last word
Tzvia Wexler
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
I t’s been 35 years since Tzvia Wexler
last lived in Israel, but she insists,
“Even though I left Israel physi-
cally, it never left me.”
Wexler, a Center City resident and
Congregation Mikveh Israel member, is
the national development director for
Beth Halochem USA-Friends of Israel
Disabled Veterans, a New York-based
organization that facilitates the rehabili-
tation and care of disabled Israeli service
members through several Beit Halochem
rehabilitation centers across Israel.

Previously, Wexler was the exec-
utive director and founder of the
Pennsylvania/Southern New Jersey
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces,
where she spent more than 11 years
galvanizing the local Jewish commu-
nity to support the state of Israel and
the IDF.

Even before her leadership roles at
the various nonprofit organizations,
Wexler has spent nearly all of her
decades in Philadelphia strengthening
her — and others’ — ties to Israel.

“My bottom line is to bring people
together, to build the bridge between
people ... between countries and
between different kinds of genera-
tions,” she said.

Since Wexler’s time in the United
States, she’s noticed, particularly
among the younger generation, that
Jewish identity has strayed farther
from connection to Israel.

“A lot of people did not visit Israel
and did not get the right information
about Israel,” she said.

Instead of getting their informa-
tion about Israel from the news, which
Wexler believes often antagonizes the
state, people should learn about Israeli
culture firsthand from the people who
have lived there and want to pass it on,
she said.

Wexler’s experiences in her home
country prepared her to be that educat-
ing and connecting force.

Born in Petah Tikva, Wexler enlisted
36 in the IDF at 18, as was mandatory, but
her path did not lead her to become a
soldier. Wexler had been singing since
age 6. From 11 to 18, she traveled across
Europe with a group of young perform-
ers representing Israel. When the time
came for Wexler to join the IDF, she
was asked to become a “soul singer” in
the Israeli Air Force, providing com-
forting music to those fighting.

“I had the experience to go and con-
tinue to be in this field to be able to
bring a smile on the faces of the IDF
soldiers and IDF wounded, anyone we
can make happy in the good times and
the bad times,” Wexler said. “That was
actually one of the best experiences
SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
of my life.”
The only woman in the Air Force
band at one point, Wexler’s experi-
ence was even more unique. During
one trip, she and her group traveled
to Golan Heights, the Israel-occupied
part of the Hermon region that sits
between Israel and Syria. At the time,
women were not allowed to cross the
Syrian border, Wexler said.

At the checkpoint, the 16 members
on the bus hatched a plan for Wexler
to hide between the bus seats when a
guard checked for women. The plan
worked; once the rest of the musicians
finished setting up their instruments
outside, Wexler exited the bus and
joined them for a performance.

After meeting her American husband
and moving to Philadelphia, Wexler
continued to use music as a tool to
connect with others. She hosted small
events, bringing in Israeli storytellers
or traveling to synagogues in Miami,
New York, Montreal and Toronto to
present Israeli music to audiences.

“We got to the point that people
who have never been to Israel decided
to go to see what it was all about,”
Wexler said.

The event sizes grew and, eventu-
ally, Gen. Yitzhak Gershon, national
director and CEO of FIDF, approached
Wexler and asked her to join the orga-
nization. She relented at first but later
agreed, founding the Pennsylvania/
Southern New Jersey FIDF regional
office in 2011.

“It wasn’t very easy for me to say ‘yes’
because I was freelance,” Wexler said.

“I was doing whatever I wanted to do;
it was very successful.”
After 11 years with FIDF, Wexler
decided to start a new chapter of her
life at FIDV. When the organization
asked her to join, she was similarly
cautious. But after she traveled to Israel
to visit a Beth Halochem rehabilitation
center, she easily made up her mind.

Wexler visited veterans with no
arms, no legs, and some who were
blind. At first, she was shocked to see
so many young people with disabilities,
but she was forced to quickly shift her
mentality. “Those that were sitting with me in a
wheelchair looked at my face and said,
‘Hey, Tzvia, what happened? Smile,’”
Wexler said.

Her initial visit with the wounded
veterans gave her power and energy to
move forward, to not complain or look
back on the past, Wexler said. She took
the job at FIDV in January.

“I was convinced that this is like
the best place to be,” she said. “I was
convinced that this was the biggest
mitzvah to do.” JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com Courtesy of Tzvia Wexler
SHOWS LOYALTY TO ISRAELI SOLDIERS