Friends of the IDF raised more than $1 million at its “2024 FIDF MidAtlantic Region Am Yisrael Chai Forever Night of Solidarity” in Washington, D.C., on June 11.
More than 700 community members from across the region came out to support the soldiers currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces.
The sold-out event featured several speakers from the IDF, and the group honored Alex Hammer, a social worker from the Jewish Social Service Agency, who facilitates a monthly support group for parents of Lone Soldiers.
“It needed to be a major experience for people and needed to be meaningful. People needed that feeling of togetherness and wholeness and to really feel like they were not alone. And we wanted the whole community to really feel that that they were in a safe space to be a proud Zionist, a proud Jew or a proud non-Jew,” said Jennifer Scher, the FIDF MidAtlantic Region vice president.
The event took more than four months to put together, with a lengthy guest approval process and strict security measures, which included vetting people that registered to attend and not sharing the location until after that vetting was completed.
The heightened security was, in part, due to the high-profile people attending and speaking, including several high-ranking soldiers, FIDF representatives and Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan-Nahoum.
Those guests were part of what Scher said was a diverse event that included Jews and non-Jews who support Israel and the IDF, regardless of identity.
“It wasn’t one demographic; it wasn’t one religious affiliation; it wasn’t one political affiliation. People were like, ‘Wow, everyone is here from all different kinds of corners of life,’” Scher said.
The event began with an hour of a “strolling dinner”, where people ate and talked to each other. Scher said that there was a lot of hugging and joy.
The group then moved to the formal programming, listening to Hassan-Nahoum and soldiers speak, honoring Hammer, and holding a ceremony to read four letters from fallen soldiers.
FIDF was eager to honor Hammer for his work supporting Lone Soldier parents, which is a major function of FIDF’s local work.
Scher said that there were 60 Lone Soldier families from the Greater Washington region. The programming for those families stepped up significantly after Oct. 7, since many of the soldiers are on the front lines.
Hammer became involved after the FIDF partnered with JSSA, which offered him as a social worker to facilitate a support group for parents that meets once a month.
“He has given all of his love to these parents and created the space for them to dialogue and to share about the fears and to share about their pride and about courage,” Scher said. “They’ve really bonded as a result, and they really felt supported by FIDF and by the community really deeply since Oct. 7.”
Scher said the speakers were powerful and provided an insight into the realities of the war.
“There’s a power in having the direct story told, to be a witness, to say this is what’s really happening. These are the experiences. And not only does the community want to support those who are on the front lines, nobody sees it as their story, we only see this as our story,” Scher said.
She added that it’s critical to share firsthand stories and that it’s part of spreading awareness.
Scher said that sharing stories of difficult times is also part of what it means to be a Jew — as a people who share the same stories every year, passing it down through generations.
“This is our generation’s Exodus. This is our story. This is what’s happening to us, and this is what our children and our grandchildren are going to know,” Scher said.
The event also helps soldiers in Israel because the money raised will go toward delivering supplies and sponsoring programs with Sheba Medical Center to help treat mental health problems caused by the conflict.
“When the soldiers come out of Gaza, they get what we call a soldier recharge,” Scher said. “Where they come out and we actually take care of them. There’s not just food and fresh gear, but [workers] they’re looking for initial signs of PTSD.”
Scher said the program enables PTSD cases to be caught early on and for impacted soldiers to be pulled out, which allows them to receive treatment before it becomes a larger problem.