School-Year Commencement Party with terror victims

Terror-victim children get a few hours of fun each week with Shoshanat Yerushalayim Seminary students who volunteer for Tzeirei Chabad's Big Sisters Program. This week‚ a joint commencement party was held‚ marking the Bat Mitzvah of two American girls who visited Israel specially to celebrate with‚ and cheer up‚ child terror victims in Israel—giving the children a heartfelt surprise.

Chabad.org.il

June 18 2008

Terror-victim children get a few hours of fun each week with Shoshanat
Yerushalayim Seminary students who volunteer for Tzeirei Chabad's Big
Sisters Program.  This week, a joint commencement party was held,
marking the Bat Mitzvah of two American girls who visited Israel
specially to celebrate with, and cheer up, child terror victims in
Israel—giving the children a heartfelt surprise.



Terror-victim children get a few hours of fun and enjoyment each week
with Shoshanat Yerushalayim Seminary students who volunteer for
Tzeirei Chabad's Big Sisters Program.  This week, a joint commencement
party was held, marking the Bat Mitzvah of two American girls who
visited Israel specially to celebrate with, and cheer up, child terror
victims in Israel.



"I would like to thank the volunteers who come every week throughout
the year to my house.  They were wonderful, the children love them and
wait for them to come.  Ever since my husband was wounded in an
attack, all the housekeeping and child-rearing duties have fallen on
me.  The wonderful times when the Tzeirei Chabad volunteers come by
are oxygen to me, when I can take a small break for myself, which
gives me the strength to continue the difficult challenge."  With
these words, Mrs. Ben-Daniel described the wonderful year with Big
Sisters Program.



About the Big Sisters Program, Chabad Terror Victims Project director
Rabbi Menachem Kutner explains that "we have the participation of tens
of kids who lost their fathers in terror attacks, or have family
members wounded in attacks.  Aside from the pain of loss or injury,

there are not a few problems on top of those that we try to respond
to.  With this project, we try to offer Mom a few hours of rest and
the kids a few hours of fun and enjoyment together with homework and
arts and crafts."



To mark the end of the school year, a commencement party was held this
week, joined by the children, their mothers and their volunteers, all
sitting together for a Jewish balloon making, magic and mental
telepathy show with performer Niv Hadar.



The centerpiece of the party was a surprise prepared especially for
the kids, as two American Bat Mitzvah girls—who had traveled to Israel
just for the event—appeared to celebrate with and cheer up the young
terror victims.  One girl whose father had been wounded in a serious
attack in Jerusalem presented the Bat Mitzvah girls with birthday
cakes on behalf of all the other kids.  The girls, for their part,
surprised everyone again with beautiful presents for each of the
children.



At the year-end event, Seminary director Mrs. Yonit Goldshmidt
presented Big Sisters Program awards to the girls for their
compassionate deeds throughout the year, something that will certainly
be engraved in their memories forever.  One volunteer talked about
what a wonderful merit it was to encourage a family for an entire
year, advising her friends to stay in contact by phone with their
families from wherever they live throughout the world.



Rabbi Kutner closed the event by presenting certificates of
appreciation to the volunteers for their dedication to the project,
expressing special thanks to the seminary's project organizer Mrs.
Miriam Havlin for her great effort throughout the year towards the
project's success.