Teenager Spearheading Drive to Send Gear to Israel

With Israel reeling from last weekend’s horrific Hamas attacks, 18-year-old Yonatan Bodner “wanted to do something” to help. The American teenager is currently spending his post-high school gap year studying at EFG@Aish (formerly known as Gesher) in Jerusalem’s Old City. In an Aish.com exclusive interview, Yonatan explained how he and his family and friends are working to help Israel in its hour of need.

Yonatan Bodner on the rooftop of Aish

On Saturday night, October 8, at the conclusion of the Simchat Torah holiday in Israel, Yonatan - like Orthodox Jews all over the world who avoided using their phones and computers over the holiday weekend - read the news on his phone and grasped the enormity of the attacks that had been rocking Israel since that previous morning. He sprung into action.

Aiding Israeli Soldiers

Yonatan spoke on the phone with his older brother Ike in Tel Aviv. When Yonatan and his five siblings were young, his family spent several years living in Israel. His older brother Ike never left and served in Israel’s Air Force, and now lives in the Jewish State with his wife. Ike mentioned that some of his friends who are currently serving in Israel’s military could use some extra supplies: perhaps Yonatan could help ask for donations?

The Bodner Clan (sister-in-law blurred due to security issues)

The need is great. Israel mobilized 360,000 reservists, putting them on active duty over a 48-hour period. With so many soldiers suddenly on active duty, some units have found themselves stretched for supplies. Asking for donations for Israel’s active duty soldiers to supplement their equipment seemed an ideal way to help.

“We wanted to collect as much equipment as possible in America and bring it over to Israel,” Yonatan explains. “We didn’t think it would be this big.”

Tapping into Jewish Networks

Yonatan and his brother set up an online donation site and crafted a text to send to friends. They asked for people to either donate funds that could be used to purchase equipment, or else bring equipment themselves to Yonatan’s mom’s house back home in New York. “Everything counts” their text read, noting that soldiers particularly needed gear such as sleeping bags, headlamps, G-Shock watches, tactical flashlights, first aid kids, battery chargers, and wearable water canteens.

Yonatan sent the text to everyone in his phone contact list, and it snowballed into reaching 7000 contacts. Other people forwarded his text to friends, who forwarded it in turn to their friends. Yonatan asked his mom to clear out her garage to accommodate any donations that might come in.

The Five Towns community propelled into action. People began dropping off supplies and gear, the local stores emptied their entire inventories to individuals who were lined up out their doors,  and made deliveries directly to our home. They reached out to their suppliers to do the same. Hundreds of volunteers from around the tristate area arrived to help.

Within hours, it became obvious that this project was going viral. A garage - even several garages - would no longer be enough to accommodate all the donations that were pouring in.

Ike and his father Moshe on Ike's IAF base

Moshe Bodner, Yonatan’s dad, forwarded Yonatan’s text to his own friends too. He recalls the moment he knew his son’s project was taking off. “I woke up the Monday morning after they launched this project. By the time I got to the office this thing had blown up… It was going crazy.” Moshe realized that his family needed a much larger storage space. He phoned up a friend who works as a caterer, and the friend instantly volunteered his truck and warehouse.

Incredible response

Within a day, Yonatan and his family secured additional warehouses too. “Now we have a couple of warehouses in New York and New Jersey, and we plan to have locations in other states,” Yonatan explains.

Working with El Al

Ike and his best friend, Baruch “Bucky” Apisdorf were on the phone with El Al, Israel’s flagship airline, negotiating ways to transport the massive amounts of donations he was receiving from the New York area to Israel. The young men found themselves running a major charity. They learned that El Al is flying special chartered flights to Israel right now to bring vital equipment. It’s pricey to transport goods: with all the taxes and fees required, Yonatan estimates that it costs about $40,000 to send a shipment of goods to Israel.

Within three hours of launching the project, Yonatan and his family raised $200,000 for their project, which they’ve dubbed “Soldiers Save Lives: In Memory of David Newman”. David grew up in the Old City was Ike and Bucky's close friend. He was murdered by Hamas that Shabbat morning. (They are collecting all donations through CauseMatch in partnership with Chayal to Chayal to make sure they comply with all charitable requirements.) Now he is trying to raise even more, both to fund future flights and to purchase even more equipment.

Volunteers are mobilized

“Monday night we sent between 200 and 300 bags,” his father explains. A team of volunteers spent all day packing the large duffel bags with vital equipment and toiletries. “My son hired a professional logistics expert,” he notes with wonder. Within hours, Yonatan, his parents Moshe Bodner and Amy Bodner, his siblings and friends have created a major new charitable concern. In Israel Yonatan has mobilized scores of students to help collect funds and distribute gear.

“You Jews are Amazing”

As word has continued to spread about “Soldiers Save Lives,” Moshe has noticed that more and more people in his area of suburban New York are getting involved. When he spoke with Aish.com, he said, “Right now, we’re unloading a huge truck we got from Teaneck,” a heavily Jewish suburb in New Jersey. Numerous Jewish schools and synagogues have started their own drives for equipment, and are delivering them to the Bodners. “It seems like everybody’s working together.”

Moshe notes that in his area, big chain stores are running out of tactical gear as local Jews buy them to send to Israel. “Somebody said, ‘wow, all these Jews are buying everything.’” In some cases, small independent store owners donate goods themselves and moving companies have volunteered to transport goods. Scores of local students have volunteered their time to sort and pack goods for shipping.

Off to Israel

Moshe’s employers told him to take a day off to help work on the project. “I’ve been sitting on a computer all day tracking donations,” he notes. Moshe has always displayed an Israeli flag in his office. His coworkers have requested that he bring Israeli flags for everyone. Moshe’s non-Jewish colleagues have been impressed with the way the local Jewish community has come together. “’Wow, you guys are amazing,’ they’ve told me.”

Everyone Can Reach Out and Help

Rabbi Dovid Rosman, the director of EFG@Aish, says, “I’m not surprised that Yonatan has spearheaded this effort. The students here inculcate the value of taking responsibility for the Jewish People.”

Yonatan observes that “a lot of kids want to know what they can do” in Israel’s hour of need. Yonatan advises people to reach out and try to aid those around them, without worrying about whether or not they’ll be successful. “Remember that a lot of people around you want to contribute.” If you show other people a way to volunteer, donate, help or give, people will likely be grateful for your help.

“Whatever you contribute is meaningful,” Yonatan explains. “The whole Jewish nation wants to help. If they see you helping, they’ll want to back you up.”