Zachary Moskowitz, 18, travels to volunteer with IDF, witnesses history firsthand

By Sharon Wisch-Ray

Just days after graduating high school, Zachary Moskowitz boarded a plane for Israel — hoping to contribute, reset and reconnect. What he didn’t expect was to find himself in the middle of history.

Moskowitz, 18, of Dallas, traveled to Israel on June 5 to volunteer through Sar-El, the Volunteers for Israel program that places civilians on IDF bases. It was a return journey: he had volunteered in the summer of 2024 at Re’im base, near the Gaza border, after enduring years of antisemitism during high school. That experience, he said, nearly depleted him — and strengthened his resolve.

“I was drained inside,” he said of his 2024 motivation. “I needed something to inspire me again. I didn’t want to run away — I wanted to run toward something meaningful.”

On June 8, Moskowitz was assigned to a base near the Lebanon-Syria border, where he performed support work for the IDF, including sorting equipment and supplies.

He looked forward to another meaningful Sar-El experience, this time with his father, Gary, who arrived in Israel on Thursday, June 12, to join his son on the base.

That urgency became even more personal when, on Friday, June 14, Israel launched a preemptive strike on Iranian nuclear infrastructure — and Moskowitz found himself facing real-time retaliation.

“I was asleep when my mom called, panicking. I told her, ‘Mom, I’m fine — it’s just a pre-alert.’” But when the missiles started coming, he was shaking.

Moskowitz said that when things calmed during the day Friday, he ventured outside and saw children and adults going about their day but preparing for days of potential shelter to come. Children were riding scooters; others were braving long lines in supermarkets to stock up.

Over Shabbat dinner with his Jerusalem family, he experienced four sirens. During one, he was reading a children’s book to his 4- and 6-year-old cousins perched on his lap in the family’s mamad (shelter) as booms from the Iron Dome interception echoed above.

“I heard 19 booms that night,” he said. “We felt the walls shake. It’s terrifying — but it’s also comforting to see Israel’s defenses working. You see it online, but when you’re under it, you understand how real and powerful it is.”

On Saturday night, Moskowitz and his father learned their Sar-El program had been canceled due to the security threats.

The duo pivoted. They began volunteering with an understaffed organization in Jerusalem that packs gear and essentials for combat soldiers rotating out of Gaza and the northern front.

With few volunteers around, Moskowitz told the group he was willing to do whatever was needed — “clean toilets, mop, pack boxes” — just to be of service.

“We’ve been sorting everything from water to gear for soldiers,” he said. “They come straight out of combat, thank us and then head right back in. One of them hadn’t had a nap in over 600 days. I’m tired, but I’m not stopping.”

Moskowitz’s motivation stems from both pride and pain, after the level of antisemitism he experienced.

“Instead of crying about it, I came to a war zone,” he said. “I’m living through a ballistic and hypersonic missile attack — and I don’t regret coming. I’m proud to be Jewish. I’m proud to be a Zionist.”

He has also served as a StandWithUs intern, speaking to other young people about how to fight antisemitism.

This fall, Moskowitz will enter the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He was the only student at his school admitted to the program. His Common App essay, he said, was about volunteering less than a mile from Gaza last summer.

He says he’s not yet sure how this experience will shape his future career, but he knows one thing for sure: he plans to return to Texas “louder and prouder than ever before.”

“Teens in Dallas — don’t hide your Star of David,” he said. “Take it out from under your shirt. If you’re Jewish or a Zionist, walk the walk. The time is now.”

Moskowitz is scheduled to return home June 25 — but if it’s not safe, he says he’ll stay longer.

“I want my family to be able to hug me,” he said. “But I’m not afraid. I didn’t come to sit around. I came to make an impact.”