Portrait of a Soldier as a Young Man

C.J. Reilly III doesn't really paint walls. He has never bombed a subway car or scaled a building to leave his name on the rooftop. He is a fine artist and even finer humanitarian. CJ joined this trip to work with the children and to help heal wounds with art.

What he found out was that, although covered in a uniform and holding a weapon, the boys and girls of the IDF are merely children themselves. 18, 19 and 20 year olds with dreams of the future and a belief in right and wrong and honor and justice.

So, CJ took his time to draw the portraits of as many of these boys and girls in grown-up clothing as wanted. He gave them these pictures, representations of a few minutes of time when they were more important than politics and they were more beautiful than the ugly war.

Funny story: CJ was loved by most, except for one Platoon Commander who got very offended that CJ stared into his eyes. CJ explained that he draws from the spirit and the spirit resides in the eye. The Commander acquiesced.

Don't Listen to Your Ipod

There is a lot of talking in Israel. And, a lot of politics. And, a lot of talking about politics. So, when someone tells you not to listen to something, you tend not to listen to the one telling you not to listen. Got that?

So, when an older man approached CYCLE as he was painting a huge bomb shelter on the edge of a shopping area that would look like any strip mall in any suburb of the USA if not for the giant bomb shelter that was being painted and told him not to listen to his Ipod, CYCLE ignored him.

The man was persistent. "No ears, no ears" he said before getting into a long Hebrew explanation. CYCLE was confused. Frantically, the man found a translator and pulled him over to our artist. The man explained: if you listen to your music, you won't hear the alarms if a rocket is launched.

CYCLE joked that he figured he would be able to tell by all the people running past him. We all laughed. It wasn't funny.

Day 4

SUE starts his tank



And it is met with approval




SIGN reps for the 77th Battalion



GUEST and JOIST show their support



CYCLE begins



And finished with grace

If Paint were Water

Day 3

A soldier in the 77th Battalion shares some graffiti of his. I remember being 18 years old and going through my Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd phase. Don't think I would have had the maturity or courage to defend my home, my country and my family the way that this 18 year old does at that time.



Alon Davidi's Gymboree provided us lots of help in our painting.



Help that CJ Reilly III put to good use.



Back to our regular scheduled bomb shelter beautification process: JOIST gets it in.



While FUSE contemplates his piece...



CYCLE shows NY color schemes still rule.



Some of the Americans watched the Gaza Border. Commented one of the artists: Theirs side is brown. Ours is green. Maybe it is all just jealousy.



Most of the Americans made it on to an army base where they posed on top of this tank. The Americans got to go inside the tank where they learned how small and cramped those quarters can be.



Belin and SUE needed to stay in Sderot though. They had an important mission - painting the largest ever picture of the Rebbe on the Chabad House. The Rabbi who runs the center could barely contain his joy.



And even climbed a very rickety ladder to pose with the artists in front of their creation.



Graffiti is illegal in New York. In Israel, it becomes part of the Police Station.



Sarah found a bomb shelter near a soccer field. As she worked on stenciling pictures of Israel's leaders on the wall, she was joined by many young children who used her wall as a history class.



Fuse finishes his piece of peace.



Some of Sarah's students





The Mayor of Sderot offers each artist a key to the city.



Everyone poses for one last picture in Sderot.

Press: Hello Israel - The Full Spread

The Higher Power

At the Western Wall, Cycle asked me if he could pray there. Of course. When a Rabbi brought over a prayer book, opened to a specific psalm and walked Cycle to the wall, he felt the connection and inclusiveness of Israel.

Then, he expresses that sentiment in vandalism. Win some. Lose some.