“One night they finished at 2:00 a.m. and took the coals out of the grills to burn out under a tree,” said Rabbi Lerner. “At 2:15, another 30 to 40 chayalim showed up. They took tongs, picked up the coals that were still burning, and put them back on the grill and served up another round of hamburgers.”
The Coordinating Council for the Jewish Homeland has taken on the financial responsibility for the project. One barbeque was sponsored by the Westmount Shul in Toronto and another in Har Gilo by Mark and Naomi Gross of Sharmel Caterers.
“We made that barbeque on a Wednesday night so that our sponsors could be there personally,” said Rabbi Lerner. “I spoke with Mark during the barbeque on FaceTime and he told me that he doesn’t think he has ever cut up that many vegetables in his entire life and he fully enjoyed the experience.”
That barbeque was the first time that organizers actually ran out of hamburgers. Not wanting to disappoint their guests, volunteers were dispatched to stores and came back with chicken wings, which the chayalim devoured.
The group plans to hold future barbeques in both southern and northern Israel, spreading their message of support and unity to soldiers stationed in other areas. IDF BBQ hopes to do a barbeque every week for a year.
“Our goal is to tell the soldiers, ‘Thank you. We are Orthodox North American Jews and we care for you and love you,’” said Rabbi Lerner.
The importance of supporting the IDF and bridging the divide that exists between secular and observant Jews cannot be overstated, according to Rabbi Lerner.
“Where there is a war, everyone stops and says Tehillim,” said Rabbi Lerner. “Young Israel was handing out names of soldiers and all the yeshivos had lists of soldiers to pray for. Whether they are in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, or Kever Rachel, we need to do everything that we can to provide support to the chayalim and to show our gratitude. This is a simple way of saying thank you and we hope to inculcate in ourselves that appreciation for those who defend us and protect us. This is a chesed that fell into our laps. Hakadosh Baruch Hu left us an opening and Baruch Hashem we were able to take advantage of it.”
To find out more about IDF BBQ visit www.idfbbq.org.