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"Another grandson of the grandmother": the families who accompany the lone soldiers
Shlomi Abergel returned to the question, enlisted and moved away from his biological family.
Realizing that he lacked a supportive shoulder and a sympathetic ear, the Lone Soldier Center helped him locate an accompanying family, and he became an integral part of it.
"You help them make dreams come true and believe in people again," says the mother of the family
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The Center for Lone Soldiers
In collaboration with the Michael Levin Center for Lone Soldiers
Monday, 23 November 2020, 16:15
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Shlomi Abergel and the Gal family (Photo: PR)
No lone soldier is left.
The main contribution to lone soldiers with no family support and helped to enter
Israel there are thousands of individual soldiers for various reasons no contact with their families.
Some are ultra-Orthodox who have left the community and the family refuses to recognize them, and some are young people at risk who come from different backgrounds.
Those lone soldiers, defined as having no family backbone, need a supportive shoulder and an accompanying family.
If 'ordinary' soldiers feel confused after their military service, the lone soldier has many more question marks about the continuation of his life.
The Center for the Remembrance of Michael Levin to Assist Lone Soldiers currently has about 20 escort families.
These families opened their homes to lone soldiers and allowed them to find a warm corner, a listening ear and especially a sense of belonging.
By lone soldiers who accompany families have a place to reach vacations, holidays and Saturdays. The center performs a lengthy adjustment process until the family is perfect for every soldier. Due to sources, there are now quite a lot of soldiers who are still waiting to connect with families accompanying them have been coordinated.
Family've experienced In this process, it is the Gal family - Avivit, Arieh and their three sons, who adopted two lone soldiers, the first of whom was Shlomi Abergel. "Until the age of 24, I grew up in an ultra-Orthodox home and after I left, I enlisted.
The main feeling I remember from this period is severe loneliness.
I had no one to talk to.
I arrived at the center and talked to the coordinator of the lone Israeli soldiers, who had no family back home and she was lovely.
Later, I connected with all the activities of the association. "
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Shlomi Abergel during the service (Photo: PR)
No lone soldier is left.
For the donations of the center to lone soldiers without a family backing, come in and help
after he came out with the question, Shlomi was not in touch with his biological family: " "That it will have an effect on the education of my little sisters. They said they would not tell me how to live, but asked me not to do it indoors and put a lot of pressure on me to leave. So as soon as I had an alternative, I moved to Eilat and the physical separation created emotional separation."
As a result, Shlomi began to feel the need for an alternative.
"We were at the home of an accompanying family who told her story together with the lone soldier she accompanied. On the one hand it fascinated me and on the other hand I was afraid because it was a very significant step. I needed the courage to take the first step, but I knew it would help me."
With the help of the center, Shlomi set out on the search process and finally an introductory meeting was held between him and the Gal family.
"It was a great meeting ... we sat for three hours and connected" he recalled the day he opened a new chapter in his life that included shared Friday meals, trips and more.
"This is a warm family that gave me a home and love and the relationship with it provided me with a lot of support, advice and guidance."
Members of the Gal family: Ortal, Arie, Avivit, Ziv, Nir and Niv (Photo: PR)
Avivit Gal says that the idea to become an accompanying family came from Maria, who came across an article about the Center for Lone Soldiers as part of his work.
Their two sons are close in age to Shlomi and they were all in favor of the move.
"When reading articles about lone soldiers, especially former ultra-Orthodox, it is impossible not to notice that they are at an important crossroads in their lives and apart from the charming association that helps them in everything, there is no one to support them. We wanted to give them what we give our children.
The connection between Shlomi, who at that time completed an officers' course, and the Gal family was immediate and over time the connection grew stronger.
"He knows he has our family backing for any deliberation. We were with him in all the processes after he was released and we talked about topics like work, spouse, studies, buying a car and more," says the mother of the family.
According to her, Shlomi became part of the family circle, "a kind of grandson to another grandmother."
Later, he managed to build an independent life for himself with the help of the close guidance he received.
"I recommend more families to be accompanied because that way you can restore their trust in people. You bring them closer to you and help them fulfill themselves and their dreams."
Shlomi made a change in his life (Photo: PR)
Avivit adds that for her family, Shlomi's accompaniment allowed them to understand the complexity of many young people in the ultra-Orthodox community.
In addition, it gave them happiness and satisfaction to provide a warm home and emotional support to a lone soldier.
"The fact that our children received Shlomi with love and giving, as one of their brothers, is amazing to me."
Shlomi himself also knows: "The connection with the Gal family helped me build who I am today, in terms of education, worldview and make good decisions about my future. It was the family nest that contributed greatly to the sense of security and stable ground under my feet. Protects you and helps you succeed. "
Today, thanks in no small part to those deep conversations with the Gal family, Shlomi also renewed his connection with his biological family: "I have no doubt that the process he went through with us gave him the strength to return to being in a strong and warm relationship with them," Avivit concludes.
No lone soldier is left.
For donations from the Center for Lone Soldiers without a Family Back Home, go in and help
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