Exhibition reveals 'personal' side of fallen soldier from Lebanon War

The family of Alex Singer, an American immigrant who was killed 22 years ago by enemy fire while leading an infantry patrol into Lebanon, has constantly worked to preserve his memory. Besides giving inspiring lectures about Alex's choice to "give my life for his country," as he wrote in a letter, rather than pursue a career in America, they have published several books, a DVD and a Web site featuring his letters, journals and drawings.

Now the Alex Singer Project, created by the family days after the White Plains native was killed on his 25th birthday, has organized a small exhibition of some of Alex's most poignant paintings and writings in Jerusalem's Germany Colony.

"Alex traveled everywhere not with a camera but with a sketchbook," his mother Suzanne Singer, 74, told Anglo File this week in Jerusalem. "His art is very spontaneous; it was mainly done with pens and a small watercolor set that he would carry always with him." Suzanne, a freelance journalist living in the capital's Baka neighborhood, explained, "We tried to give a panorama of Alex' life through his childhood, through the time he spent in Jerusalem and particularly the time he was in the army."

Alex moved to Israel at the age of 22, after graduating from Cornell University. Drafted within months, he later enrolled in officers' school and became a platoon commander in the Givati Brigade. On September 15, 1987 - his 25th birthday - he was killed instantly trying to reach a wounded comrade during an ambush on his patrol.

More than two decades after his death, Alex' story still inspires young Jews all over the world, his mother said, noting that occasionally immigrants tell her Alex's story moved them to come to Israel and enlist in the army.

"His writings are about making choices and figuring out how to do something significant with your life," his mother said. "Alex built a life," she continued, referring to the title of the current exhibition, 'Building a life.'

"Many young people are wondering what to do with their lives, and they wondered 22 years ago and are no less wondering today," she said. "There's timelessness to what he wrote. And it's very personal, it's like he's talking to you."

The exhibition, which will be on display for three months, opened last night with a lecture by Alex's older brother, Saul Singer. Singer, who immigrated in 1994, co-wrote "Start-Up Nation - The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle," a book lauded by the Wall Street Journal about how Israel became the nation with the highest start-ups per capita in the world.

For more information about the Alex Singer Project visit www.alexsinger.org.