We started our day volunteering at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha that was attacked October 7. They have many fields for lemons, potatoes and carrots, and don’t have their regular employees, so we went to help with their lemon trees. It was special to get our hands dirty and help in a very real way to ensure that the economy keeps churning. We even met another group there from Chabad Westport, CT.
From there we went to connect to a piece of history, Mount Gerar. This mountain is connected to King Avimelech a king during the times of Abraham. He was king of the Plishtim of Aza (Gaza). In his time he initiated making a peace treaty with Abraham built on true intention to live peacefully with respect.
Then we went to the city of Sderot. Sderot is the largest city that was hit very hard and terrorists were running through the city. It took a month to clean the city of the terrorists, and for several weeks people couldn’t leave their houses because nobody knew if there were terrorists around. This was the city where the police station was hit very hard and the army had to come in with a tank and a bulldozer and bulldoze the building down on the many terrorists who broke in and caused havoc in that city.
Once the terrorists were cleared out, people were encouraged to leave and most of the city evacuated. yet several thousand people stayed. All of a sudden the young Rabbi Asher Pizam with his father Rabbi Moshe Pizam, the founder of Chabad in the city of Sderot found that people didn’t have medicine, food and other important necessities. People were calling nonstop “we need this” “we need that”. They put their lives in danger to go out while the terrorists themselves were just around their house. Rabbi Pizam senior said that on October 7th, he even went out to make the Minyan as nine people showed up in shul. All of a sudden their Chabad House became the source of everything, especially as all stores were closed. No pharmacy, no grocery, there was nothing. Actually people didn’t even want to deliver to Sderot because there was still terrorists there, and no one knew what was happening, nevertheless they made it happen and they became the source of everything to everyone, physically, materially, spiritually, emotionally.
The damage in Sderot, especially to the children is devastating, even though now 50% of the city has come back it’s a trauma they that they deal with every single day. The tremendous faith, tremendous determination and sense of duty that we saw by the Pizams has no comparison anywhere. The strength of the Rebbe’s Shluchim, knowing that they were sent to be in this place and that they’ll never abandon as long as they are needed.
After Sderot we went to visit fifty families of Netiv HaAsara, the settlement that we went to visit those in Tel Aviv. Between those fifty families there are about 125 kids and teenagers, and we put up a great Purim party, with a show, pizza and a Purim costume for each child. We were happy to bring some joy in a life that is so unstable. They are away from home over 5 months and they lack stability and don’t know what the future is. They were touched that we were here representing people that care about them, think about them and it really brought a special Simcha. The comments we got were really beautiful and special, and we were so happy to be able to share with them that they are not alone.
This is one thing that so many of the people felt on that day of October seventh for the first time ever, that they were alone. All of a sudden the regular people felt that the government, the police, the fireman, and the army weren’t there, and we’re here to help them overcome to know that they are not alone, Am Yisrael is not alone, Hashem is with us and we’re all there for each other.
From there we went to host a BBQ for the Air Force in the Palmachim base. This is a base that houses drones. These drones play a pivotal role in the war. We had hundreds of soldiers who joined. We ate, sang, danced and spoke to most of them individually. A number were excited to get a pair of Tzitzit and one of the Mefakdim, a commander was very touched to get his own pair of Tefillin that he is ready to put on every single day. We gave other gifts to each of them which was very special. It is inspiring to see these young people, some who are serving for 7 years instead of the regular 3. We are so proud of our young people who wake up in the morning ready to serve and be there for whatever is needed to keep Am Yisrael strong. Everyone has their duty and they’re fulfilling it with high motivation, excitement and a great sense of pride.
This was day three.
Click here for more pictures.
