Kickin’ it old school: Retirees rediscover youth with national service year for over-50s

As the sun cast its golden light over the trees, lawns, and single-story houses of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, a lively group of volunteers on a one-year program sat around a plastic table, sharing salads and stories about the day.

Ori Weisman had been helping renovate apartments, Edna Hefer had been feeding animals in a petting zoo, and Aviva Kogus had been working on an upcoming Negev desert event that coincides with the blooming of the red anemone.

But these were no ordinary Shinshinim (an abbreviation of “shnat sherut,” or “service year”) as they are known in Hebrew — youngsters who volunteer for 12 months before starting compulsory national service.

Here, where 50 is the new 20, these people around retirement age have moved south for a year to offer their skills and experience to those living close to the Gaza border.

The idea for Service Year 50 Plus was hatched by a teacher, Rina Cohen, who was retiring from the Education Ministry but wasn’t ready for a quiet life. She contacted Tamar Oged, her former school principal, who called Guy Gardi, CEO of Elul, a pluralistic Beit Midrash focused on Jewish renewal. Cohen’s friend Boaz Shalit, a strategic consultant, got involved, along with Eran Baruch, former head of Bina, and the group got to work.

“The average lifespan has grown exponentially, but we’ve delayed pensionable age by only two years,” Gardi told The Times of Israel. “People retire at the height of their strength, passion, professional ability, skills, and life wisdom, and we tell them, ‘That’s it, sit at home.’ For many, it’s not appropriate.”

The team contacted the Gaza border’s regional authorities. Eshkol and Merhavim responded immediately and specified skills they needed in therapy and support, education, and community work. They agreed to organize accommodation and rental contracts, pay for insurance and rent, and integrate the volunteers professionally. Philanthropy is paying for a NIS 700 ($195) monthly grant for each volunteer toward costs. The hope is that the state will get involved.

The project was born in January last year, and by September, 44 volunteers started work in the two regions. (The Weismans and Hefers joined the Eshkol group despite living on Nahal Oz, which falls under the Sha’ar Hanegev regional authority.) This month, 16 will begin volunteering at Sha’ar Hanegev. Most will live on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the hardest hit on October 2023.

On Sundays, the volunteers tour their region, meet locals, discuss their work, and study relevant themes such as pioneering or the pros and potential pitfalls of volunteering in a community.

Michal Uziyahu, head of the Eshkol Regional Council, said the volunteers were “the beautiful faces of Israeli society,” helping the nation to “unite and grow even from the most difficult challenges.”

Applications to join continue to arrive, including from overseas. The team already sees the possibility of integrating Hebrew-speaking Diaspora Jews.

“The program has potential for the whole of Israel and beyond,” said Elul’s Gardi.

A closed military zone

On October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel, slaughtering some 1,200 people and abducting 251 to the Gaza Strip. At Kibbutz Nahal Oz, 15 people were murdered, including a Tanzanian intern, and seven were kidnapped.

Located less than a mile from the Gaza border, Kibbutz Nahal Oz is still a closed military zone; the only sounds are the chirping of birds and the occasional explosion.

“It’s the IDF bombing Beit Hanoun,” this reporter was told as booms were heard ahead of the current ceasefire.

Most of the kibbutz’s residents live temporarily in nearby Netivot or Kibbutz Mishmar Ha’emek in Israel’s north.

The group that had arranged to speak to The Times of Israel sat outside the adjacent temporary homes of the Weismans from Kibbutz Cabri and the Hefers from Abirim. Both Cabri and Abirim in northern Israel were caught in the crosshairs after the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon began firing rockets and drones at Israel on October 8, 2013, one day after the Hamas massacre. The war between Israel and Hezbollah ended in a ceasefire in November that has been extended until February 18.

Ori Weisman was responsible for security at Cabri while Esti was kibbutz secretary, later managing the Galilee community settlement of Har Halutz.

Edna and Eyal Hefer used to run a private tourist facility with horses and a goat farm. Eyal also served as secretary of the Moshav Movement’s youth section.

The Hefers followed the Weismans to Nahal Oz, and the Weismans got there through a personal connection.

“We were already planning to be part of the Service Year program, so we decided to do our work in Nahal Oz,” Esti Weisman said.

As well as sorting kibbutz mail, weeding, and clearing up, Esti helps out at a pre-army preparatory training program (mechina) that, amazingly, has been operating within Nahal Oz since December 2023.

Ori Weisman is putting his handyman skills to use.

“The houses here [in contrast to other kibbutzim attacked by Hamas] were not burned,” Ori explained. “The terrorists came here to take tractors, club cars, even food from the fridges.”

“There’s a lot of internal damage from grenades that were thrown in,” he continued. “We mainly removed waste and gardened and helped to pack and remove the contents of 60 homes so they could be repaired.”

All work was done under the supervision of a kibbutz member, with funds from the national Tekuma Directorate, and with the involvement of the relevant families.

Edna Hefer is feeding the few animals still in the kibbutz animal corner. She hopes to make the facility more attractive for all the generations of kibbutz members when they return.

Her husband, Eyal, runs team-building and communication skills workshops in schools and pre-army programs.

Aviva Kogus is living on Moshav Dekel for the year. She ran the Zionist Council of New South Wales, Australia. Since returning to Israel, she has worked part-time at the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce.

Kogus assists with management and fundraising at the Eshkol Regional Council Day Center for the elderly, Neve Eshkol.

“We all got messages via WhatsApp from someone else,” Kogus explained. “The founding group at Elul planned a big PR campaign, but first, they sent WhatsApp messages to their friends, which reached all of us.

“They hoped 30 people would turn up for a pilot, but 830 signed up. They invited 320 to the first virtual meeting via Zoom, got us all to fill in forms, and stopped interviewing after the first 100, having found what they needed,” she said.

Yaron Assaf is a retired medical doctor from the coastal Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael between Haifa and Hadera. His partner, Irit Dotan, is a midwife. The pair are living in temporary accommodation on Moshav Sdei Avraham.

Assaf sees patients at a regional clinic and works with the elderly at Neve Eshkol. Dotan helps with blood tests in one clinic and provides pregnancy support in another. In the latter, she helps prepare women for delivery and breastfeeding and checks their mental states.

“There’s is a lot of anxiety,” she said. “Everything is a trigger during a difficult enough period.”

Dotan noted the “great family atmosphere” between staff, volunteers, and patients, adding, “Folk here find it hard to believe that people like us left our homes and came to be with them.”

She continued, “Before coming, we couldn’t understand what living here was like. I never knew until I came that there’s a bomb shelter next to every bus stop.”

Asked how significant the service year was for her, Esti Weisman said, “It’s so satisfying to give. And we’ve made friends for life from this group.”

“What we’re doing here lifts us and motivates us. Who does something new in their 60s? It teaches you to put your ego to one side,” she went on. “I ran my kibbutz. Here, I’m not a big boss. I have no problem sorting mail for three days.”

Weisman added, “Other people see we still have something to contribute. It’s also huge fun. It’s an opportunity to be young again.”