Aussie artist donates work to raise funds
"Soldiers who had previously been injured in battle themselves came to my bedside," says Daniel Wein.
Australian artist Daniel Wein donated his paintings to ZDVO Beit Halochem Australia for an online art auction recently organised to raise funds for Israeli soldiers injured since October 7.
Wein enlisted in the IDF in 2012, where he joined the 50th battalion of the Nahal Brigade. Unfortunately he was injured in combat during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and remembers being visited by members of Beit Halochem while in hospital.
“Soldiers who had previously been injured in battle themselves came to my bedside,” Wein said.
“Before this moment, I felt alone in my thoughts as I battled my injury. These wounded veterans shared their stories with me and for the first time I realised I wasn’t alone.”
Wein started painting for the first time during his year of physical and psychological rehabilitation and was awarded a one-year scholarship to study art in Tel Aviv. He continued to pursue his art at the Bezalel School of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. Wein later moved back to Australia.
Last October, Wein was visiting family in Israel when the war broke out. He found it difficult to leave and not re-join his army unit, so he started to paint vivid images of what he saw in Israel on his return to Melbourne.
“Everyone contributes in their own way, my way was to donate paintings to ZDVO to raise as much money as possible for the incredible organisation that was integral in my road to recovery, and will no doubt continue to be of paramount importance to the thousands of injured soldiers and victims of terror,” Wein said.
ZDVO is holding a community-wide event – Hear Help Honour – to raise funds for the thousands of newly injured soldiers, featuring keynote speaker, senior analyst of The Times of Israel Haviv Rettig Gur on February 20.
For more information visit: www.zdvo.com; facebook.com/ZDVOBHA
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