Israel 7,

March 20, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

Today was our last day with Sar-El at this base. The day started off as usual with breakfast, flag raising and the singing of Hatikva, the national anthem of Israel. Most of us returned to our regular jobs as we were now experienced in ‘quality control’ and ‘medical supply distribution’. I can not say that the jobs were particularly interesting, however, the spirit of the volunteers who came to Israel to help Israel in her time of need after Oct. 7, was unmatched in any other volunteer organization that I have witnessed. Also the respect and the thankfulness that we received from the Israelis was much appreciated. These people realize that all of us have busy lives in other countries, yet were willing and able to donate their time and energy when the need arose.

I finished the day off by running 7 km around the base in reasonable time. I took a different route than usual, cutting through the base where the regular soldiers live. I was allowed to take pictures as long as there were no soldiers present and no signs indicating the location of the base.

After supper we gave back the uniform and then had a group meeting with our commanding officers, 3 young and dedicated Israelis, 1 of whom was a Sabra (a person born in Israel) and the other 2 who had come as immigrants here. We were given tee-shirts, a certificate and a pin which can be stuck on our dog-tags. Each of us then had to give a small spontaneous talk of our experiences. As usual I had no trouble expressing my thoughts.

Tomorrow we will visit a museum and then return to Tel Aviv where I will stay at my beach front hotel. It is Purim which according to my Hebrew teacher will be party time in downtown Tel Aviv and hopefully we will meet up for drinks. I will swim in the Med, run 5 km on the boardwalk, take some sunshine and enjoy my ‘leave’ from the IDF.

Love,

Brian

Israel 6,

March 19, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

It rained all night and continued doing so this morning so unfortunately the flag raising ceremony was cancelled. We had breakfast and went to work. My partner and I were assigned the same job of packing medical supplies. We have gotten it down to a serious manufacturing speed with union coffee breaks at scheduled times. We are an unofficial union with 2 members. Yesterday we packed 300 supply bags and today with our unique coordination we packed over 350 in a shorter length of time. They told us that we will be moved to another section tomorrow. Our reputation for speed has gotten around and we are in high demand.

I wasted some time after work as my hotspot didn’t work. Once I got to the right person, it took 1 minute to fix. It was cold today so I was able to drum up a winter type jacket. My colleagues were jealous as there are not enough of them to go around.

We will work tomorrow but we will go to a museum on Thursday. We have a big clean up to do on Wed before embarking on Thursday.

Love,

Brian

Israel 5,

March 18, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

I woke up to nice weather and had breakfast in the main dining room. We had flag raising and everyone sang Hatikva. The army girls then presented us with our volunteer, blue shoulder straps that we wear proudly on the base. They then give you the customary light punch on the shoulder welcoming you as a member of the IDF. Wow.

We were given our daily tasks. Yesterday I was Director of Quality Control of medical supplies, including medicines. It is a nice we of saying that I separated supplies that were out dated from supplies that were still good and then re-packaged them. Today, I was Quartermaster of the Medical Supply Distribution. This means that I packed certain items in plastic bags to be used by the medic team on the battlefield. Today I brought my radio to work and to the delight of the Israelis, we listened to Elvis and 60s music.

After finishing work at 4:00, I ran a 5k around the base in about 35 minutes.

After supper our army girls ran an Israeli based discussion to hear our views of Israel and for them to tell us theirs. It was thought provoking.

Love,

Brian

Israel 4,

March 17, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

Last evening I went out to eat with my Tel Aviv Hebrew tutor and his lovely girlfriend. We went to an upscale Israeli restaurant with the usual young crowd that we see at restaurants. I don’t know where people of my age hang out in the evenings. I certainly was the oldest customer there. This was a sharing type restaurant so I asked Elior to pick the different dishes. We drank a great Bordeaux wine of my choosing. I entertained them with my usual stories of how I met my wife in France and how Dominique got pregnant with the twins.

This morning we were all up bright and early for breakfast. Several pre-arranged buses picked us up at the hotel and brought us to the airport. There we were give our final instructions as to which group we would be with and which base we would be volunteering on. We also were given dog tags, a rather sobering moment I felt. I am staying on an army base 20 km south of Tel Aviv, well away from any action. There have not been rocket attacks here.

