New Jerusalem Lone Soldier Center Opens on Michael Levin’s Yartzheit
The new Jerusalem Lone Soldiers' Center officially opened on Michael Levin's 10th Yartzheit.
New Lone Soldier Center in Jerusalem
Photo Credit: The Lone Soldier Center
Thursday, August 11th marked 10 years since Michael
Levin, a lone soldier who made Aliyah from Philadelphia, was killed
fighting in the Second Lebanon War.
Michael is remembered by the many American and Israelis
he touched, for being small in size, at just over five feet tall, but a
giant in his actions, smile and the deeds that defined him.
According to Michael’s mother Harriet, “Michael was
deeply impacted by his grandfather, a Holocaust survivor who lost his
entire family. Michael always viewed the protection of the Jewish
people, as a driving force in his life. Once he first set foot in Israel
on a high school trip, and was surrounded by Jewish life, Jewish
culture and Israelis speaking Hebrew, part of me knew that my baby would
never come back home, that Israel would be his place”.
Michael’s tragic passing set into
motion a community-wide, grass roots effort, on the part of his fellow
soldiers and especially other lone soldiers who served or lived with
Michael in Jerusalem, to establish the Lone Soldier Center in memory of
Michael Levin.
The Lone Soldier Center has grown each year, powered by
volunteers and discharged lone soldiers, to become a country-wide
network of Centers and homes for lone soldiers in cities across Israel,
home-away-from-home for thousands of lone soldiers.
On Michael’s yartzheit, Michael’s family and hundreds
of friends gathered to pay their respects at his grave on Mt. Herzl
Military Cemetery.
Michael Levin’s parents at his grave on his 10th Yartzheit.
From Mt. Herzl, the group went on to the official Opening
of the Lone Soldier Center’s new Jerusalem home – a 3,200 square foot
moadon (“clubhouse”) in downtown Jerusalem, where hundreds of lone
soldiers can pass through on any given day.
The Center’s Director, Josh Flaster, a former lone soldier
himself added, “we are so excited to be moving into our new home. This
larger facility will allow the Center to host hundreds of lone soldiers
for Shabbat meals, to do their laundry and get help with any issues they
are facing, inside or outside of the IDF. The moadon serves as the
center of the community and support system for the more than 6,500 lone
soldiers who risk their lives to protect the State of Israel and the
Jewish people.”
The Lone Soldier Center fulfills Michael’s ideals and
vision, supporting thousands of lone soldiers from 52 countries around
the world who follow in Michael’s footsteps.
According to Michael’s former roommate, Ari, a lone soldier
himself from New York, “I remember Michael most for the way he would
always care first and foremost for his friends and roommates, for other
lone soldiers. While nothing can ever take away the pain of losing
Mikey, the legacy he left behind, of lone soldiers supporting the next
generation of lone soldiers, is a tremendous gift and comfort.”
Jewish Press Staff
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