Jacob Frisch – Kibbutz Lavi 2013

"we had someone who truly could understand what we went through, chances were, they faced similar challenges that week as well, coming back to Kibbutz Lavi on my off weekends truly felt like coming home"

 “At the age of 17 I took a trip to Poland, standing in a gas chamber in Auschwitz touching the blue stained walls I swore to make Aliyah and serve in the Israeli army so this may never again. As I started to prepare for my army service, I thought ahead to what sort of challenges I may face as a future IDF lone soldier the obvious were physical and the language. I started working out and improved my Hebrew. There was one challenge however that I never could anticipate, my support network of friends and family were still back in the states and none of them could understand the challenges of being a soldier.

When telling the folks back home stories half the time I was explaining army terminology instead of what happened or how I felt about it. The other soldiers on Kibbutz Lavi and I started as strangers but through Perek Klita we quickly became family, We relied on each other for comfort and friendship. when we went through hard times in the army, we had someone who truly could understand what we went through, chances were, they faced similar challenges that week as well.

My host Family was incredible, even though they had seven children still had enough love to adopt me and send me back to the army with a box of homemade cookies.  Coming back to Kibbutz Lavi on my off weekends truly felt like coming home. Even now after my service when I visit my adoptive family on kibbutz the smell of cow still invokes homely feelings.”