We are on this deployment from May 27 until October 12. Five and a half months.

Between our two units, that is 20 Shabbatot on base.

We are also on base for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah. Every one of them falls inside this deployment. Rosh Hashanah runs straight into Shabbat this year. So does Sukkot. So does Simchat Torah. Three-day yomim tovim, on base, back to back.

We are doing our job and we are proud to be doing it. We are not asking for sympathy about that.

We are asking for the food.

What we run every week:

Friday night Oneg for our units and for any soldier who walks in
Cholent and kugel for Shabbat day
Snacks, cake, nuts, and cold drinks for the table
The same for every chag on the calendar between now and October 12

What the army supplies: none of it.

The army feeds us adequately during the week. It does not fund an Oneg, a cholent, a kugel, or a Shabbat table. Our soldiers have been paying for it out of their own pockets, on top of the income they already gave up to be here.

Men from other units come to our table. Most of them are not religious. Many of them have not sat at a Shabbat meal since they were children. We keep the table open for them because that is part of the point. We are here to keep Shabbat and the chagim properly, for ourselves and as a working model of what we are defending.

What we need:

Twenty Shabbatot plus four chagim. Around $500 covers a full Shabbat, both meals, for our units and everyone who joins. A chag costs more.

Full deployment coverage: $12,000.

Every shekel goes to food. Zero overhead. Since October 2023, Smiles for Chayalim has distributed over $1.8 million in direct support to soldiers and their families, with no money going to salaries or administration.

Shabbos Campaign