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MOVING MEETINGS IN JEWISH COMMUNITEES DURING NATIONAL SECURITY COLLEGE VISIT TO FSU Officers, accompanied by Jewish Agency representatives visited JAFI centers, Hebrew language classes, & summer camps, and met with parents of children in Na'aleh & Selah programs and parents of IDF soldiers; During another IDF mission, to Vilna, the mother of an injured soldier was surprised to meet the officer who tended to her daughter
 IDF soldiers lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow A 35-member delegation toured the former Soviet Union last week - mainly visiting Jewish communities, but also holding meetings on military-security matters. The group was made up of personnel from the IDF National Security College, and outstanding IDF officers - colonels and lieutenant colonels - who are candidates for advancement. Heading the delegation was the Commander of the Military College, Brigadier General Yaakov Zigdon. The group was accompanied by the head of the Jewish Agency delegation in Russia, Karol Ungar, who coordinated the visit, director-general of the Jewish Agency FSU Department, Amos Lahat, who oversaw the project, and JAFI spokesman, Yarden Vatikai. The officers told about their personal experiences, and now, they say, they see themselves as emissaries for immigration and absorption in the IDF. They visited Jewish Agency centers in Moscow and took part in Hebrew language classes. In a number of cities, the officers met with parents of children who are participating in the Na'aleh high school program and Selah higher education preparatory program in Israel, or serving in the armed forces, and who are themselves deliberating whether or not to make aliyah. In one city, a young man approached the group with a look of wonderment in his eyes. "I don't believe you are speaking Hebrew," he said. He turned out to be an IDF soldier, on vacation. In his excitement, he saluted them. The officers visited summer camps, where they took part in activities together with the children - singing in Hebrew, learning Israeli customs, and learning about the flag - ways of instilling a sense of identity with Israel and Judaism. The officers also met with the Russian Chief of Staff and other leading personalities. The tour was organized by the Jewish Agency, the Embassy of Israel, and the IDF attache in Moscow. At the same time, a delegation of 200 career officers who are battalion commanders also visited the region. The group, Edit B'madim - witnesses in uniform - visits Poland every year, and this year the Jewish Agency proposed adding two days to their trip to enable them to visit Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. The delegation, headed by Chief Education Officer Elazer Stern, came to Vilnius (Vilna), capital of Lithuania, where they spent an evening with members of the community and met with parents of soldiers. During one of these meetings, one mother revealed that her daughter had been injured in the hand during her military service, and that she knew that she was "well taken care of." One of the officers surprised everyone when said, "I was the one who took care of her . . . ." During the course of the evening community members and parents of soldiers received an overview of Jewish Agency activities from director-general of the Jewish Agency FSU Department, Amos Lahat. Members of Edim B'Madim also visited the Jewish school in Vilna, where they met with students and the teaching staff at an event organized by Shlomo Kim, head of the Jewish Agency delegation in the Baltic Republics. The Jewish Agency hopes to hold more visits like this in order to encourage aliyah.
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