Grandma with two IDF lone soldiers in family reflects on shared values

Phyllis, far right, and the extended Solomon gang. 

By Phyllis Chancy Solomon

As a member of the Sapphire Society and co-chair of Women for Israel in Central New Jersey, I often think about my journey with JNF and how I got to where I am today. Many people planted the seeds. 

Emma, the bat mitzvah. 

My parents, Ben and Ceil Chancy, were ardent Zionists involved in organizations supporting Israel pre-1948. I remember my mother sewing layettes with her friends for the babies emigrating from Europe to Israel and the joy my mom and dad felt in reaching across the world with their love and compassion. My husband, Herb, had a strong desire to visit Israel and join, work, and support all causes Israeli. He was the driving force that ignited our family's interest. 

And, of course, there's the JNF family, and in particular Vivian Grossman, who walked me through my first JNF trip and continues to provide support and guidance as I take on new responsibilities. 

How disabled Israeli soldiers are aiding the Nepal earthquake rescue effort

Special in Uniform IDF soldiers prepare packets of medical supplies for a field hospital in Nepal's capital Kathmandu. 

By Leslie Katz

In a cavernous warehouse of an Israeli army base, Israel Defense Force soldiers busily assemble packets of medical supplies. Surgical tape. Tubes for intravenous drips.

Soon, the packets -- boxes and boxes of them -- will be shipped off to earthquake-ravaged Nepal, where the IDF's first humanitarian mission aircraft landed Monday night to assist in search and rescue and set up a field hospital to help treat the thousands injured since a deadly quake struck Kathmandu Saturday. 

That the IDF is providing humanitarian assistance in a natural-disaster zone beyond Israel's borders is hardly unusual – in 2013, the country dispatched aid workers to the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan, and in 2010, to quake-devastated Haiti, among other missions over the years. Noteworthy here are the soldiers working so hard in that warehouse lined with ceiling-high shelves of emergency supplies. They are members of the JNF-supported "Special in Uniform" program, which integrates young people with disabilities into the IDF.