For Reservists Recently Stationed in Gaza, Ben Gurion University’s JLIC Mission Was Therapeutic
Like many of his peers fresh out of the IDF, Gershon D. of Beersheva set off for Asia soon after completing his reserve duty in August. Since first enlisting in March 2018, he has served as a paratrooper and later as a communications officer — a role he continued while serving as a reservist with the Golani Brigade in Gaza from May to August 2025.
But instead of heading for a tropical Asian beach resort, Gershon — now a second-year Economics and Accounting student at Ben Gurion University (BGU) — embarked on a very different journey: volunteering in some of India’s poorest areas. He was one of 12 members of BGU’s JLIC — many of whom had recently served in Gaza — who took part in a weeklong relief mission to Mumbai, organized by the Fred and Rose Distenfeld Orthodox Union Relief Missions in partnership with Gabriel Project Mumbai (GPM).
Since 2005, more than 5,000 teens, college students, young professionals, adults, and retirees have participated in over 300 OU relief missions spanning more than 25 national and international locations — from Israel and India to Romania, Rwanda, Kentucky, Texas, New Orleans, and Puerto Rico.
To maximize its impact, the Fred and Rose Distenfeld OU Relief Missions works closely with local communities, schools, nonprofit and other OU divisions, like JLIC. JLIC empowers Jewish students and young professionals through mentorship, Torah learning, leadership opportunities, and meaningful communal engagement. The program serves more than 8,000 students annually on 35 campuses across the U.S., Canada, and Israel.
This was JLIC’s third OU Relief Mission to India, and the OU’s fourth mission in partnership with GPM. Launched in 2012 by Israeli Jacob Sztokman, GPM serves Mumbai’s underserved urban neighborhoods and Maharashtra’s historically marginalized rural tribal villages, including the Mokhada Villages, home to about 150,000 people, primarily from the indigenous Adivasi tribes.
“In supporting communities around the world, the message from the Orthodox community is profound,” says Sztokman. “It is showing that it cares, that it wants to connect with others, and that it’s ready to help in any way it can. As the division of the Orthodox Union creating deep and lasting change in so many communities, the Fred and Rose Distenfeld OU Relief Missions truly embodies that message.”
Fred and Rose Distenfeld OU Relief Missions Founding Director Rabbi Ethan Katz notes that the mission was particularly therapeutic for IDF soldiers who recently served in Gaza.
“This trip highlighted the essence of the Jewish People: our concern for Tikun Olam and helping others,” he says. “As Jews, we plant, we grow, we contribute. We went to teach and build toward a better tomorrow.”
Rabbi Idan Rakovsky, co-director of BGU JLIC, adds, “The past two years have been extremely challenging for our chayalim. They have served in Gaza and Lebanon under complex circumstances. In India, they devoted a full week to giving, building connections with everyone they met, and demonstrating that we are all created b’tzelem elokim, in Hashem’s image.”
The BGU JLIC team focused on projects designed to create systematic, lasting change, one of GPM’s core objectives. They worked with women’s manufacturing collectives and helped farmers develop sustainable, organic farming methods. Participants also visited GPM’s safe drinking water facility, the Mokhada Community Healthcare Center clinic, and the Mokhada Rural Hospital, where they saw an oxygen tank for babies donated by GPM, IsraAID, and other humanitarian organizations.
“For mission participants, it was eye-opening to see how a few thousand dollars can be applied to life-altering solutions,” says Rabbi Katz. “Hopefully they will be inspired to pay it forward in their own communities in small ways.”
JLIC’s Executive Director Rabbi Josh Ross underscores the broader impact of the mission: “It creates a generation of Jewish leaders who understand that our responsibilities are universal and that our capacity to make a difference extends to the furthest corners of the earth. This is Jewish education in its most profound form: learning through doing, growing through giving.”
In addition to large-scale projects, the volunteers focused on educational engagement. With guidance from local staff, they designed and led STEM and art activities for students in grades one through four at the Joshua Greenberger Learning Center, as well as at a nearby public government boarding school.
“Different mission groups volunteer every few months,” says Sztokman. “Among their contributions, they run informal educational programs that emphasize fun, creativity, and out-of-the-box thinking, introducing the children to new learning experiences and the wider world. One group from the U.S. even taught the children about air travel — many thought they had traveled by rickshaw. The kids were fascinated to learn they had flown across an ocean.”
Sztokman notes that informal education is critical, because many of the children later transfer to schools where students have been exposed to different teaching methods.
“Our primary goal is to show the children that they matter — that people have come from around the world to be with them and to teach them,” he says. “Over the years, they become confident in their learning and believe that they can succeed in life.”
Gershon reflects, “Feeling the children’s energy, finding ways to connect without relying on language, and witnessing their genuine joy in everyday experiences was incredible.”
Yet, his most profound experience came during a visit to a villager’s home.
“What touched me most was when we visited a woman and saw firsthand how she lives,” he says. “It hit me that we weren’t at a museum or a show — people truly live like this, with nothing. And yet they are happy because they choose to be. Five years from now, when I complete my degree, my wife and I will probably have children. Even if we face what we perceive as challenges, they will all be relative. That woman will still live there with her husband and two daughters, and they will still be happy. That’s the lesson I’m taking with me: to choose peace and contentment over endless pursuit.”
Beersheva young professional Kiara G. also joined the mission. A yoga instructor who works with schoolchildren and at the local Absorption Center for new immigrants, Kiara previously served as a combat fitness trainer for the Israeli Air Force’s Talpiot unit, designing and leading advanced physical training programs for both combat and non-combat soldiers from 2020 to 2022.
Among her most memorable experiences were meeting children at their schools and spending time with families in their homes.
“I realized that even though we look different on the outside, we share many similarities — like the ways parents communicate with their children and how classmates interact in school,” she says. “At the end of the day, whether Jewish or Indian, American or Israeli, we are all bound by our tzelem enosh, our humanity.”
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About the Fred and Rose Distenfeld OU Relief Missions
The Fred and Rose Distenfeld OU Relief Missions is regarded as the largest relief missions program dedicated to chessed, instilling Jewish values and identity, personal empowerment, and learning through service. Over 5000 teens, college students, young professionals, adults, and retirees have participated in more than 300 missions and have made an impact through service in over 25 destinations worldwide.
About JLIC
JLIC is a program of the Orthodox Union that supports Jewish students and young professionals across North America and Israel by providing religious, educational, and social programming. JLIC recruits, trains, and places rabbinic couples on college campuses across North America to serve as Torah educators, role models, and community leaders. JLIC campus directors empower students as they navigate the college environment, taking their first independent steps into Jewish adulthood.
About the Orthodox Union
Founded in 1898, the Orthodox Union (OU), or Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, serves as the voice of American Orthodox Jewry, with over 400 congregations in its synagogue network. As the umbrella organization for American Orthodox Jewry, the OU is at the forefront of advocacy work on both state and federal levels, outreach to Jewish teens and young professionals through NCSY, Israel Free Spirit Birthright, Yachad and OU Press, among many other divisions and programs.