Hewlett helps its own in equipment-starved IDF

Sara Krown, an Israel Defense Forces “lone solider” from the Five Towns, needs support and Hewlett organizations have bee  stepping up.

“She’ll say they don’t need anything but they do,” Esther Krown, Sara’s mother said.

Part of an artillery unit. Sara entered the IDF in 2017. She grew up in Hewlett where her family have been members of the Young Israel of Hewlett for 20 years.

Sara said she felt a draw to Israel early on in life, after attending summer camp there. She found herself back in the Jewish state, joined the IDF, and repeatedly extended her stay, deferring her enrollment at University of Maryland for four years.

On Oct. 7, she was called up to fight.

Since then, she has been released and called up two more times.

“Being in the army is really not easy,” Sara said. “I’ve been pulling all nighters for five days now. It’s worth it.”

Sara and Noah Dure, another IDF solider from YIH, spoke to shul members on their time off.

“It was a really great tag team of telling our stories,” Sara said, with Dure sharing more technical details, and Sara speaking on the emotional toll.

Erik Rodgers, YIH president, described the two as “the sweetest, softest, kindest people.”

Rabbi Simcha Hopkovitz said that despite the distance he speaks with Sara and Dure regularly.

“They’re not alone, there’s absolutely people oceans away that have them on their mind,” Rabbi Hopkovitz said.

Though hesitant to ask, Sara and Dure requested that the community donate money for equipment.

Before new helmets were donated, Sara was using an old American army helmet from the Vietnam War, her father, Stephen Krown, said.

“Even though she had a strap, the helmet would fall off so she wouldn’t wear a helmet,” Stephen said.

Sara added that letters from Americans to the IDF have more power than supporters can imagine.

YIH’s Israel Emergency Fund and the Israel Chesed Center held a benefit concert on July 11, with performances by local musicians Richard Borah and Playing Dead, collecting money, equipment donations and support for those fighting the ongoing war.

“As a father, being 5,000 miles away is very hard in general,” Stephen, who helped organize the event, said. “When you get the stuff you need, they could be a little bit less in harm’s way.”

Marc Bodner, an Israel Chesed Center coordinator, said that the demand is increasing.

“The goal of the concert is to is to raise some money and to also remind people that, you know, you can have fun,” he said.

For information on how to donate to the Israel Emergency Fund at YIH visit YIHewlett.org. For Israel Chesed Center visit IsraelChesedCenter.com.