My mother was born in the Displaced Persons camp of Bergen-Belsen a few months before the State of Israel was declared and the British Mandate for Palestine ended. Her parents, who married in 1946, were denied permission to enter the land of Israel and they certainly weren't welcomed back to Hungary and Poland after the Jewish communities of Oradea and Ostrowce were destroyed. Eventually, they received permission to move to Canada with their baby, as some distant relatives signed as their sponsors – ensuring that these sole survivors would not be a burden on the flourishing Canadian economy.
Shortly thereafter, the Jewish State of Israel was reborn, opening its doors to any and all Jews. Rare is the Jew who is asked to prove that he will not be a burden on the Israeli social welfare system, not in the 1950s when Israel was rationing food, and not now, when Israel's special education system is a prime reason for aliyah. Not only are potential immigrants not required to have sponsors for economic reasons, but many don't know Hebrew and don't have friends or family in the country. Yet, they are encouraged to take the plunge and make Israel their home. It's special and beautiful that there is no screening process for Jews wishing to make aliyah or serve as lone soldiers.
However, in some cases, it is also dangerous.
Among the risks of immigrating without any friends or family is something no one in Israel likes to discuss – soldier suicides. It should not come as a surprise that serving in the military, sometimes seeing friends injured or killed, and sometimes having to shoot an enemy agent oneself, can trigger severe emotional responses. Other experiences, such as the lack of sleep, harsh physical demands, and tough military discipline, can also create distress. And, with all due respect, 19-year-old commanding officers are not equipped to spot the signs. Access to mental health personnel is not always easy and is often avoided out of fear a dishonorable discharge.
Some people are more susceptible to dangers such as depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and eating disorders. The IDF can access draftees' medical files and those with a history of depression or anxiety may be exempted from duty or placed in appropriate units. However, in the case of lone soldiers, medical history is often missing.
Additionally, lone soldiers hit a much harder wall when they serve. Cultural misunderstandings are commonplace. Language barriers aren't overcome as easily as expected. And then, when they get a few days off, they often go "home" to an empty apartment. No parent there to hug them, never mind to wash their uniforms. And, with time zone differences, even a long-distance smile isn't always available when they need it. No food in the fridge, until the soldier gets up the strength to shop. And then cook. If there was a leaky faucet on their previous leave, weeks ago, the inflated water bill is the lone soldier's problem. The road to depression in this situation is too often too short.
Mental health is a challenge for all soldiers. So is physical health. Medical staff respond to too many complaining soldiers with a casual "he's looking for a way out" rather than a comprehensive attempt to understand the situation. Soldiers have been dismissed for complaining when they had cancer, Crohn's disease or ruptured disks in their spines. Mental health issues are far more likely to be turned away instead of given the appropriate response and care.
While it is often possible for parents and friends who live in Israel, who recognize the severity of the soldier's needs, to put up a fuss, find a private doctor, and, when necessary, sue the IDF in order to ensure that their loved one receives the care he or she needs. On the other hand, lone soldiers might have no one here to notice their needs, never mind advocate for them. This is bad for the soldiers, bad for the IDF and bad for the country.
While I would not want to see Israel demand that all immigrants have financial sponsors, I see much wisdom in requiring them, especially lone soldiers, to have emotional sponsors sign for them before they come. These sponsors can be family, friends, an organization or community (such as those communities who run Lone Soldiers' Homes), a premilitary preparatory course or a hesder yeshiva. A potential lone soldier should have contacts ready, people who are willing and able to commit to providing use of a washing machine, some basic food shopping and cooking, and, most importantly, a listening ear and shoulder to cry on.
When my grandparents and mother arrived in Canada, they did not have to go it completely alone. While their sponsors had no concept of what hell they had been through in Auschwitz and on the death march to Bergen-Belsen, they did have a community into which they were received. The Toronto Jewish community became home to tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors in the late 1940s and 1950s. Together with people in their situation, and many others who wanted to help, my grandparents were able to get by and thrive.
Jews who come home to Israel are too often disappointed that the help to make aliyah is not followed up by help to stay and thrive here. While there are services the Israeli government can improve to assist immigrants and lone soldiers, it is also reasonable to expect potential immigrants and lone soldiers (who are not escaping immediate danger) to prepare for their aliyah – to find their emotional sponsors so that both Israeli society and they personally can benefit from their successful immigration and integration.
