By Arkady Hasidovich, Kesher Coordinator
Partnership 2000 Yokneam-Meggido ---

David Ben Gurion once said: “Each soldier must look upon himself as if the fate of the entire campaign depends on him”. This is especially true when there are only two soldiers fighting in the campaign and it is an information campaign waged abroad.  Yes two.  That is the number of emissaries sent by Yokneam-Megiddo Partnership 2000 to meet with the Jewish community of St. Louis.  But this time these are men from the field, who actually fought in Lebanon and know how to explain where Bint Jubail is and what the feeling is of being yanked from home for the sake of manning the front.

The two Yokneam residents chosen for this mission were Lior Applebaum, 43, a Captain and volunteer for reserve duty, who was inducted for 34 days of service and fought with the Alexandroni Brigade in the western sector deep in Lebanon; and Dudu Biton, 24, a reserve lieutenant who fought as commander of the D-9 platoon of the engineering corps in the eastern and western sectors.  This pair forms an extraordinary combination of two IDF reserve officers—one a family man, and the other a first-year student.  Both of them share a common experience.

The mission: To personally meet with the Jewish community of St. Louis and its various institutions—the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, professionals, volunteers, contributors, synagogues, public and private schools, student groups, young leadership, and Bayit Yisraeli as well.  And all this within one packed week, or, in other words, a total of 35 lectures, presentations, and workshops within seven days (not including official meals).

Lior, who in the past was a shaliach in US Jewish communities, is very familiar with the US Jewish experience.  But even he could not resist being moved by the responsiveness and identification exhibited by the St. Louis community.  Several times during his meetings in the community he recounted how, on the same day he was called up for duty, he promised his son he would return safe and sound for his bar mitzvah.  But in his heart he wondered if he would be able to live up to his promise.  “The Jewish community is very in touch with what’s going on in Israel; they follow the news and constantly receive updates.  But the personal story - of a father parting from his son, something that everyone can identify with and understand - that’s the best possible information campaign.”

The demand and the craving to hear of personal experiences, of the person behind the news reports, were beyond all expectations.  The halls were filled to capacity, despite the crucial baseball game being broadcast at the same time.  Community members flooded the speakers with questions and continued interrogating them even after they left the stage; sometimes it seemed like a nonstop succession of lectures and presentations.

Dudu, who for the first time had the experience of being a spokesperson abroad, was amazed by the warmth and sympathy with which the Jewish community embraced its guests.  One meeting especially impressed him: “On this day we visited a Jewish school, and a grade 3 student got up and described how he volunteered at a lemonade stand especially for the Lebanon War in order to raise funds for Israeli children suffering from the war.  I was so moved and simply amazed by this boy’s commitment, as a Jew living in St. Louis, to help and join the effort. We thanked him personally, as if his contribution was the most important of all. That’s how we felt.”

The emissaries thanked members of the community for their mobilization and assistance to Israel in general and the Yokneam-Megiddo region in particular.  On the other hand, the hosts mentioned several times that the true thanks are reserved for those Israelis serving at the front for the Jewish homeland. Among the hosts one stood out in particular—an elderly lady, a Holocaust survivor, who said emotionally how, in her opinion, the common Israeli standing on guard is performing a holy service that ensures the welfare of Jews throughout the world against the threat of a second Holocaust.

We at Partnership 2000 Yokneam-Megiddo have noted the success of this mission and will arrange for further personal missions of this type, which bring Israel and the Diaspora closer to one another other, in a way that is direct and immediate.