When we arrived here we were assigned 3 very young female soldiers in whose care we would be. They are very charming and helpful. We were given instructions of what we can and can not do. This does not seem to be too restrictive. I can write my blog and take pictures as long as I avoid taking pictures of soldiers and sensitive army equipment and be discrete about what I write. There is no censorship. We were given IDF uniforms with a special insignia that distinguishes us from the real military. I believe that my white hair may also be a distinguishing factor. We were also assigned rooms in a barracks. We are either 2 or 3 volunteers per room.

We had a get together at the beginning and end of the day to introduce ourselves. Most of the volunteers are American with a few Canadians, French, Argentinians, Germans, and Norwegians. The atmosphere is very friendly and up beat. When we presented ourselves we had to give our reasons for coming here. Some had been with this organization before. Everyone came to help Israel in her hour of need after Oct. 7.

Lunch was pretty good and plentiful. There is no alcohol allowed on the base. I have rarely had a meal without wine in 50 years. In the afternoon, we were give our assignments. I worked with an American sorting medical supplies. It was the type of job that my mother warned me I would have if I didn’t study and go to university. It was a shame, as much of the equipment as well as many medicines were out dated and had to be thrown away. This is a terrible waste.

Love,

Brian

Israel 3,

March 16,2024,

Hi Everyone,

It is always somewhat difficult to get used to a 6 hour time change. Coming to Israel and sleeping more or less on a 10 hour flight was no different. The seats and the space between the seats gets progressively smaller and inversely proportional to the inflated airline prices. Nevertheless, I should not complain as El-Al is the only airline to keep ferrying paying customers into a war zone with no interruption of service.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day walking up and down the beach. There is a boardwalk extending for miles along the sea. The boardwalk is lined with expensive and medium priced hotels. There is an endless supply of restaurants, snack bars and cafes to choose from. Young men and women are jogging on the boardwalk and on the sand. Volleyball is the favourite game here and there are dozens of nets where people play. Everyone is having fun on a warm spring day away from the war.

Further down the cost is Gaza. It has the exact same sandy beaches. In 75 years they have managed to build, no hotels, no restaurants, no cafes, no snack bars, no boardwalks and no volley ball nets. There is of course a tunnel system that could be used for a future metro. If I owned 10 meters of sandy beach on the Mediterranean, even with my poor investment knowledge, I certainly would know what to do to bring in the tourist dollar.

I woke up late today and had my first good night sleep in a week. I had breakfast at the hotel and chatted with several people who had just finished their first week of volunteering. I am excited to start tomorrow. I got a call from my cousin who had made Aliyah some 20 years ago. We drove to a Memorial Square for the kidnapped men, women and children. It is very sad. Their pictures were posted on a wall and there is a tunnel, mock-up which you can go through and write some words of encouragement. My cousin bought me a ‘bring them home’ tee shirt written in Hebrew and a similar supportive dog tag. We then went back to her house for lunch where I met her charming family. They will be coming to Montreal this summer.

Every house, apartment and hotel has a bomb shelter or safe room. Theirs is no exception. We went down into the basement which is an unfinished room with cots and some kids designs on the walls. The atmosphere was damp and there was some water leakage. The family takes shelter in the room when the sirens go off which has happened many times. I still can’t understand why ‘they’ make ‘us’ live this way. I can still remember my father saying to me ‘children don’t hate, adults hate, adults teach children to hate’.

This evening I will meet my Hebrew tutor at the hotel and we will go out for dinner.

Love,

brian

Israel 2,

March 16, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

I flew from Montreal to New York and then to Tel Aviv yesterday. The flight was uneventful, the food was pretty good, except that I had to keep asking for a refill of my wine glass. I hope that the airplane did not run out of wine because of me.

I am staying in a downtown hotel on the beach with a beautiful roof top terrace with a view on the beach. Many of the guests here at the hotel are volunteers with the same program as mine. We all ship out tomorrow to our respective army bases. The army bus will pick us up at 8:45.

It is spring here, 20C and was quite breezy yesterday. There was 20K of wind and there were a lot of boats out. As the bumper sticker says ‘I would rather be sailing’. The water was rough with no swimming signs, but that did not stop people from going into the water.

Last night I was invited for Shabbat dinner by a lady who takes care of MDA ambulance volunteers. I might be able to do that later in my trip. Here at the hotel I have met people from all over the word, not all of whom are Jewish.

Tel Aviv is a wonderful city. I will write about it later as I get to see it more. The city seems to be running normally; you wouldn’t know that there was a war going on. On the other hand, Hezbollah fired 250 rockets into the north of Israel. They obviously have not had enough yet.

