“During the war, I felt I wasn’t doing enough. So I packed my bags and moved to the Gaza Envelope.”
Sarit, a high school teacher and pedagogical coordinator from Nahariya, has just begun a powerful new chapter in her life. While many in her position would take a sabbatical year to rest or study, Sarit chose something radically different: to volunteer full-time in one of Israel’s most affected regions.
Her decision is all the more remarkable given that Nahariya itself was under constant rocket fire throughout the war. Despite living through those traumatic months in the north – and with one son recently serving in an elite combat unit in Gaza and another doing extended reserve duty – Sarit felt she had to do more.
“The war was difficult in Nahariya too,” she says, “but in the South – it’s a different reality. I felt a deep need to be present there. To help. To do something real.”
Now, she’s living in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz still recovering from the trauma of October 7, as part of the Shnat Sherut 50 Plus program for experienced adult volunteers.
“Are You Crazy?!” – Saying Yes When Others Said No
When Sarit first told friends and family she planned to volunteer in the Gaza Envelope and move there, the reactions were swift and incredulous:
“Are you crazy?!”
But Sarit was clear-eyed about her decision. She knew she needed to channel her professional skills and her personal sense of responsibility into something that felt right.
“This is my sabbatical year. I could have taken time for myself – but I wanted to give that time to others. It’s a privilege to be able to do that.”
A New Home, A New Role
Sarit now lives in Kfar Aza with two other Shnat Sherut volunteers, Dorit and Sigal. Together, they’ve started to care for their shared home, planting a garden and breathing life back into their surroundings.
“Part of our mission is to revive the homes – to make them liveable and warm again, so residents will feel ready to return. We’re not just filling time. We’re helping rebuild a future.”
Her day-to-day work is just beginning. She volunteers as a teacher at two local high schools:
• Nofei HaBesor School (Eshkol Regional Council)
• Sha’ar HaNegev High School (Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council)
She brings her years of experience in teaching civics and social sciences to students who have endured months of upheaval – offering not just knowledge, but presence and stability.
The Early Days: Planting Seeds of Connection
Though she’s still settling in, Sarit has already started forming relationships and participating in meaningful educational activities. On her daily commute to school, she photographs the changing landscape and sends images with poetic reflections to her students. One morning, as the fields began to turn green, she wrote:
“The green today is very green… a little grey… and there’s no bright white. And it’s still not easy to breathe against the wind, and it’s very hard to wait.”
These quiet gestures create bridges – between north and south, teacher and student, loss and renewal
Later Sarit reflects on the day after seeing a beautiful flower:
Late in the evening, we had just finished another activity full of giving, when before our eyes appeared a giant flower blooming on a tree in Kfar Aza.
A quick inquiry by one of our friends revealed that the plant is called:
“Magnolia grandiflora.”
I decided to give it the name “Heart of Gold Flower,” blooming in honour of the countless good deeds we all do in the Gaza Envelope, day after day.
A Sabbatical That’s Just Beginning
This is only the beginning of Sarit’s year of service, but already her presence is making a difference. Not just in the schools where she teaches, but in the community where she now lives. Her story reflects the core of what Shnat Sherut 50 Plus stands for: seasoned professionals stepping up in times of crisis, choosing connection over comfort, and helping rebuild from within.
“I don’t yet know everything this year will bring,” she says. “But I do know that being here, right now, is exactly where I’m meant to be.”
