Teaming up

“Volunteers replaced some of the staff at major bakeries in Jerusalem to keep up the bread supply.”

Interview with Natan Ilani, taken November 20, 2023

By Eli Lederhendler

Natan Ilani, a university student working toward an MA in psychology at The Hebrew University, arrived at the Hamal—the Jerusalem Civilian Command Center (JCCC)—on the third day after the war broke out. The JCCC was still in the process of being organized and he was assigned to set up and help deploy large groups of volunteers. The point was to send groups out into the city to places that needed a large and steady volunteer work force, sometimes on a daily basis. He later became leader of the team organizing large groups of volunteers.

How does it work? What have been typical large-group work assignments?

“We’re talking about entire high school classes, or pre-army ‘gap year’ programs, offering to volunteer. Such large groups were needed, especially in the initial days of the war, for two basic kinds of work.”

Natan explains that, because Hamas caught Israel by surprise, civil defense was one of those two priorities. Making bomb shelters fit for use was one important priority. Scattered throughout the city in different apartment blocks and neighborhoods, shelters are generally left unmaintained during peacetime. Tenants use them as storerooms, so household items need to be cleared out, rubbish disposed of, sinks and toilets checked for running water, and light fixtures repaired.

“Bomb shelters are a responsibility of the municipal administration,” Natan says, “but they called on us for help.” The urgency and the scale of the work simply overwhelmed civic authorities, and groups of young people were kept very busy. As rocket-warning sirens resounded in and near Jerusalem every few hours in the first days, and, in the ensuing period, every week or two, the bomb shelters had to be made ready at a moment’s notice.

“The second kind of work for large teams involved vital services. For example, volunteers replaced some of the staff at major bakeries in Jerusalem, to keep up the bread supply for the city. The falloff in staff at the bakeries was mostly due to the security lockdown imposed in Palestinian centers adjacent to Jerusalem, where many bakery workers live. Other workers were absent because they had been mobilized for army reserve duty.” The volunteers stepped in to keep the bread supply running.

“Hotels, too, had many absent workers,” Natan adds. Hotels were quickly turned into temporary housing for the thousands of civilian families being evacuated from the most vulnerable and war-damaged parts of the southern coast and Gaza border area, augmented by those evacuated from the northern border areas. Hotels were left with a skeleton staff, and volunteers filled the gap.

Regarding a lack of staff, he adds, “The same problem plagued many residences for the elderly— assisted living and nursing homes. We sent groups of volunteers to help where needed.”

What motivates the team?

Natan recalls that his first impulse was to find something to do—some way to help. “I couldn’t just sit home and wallow in the bad news. It was important to do something to help.”

Although he arrived along with two other friends, these two were mobilized for reserve duty. Without a pre-existing network of volunteers, he quickly adapted to building a team with people he was meeting for the first time. The need for a large working staff tapered off after the initial weeks.

The large volunteer teams set up by Natan’s section were sent in, at first, as a stop-gap measure in the hope that, over time, the hotels and bakeries would find alternative solutions. It was hoped that the bomb shelters, too, would reach a state of preparation and full usability within a relatively short time.

“Still, we keep finding people who needed our help, and the team is still geared up to undertake new assignments.”

He adds, “Although we no longer need to respond quickly with massive numbers of people, lots of volunteers keep contacting us. Don’t forget, even under normal conditions, there are often situations that call for social action and volunteering is always necessary as a way of helping out those in need.”

What could be considered the main successes so far?

Natan is proud of what the team was able to do with the bomb shelter operation. This was a potentially life-saving priority.

“In general, it has worked very well across the board. Our challenge is to identify where the ongoing needs still exist, how to get the right solution up and running, and how to mobilize groups of people to take care of those needs.”

What about the large teams being sent to volunteer in the countryside to do agricultural labor? The farming sector, which employs a relatively high percentage of foreign workers, has suffered a drastic labor shortage due to the departure of most foreign workers during the war. Foreign workers are also among those who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.

“We are here in the city, dealing with Jerusalem’s needs,” Natan points out, “so farming isn’t part of our local focus. What we do when groups from schools or university students want to pitch in with harvesting crops is to refer them to the national umbrella organization—the national Hamal—which coordinates volunteer workers looking for agricultural assignments.”