Love,

Brian

Israel 1,

March 15, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

When the war started on Oct. 7, I volunteered immediately. It took several weeks to get everything in place. I still am working part time and needed to re-organize my office and the hospital. 

I could not look myself in the mirror one more time until I had a place secured in Israel. I will be working on an army base and perhaps as an ambulance technician afterwards. I will have an IDF uniform and dog tags.

It is unfortunate, but the world is against us again. Jew, Jewish, Israeli and Zionist are all the same for most people. The vicious anti-semitism, cloaked as anti-Zionism has been brought to the forefront. There are pro-Palestinian demonstrations everyday in Canada. ‘Free Palestine’…. was it free before with Hamas ruling. ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’….where will the Israelis go? ‘Death to the Jews’…. no translation necessary.

Everyday we see statistics on the number of Palestinians killed. We never see daily stats on the number of Ukrainians, Congolese, Ethiopians, Yemenites and Rohingyans killed? Where are the pro….demonstrations for these unfortunate people? There are major conflicts all over the globe with millions of people killed every year. If the Palestinians were not fighting the ‘Jews’ would anyone support them?

I am following my beliefs and doing what for me is the right thing to do. This has nothing to do with religion as I am a confirmed atheist. Israel has a right to exist even if I don’t live there. Some people have even asked me, ‘if Israel went to war against Canada, which side would you be on’?  My answer is simple; my father spent 6 years in the Canadian army fighting for freedom and was a D-Day veteran. What did your father do? Most people can’t answer that simple question. Unfortunately, 75 years after the war, Israel, a Jewish and mostly secular country is forced to defend itself. 

Israel is 15 km wide. A tank can drive across it in 15 minutes. It is surrounded by 1 billion Arabs. It has no friendly borders. The Arabs can loose 100 wars. Their countries will still exist. If Israel looses 1 war, the Israelis will be driven into the sea and no country will come to their rescue.

I stand with Israel.

Brian

Jackson Hole 7,

Feb. 3, 2024,

Hi Everyone

It was an epic day today except that I couldn’t see any of it. It snowed 3 inches last night and we had a light snowfall all day today. Unfortunately, the fog hadn’t lifted from yesterday and with the mild temp of 5C it was comparatively worse. I started rather late hoping that the fog would lift but was disappointed. Inevitably, I stopped skiing early which is quite rare for me. The fog resembled the same fog that I had experienced in Whistler, 20 years ago when I skied off a cliff… Needless to say, I was very conservative in my choice of downhill runs. Tree skiing was out of the question for all of the brave skiers.

I fly tomorrow at 7:00 am so it will be an early night for me as the taxi will pick me up at 5:00. I have a last dinner tonight with the docs.

Love,

Brian

Jackson Hole 6,

Feb 2, 2024,

Hi Everyone,

It snowed about 3 inches today. Visibility was 0. I started the day on my carving skis and then switched to my semi-powder skis in the afternoon. The snow was wet and heavy compared to the hard packed surface yesterday. It was difficult to differentiate between the bumps so I stayed on the blue-black groomers. I have had 2 no fall days in row so maybe my skiing is improving with my CARV lady’s constant instructions. I have it set up so she gives me a turn by turn comment on my skiing. It’s like skiing with a private coach. By the way, a private ski instructor costs $1700 Can a day. Maybe I should change professions!!

I had a chill this evening so I decided to eat dinner at the hotel bar and try for a no alcohol meal. Great, at the end of the meal they offered me a shot of lemonade gin and orange vodka. I tried…

Love,

Brian

Jackson Hole 5,

Feb. 1 2024,

Hi Everyone,

I am sitting at the bar in the Mangy Mouse, bar-restaurant , an apres ski, in type place. I like to sit at the bar when I am alone because I can talk to anyone sitting beside me (male of female) who is in the same situation as me. I have been here many times with my kids for an apres ski pitcher of beer and natchos. The place is typically American, a barn type atmosphere, with a fire place, country and western music and flat screens on several walls. There is a ground floor and a balcony with tables and chairs. The place caters to a 20-30 something crowd so I blend right in. The menu is pretty simple with the standard fare being hamburgers, ribs or nachos. I took a picture of my burger which you can see below. I think that it will take me 2 days to eat it.

The skiing today was hard packed with sunny skies making the trails somewhat icy. My CARV lady was not too happy with my style. My day schedule was not too different from yesterday and probably the same as tomorrow. (Sounds like a song that I should write.)

Love,

Brian