteers who work to provide support for lone soldiers. The Center aims to create a family-like environment to help lone soldiers thrive in Israel before, during and after their military service.


History

Michael Levin, 22, fell in combat in the summer of 2006 in the
Second Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...
during a mission to rescue two IDF soldiers who had been kidnapped by
Hizbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. It ...
. Levin was a
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
native who made Aliyah in 2002 to join the IDF. His dream was to one day create a center to serve lone soldiers from around the world. Tziki Aud became close to Michael Levin during Levin's service. He empathized with Levin's dream and decided to create the Lone Soldier Center to honor the death of Levin and preserve his memory. Michael's parents, Harriet and Mark Levin, established the Michael Levin Lone Soldier Foundation https://michaellevinlonesoldier.org/ to fulfill Michael’s dream of helping lone soldiers before, during, and after their service. The foundation funds programs and services in Israel which make the greatest impact on serving lone soldiers of the IDF.


Mission

The Lone Soldier Center supports lone soldiers before, during, and after their IDF service. The Lone Soldier Center's goal is to provide them with an equal opportunity to succeed both in the army and in civilian life following their release. The Lone Soldier Center (LSC) builds a family and community for lone soldiers and takes care of their many needs (primarily off of base). The LSC provides lone soldiers with personal and individual care, and an opportunity to meet and network with their peer group, growing their social circle (as primarily new immigrants in a new country - the wider their circle of friends and connections, the greater their chances to succeed). The organization's mission includes: *Educating and guiding lone soldiers in their transition to life in Israel. *Acting to strengthen the Lone Soldier community in Israel and better connect them community to Israeli society. An opinion piece published by the ''Jerusalem Post'' in July 2014 described the Lone Soldier Center as “a grassroots, nonprofit organization created by former lone soldiers to assist the next generation of lone soldiers in all aspects of life, in the military and out.” The Lone Soldier Center provides help, accommodation, meals and guidance to thousands of Israel's lone soldiers annually.


Locations

Most Lone Soldier Center locations are called ''moadonim'' (club houses). The first and largest "moadon" is in downtown
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. A
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
branch opened in 2013 in memory of John and Elly Haven and with contributions from Christians for Israel The Netherlands. The
Be'er Sheva Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most po ...
and the
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
satellite branches have closed, but Be'er Sheva still maintains two volunteer missions, North and South. In addition to the ''moadonim'', The Lone Soldier Center has long-term leases on homes, where it houses lone soldiers from diverse backgrounds across the country. There is a women's home located in Jerusalem, and additional buildings in Beit Shemesh, Herzliya and Petach Tikva where 150 lone soldiers are housed.


Shabbat meals

The Lone Soldier Center provides Friday night dinner to over 400 soldiers per month, according to the IDF.


Events

The Lone Soldier Center hosts a number of activities to help build a lone soldier community and allow international lone soldiers to adjust to Israeli life. Some of these take place weekly, like yoga,
Ulpan An ulpan (), plural ''ulpanim'', is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. Ulpan is a Hebrew word meaning "studio", "teaching", or "instruction". The ulpan is designed to teach adult immigrants to Israel the basic language s ...
Hebrew lessons, and a running group, members of which participate in the annual
Jerusalem Marathon The Jerusalem Marathon () is an annual marathon running event held in Jerusalem during the month of March or April. The course begins at Israel's parliament (the Knesset) and the Israel Museum, passes through Mount Scopus and the Old City, an ...
as part of "Team Mikey." The organization also holds a number of meals and parties on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights each month.


Thanksgiving dinners

The organization hosts an annual
Thanksgiving dinner The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada is Thanksgiving dinner, a large meal generally centered on a large roasted turkey. Thanksgiving is the largest eating event in the United States as measured by retail ...
for lone soldiers. Hundreds of lone soldiers show up for the event to eat turkey together and watch
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
. In 2013, the event was held in conjunction with the Israel Forever foundation.


Advising

The Lone Soldier Center has a team of trained advisors, all of whom are themselves former lone soldiers. Tziki Aud is the group's senior advisor. Advisors offer counsel to lone soldiers before, during, and after their service, giving them information on everything from how to adequately prepare for the service to how to handle the emotional stresses of the army to how to find a job after being released.


Leadership and staff

The Lone Soldier Center is led by a professional staff of twenty, and over 300 volunteers, many of whom were lone soldiers themselves. Board members have included historian and Ambassador
Michael Oren Michael Bornstein Oren (; born Michael Scott Bornstein; May 20, 1955) is an American-Israeli diplomat, writer, and politician. He is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States (2009–2013), former member of the Knesset for the Kul ...
, as well as Prof
Moshe Ben Bassat
and Ari Abramowtiz.


References


External links

*{{official website, http://lonesoldiercenter.com
''Montel Entertains Lone Soldiers in Jerusalem''
Jewishpress.com, 2011/11/02
''Lone Soldiers Mark Thanksgiving in Israel''
Jta.org. 2011/11/24
''Jewish Week remembers Michael and salutes Lone Soldier Center''
The Jewish Week, 2015/07/30 Organizations established in 2009 2009 establishments in Israel Military of Israel Charities based in Israel Lone soldiers in the Israeli military