30 Jul BOOTS FOR ISRAEL GOES CAMPING
We chase opportunities most of the time; sometimes, though, they follow us. This is the story of how Boots for Israel began as an idea that birthed an initiative that quickly grew into a movement.
Upon the arrival of summer, families escape to the Catskills to leave the hustles, bustles, and occasional tussles of city life behind. This summer, the first since Boots for Israel’s creation following Hamas’ barbaric Oct. 7th ambush on Israeli concert-goers and families, BFI set out on its own camping trip from Queens to Upstate New York in order to bring its increasingly popular boot-packing events to Camps Morasha, Moshava, and Dora Golding. Founded by Yakir Wachstock, the grassroots initiative was spontaneously formed after a random Oct. 11th phone call from Israeli General Daniel Jacob, who’d heard that there might be someone from Queens who could help his unit procure the tactical military-grade boots they desperately needed. From the initial shipment of 88 pairs, BFI was born and has since hit the ground running.
By this point in its nonstop journey, BFI has donated over 60,000 pairs of boots. Its miraculous growth has partially been enabled through boot-packing events that unite and engage entire communities, shuls, schools, and now camps. Every pair that is hand-packed, and every supportive note that is hand-written, will be in the hands of grateful chayalim within days, if not hours.
These dynamic chesed events, along with Yakir’s innumerable speaking engagements across the U.S., Canada, and Israel, has helped BFI grow from thought to action to impact. Following BFI’s ‘camping trip,’ Yakir’s speaking journey will take him to more granular territory, Atlantic Beach, for Shabbat on Aug. 5th.
Boots for Israel’s path to the Catskills imbued the camps’ daily activities with special meaning. On Moshava’s Visiting Day, campers and their families bonded as they packed 350 pairs; Dora Goldings’ campers assembled an impressive 650 pairs on their own, then dedicated part of their own Visiting Day to pack even more pairs with their parents. Morasha ran with the idea, hosting its own event and adding 500 pairs to BFI’s expedition.
The events were quite a hit, as campers kept returning to packing sites throughout the day-long activities to maintain mitzvah momentum; packing even more boots, writing even more notes of support for the chayalim, enthusiastically stuffing sometimes as many as five notes in one pair, slightly exceeding the norm of one note per pair.
Nearly every day since its inception, step by step, Yakir and a dedicated coterie of over 400 volunteers frenetically pack, send, and deliver tactical-grade army boots for those protecting our homeland. BFI has given American Jewry a fresh way of contributing, tangibly and collectively, to the future of the Jewish People. Each step taken symbolically mirrors those that are made across harsh Gazan terrain that rapidly erodes protective gear with, unfortunately, excessive use.
There are times when we wonder how we can make an impact in a world seemingly boundless in scope yet narrow in perspective. Boots for Israel has helped traverse the path toward our national destiny by granting additional meaning to lech lecha (walk to, and for, you) while spreading achdut along the way.
Speaking with Yakir, Moshava’s Rabbanit Shani Taragin praised Boots for Israel for uniting Jewry of all ages, sizes, and bunks in order to share and spread koach for Am Yisrael. Chayalim who were present for the event at Moshava (and wearing their new pairs of boots) expressed their need for such gear and gratitude for BFI’s support, which travels with them as they return to Israel for further missions.
It has been said that this year, no one needs to ask why the Jewish People fast due to a wall being breached. Mourning isn’t for its own sake, however, and is intended to inspire action. Boots for Israel’s moving story and ongoing efforts show the way. We know where we want to go; Boots for Israel has shown us how.