When you go to shul this Rosh Hashanah and reflect on the year that has passed, please remember the hundreds of families like the Gol, Havakuk, and Ben Yiftach families whom you have helped us embrace.

And as we enter a new year, please continue our partnership by standing with Israel’s victims of terror and war—the bereaved families, the widows and orphans, and the wounded soldiers whose lives have been changed forever.

Only with your help can we do what we do.

And this is our promise to you: we will continue to be there for them - to help them, support them, and stand beside them for as long as they need us and for as long as they want us by their side.

Thank you for making that possible.

May Hashem bless you and your family with a good and sweet New Year, filled with an abundance of His blessings, good health, great success, and much, much Nachas.

And may we all be blessed with a year of true and lasting peace everywhere.

On the outdoor terrace of the Leonardo Plaza Jerusalem, tables were set and music filled the air. Hundreds of widows and orphans gathered together for the closing banquet of Chabad’s Terror Victims Project’s Summer of Hope & Healing.

It was meant to be a celebration.

And it was.

But as the evening unfolded, it became something much more.

One by one, widows rose from their tables and walked to the microphone.

They spoke about their husbands.

They shared memories of the men they loved and the fathers their children had lost—stories that brought tears, smiles and laughter. For a few moments, each husband and father was once again at the center of the room, remembered with love and pride.

But then, almost every woman spoke about something else.

They spoke about Chabad’s Terror Victims Project.

They spoke about how CTVP had been there for them, and about these extraordinary few days they had just experienced with their children.

Again and again, the women said that they did not take any of it for granted.

Every detail had been thought through. Everything they could possibly need was there. From morning until night, the mothers and their children were surrounded by people whose only concern was to give them the best possible experience—to allow them to relax, to breathe, to laugh, to enjoy their children, and to regain some of the strength that everyday life demands of them.

And as the banquet continued, something remarkable filled the room.

There was profound sadness, because the men they loved were missing.

There was tremendous pride as the women spoke about who their husbands had been.

There was gratitude for everything that had been done for them.

And there was joy, real joy, as mothers watched their children dance and celebrate around them.

These were not women who had forgotten their pain for a few days. Their husbands and their memories were present throughout the evening.

But they had been given something precious: time and space to rest, to rejuvenate, to gather strength, and to prepare themselves and their children to begin a new year.

Once again, the Russian Jewish Community Foundation, has generously stepped forward to partner with Chabad’s Terror Victims Project (CTVP) to bring help.

 

This year’s Purim was very different.

Once again, Moshe Gruenberg of Chabad’s Terror Victims Project (CTVP) reached out to the Russian Jewish Community Foundation (RJCF) regarding vital needs for Israel and its people, and the RJCF responded immediately.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has faced a horrific, violent war begun by Hamas plus a war with Iran and the RJCF has responded each time by raising emergency funds for CTVP projects. This time, Moshe described their current project – a summer camp for widows and orphans whose husbands and fathers have fallen in the war since October 7th. As the war has dragged on, more and more families’ lives have been shattered, more children have been traumatized by losing a parent in the horrendous battles in Gaza and in the north, or worse, become orphans. The CTVP Summer Camp of Hope and Healing is vital in bringing these children comfort they so badly need - it is a sanctuary of healing, strength, resilience, and Jewish pride for thousands of Israeli children.

Moshe added that “your community's tzedakah helps bring the suffering families in Israel hope and support. Knowing that you care deeply for all those in Israel whose lives have been shattered brings much comfort. We thank RJCF and your community for your care and concern and much needed aid.”

Together we pray with everyone around the world that peace will come to Israel very soon.

At CTVP’s Camp for Bereaved Families, the deepest pain meets the purest compassion.

• A child laughs for the first time in months.
•  A mother falls asleep without fear.
• A family remembers, if only for a moment, what it means to breathe without pain.

 For more pictures and videos, join our Instagram Channel 

We Want to Help Again...

This year, Moshe Gruenberg of Chabad’s Terror Victims Project (CTVP) approached the Russian Jewish Community Foundation (RJCF) and asked them for assistance.

The RJCF has helped in the past, and Moshe asked for more help now, as Israel has and continues to face the horrendous war that began on October 7, 2023.

He spoke with Lina Klebaner, President of the RJCF, who said that “We, at RJCF have raised emergency funds for Israel again.  Because Chabad’s Terror Victims Project is on the ground and so effective, RJCF wants to donate again knowing that you’ll effectively bring the help and hope so urgently needed in Israel now”.

Moshe gave an update about what CTVP was doing as the war’s dragged on, and more and more families’ lives were being shattered.  He said that there are so many widows now, most of them young with small children, as more soldiers have lost their lives fighting in Gaza and in the north.

This has resulted in many more orphans as well. Children whose mothers must now struggle  alone to raise their children in the midst of war and violence - mothers who urgently need all the help and support we can provide for them.

The hospitals and rehabilitation centers have so many more patients to treat as well, many of them soldiers and victims of terror - and their families also need help as they try to be with their loved ones in the hospitals while also making certain that their families at home are being taken care of.

Reservists are being called up to serve many times creating more stress for their families. And the families of hostages wait in agony for their loved ones suffering under such horrific, in- human conditions in Gaza.

Moshe said:  “We deeply appreciate that RJCF wants to stand with us again and help us. Your community's tzedakah helps bring the suffering families in Israel hope and support. Knowing that you care deeply for all those suffering in Israel brings much comfort. We thank RJCF and your community for your care and concern.”

And we pray with everyone around the world that peace will come to Israel very soon.

Her name was Ohr which means light. She was 22 years old and never missed lighting Shabbos candles.

Last week, in the Gaza War, she gave up her life defending Israel.

We are giving out 1,000,000 Shabbos candles to Jews throughout Israel to honor her memory and bring more light into the world in this time of darkness

According to the Lubavitcher Rebbe: Darkness, no matter how ominous and intimidating, is merely the absence of light. Light need not combat and overpower darkness in order to displace it — where light is, darkness is not. A thimbleful of light will therefore banish a roomful of darkness.

This evening, before sundown, please light Shabbos candles in your own home and encourage others you know to do this also. Click here for candle lighting time in your area.

Let’s band together, Jews from all walks of life, and show the world the power of light.

Seven Families Celebrating Shabbat on Holocaust Remembrance Day…
…Seven Families Torn Apart by Terror

They heard shots being fired.

Eli and Natali, husband and wife, both ran outside and found a terrorist spraying bullets everywhere in front of the nearby synagogue.

Natali was administering CPR when she was murdered. Standing by his wife Natali, Eli was gunned down in cold blood.

Bringing comfort to the grief-stricken families of Eli and Natali Mizrahi - married just two years - who were murdered as they tried to save the other victims.

On Friday night, seven families were celebrating Shabbat in Neve Ya’akov, Jerusalem. It was also the day set aside as Holocaust Remembrance Day…

…Now, this is a day these seven families will remember as the day their loved ones were murdered by those who once again wish to slaughter Jews.

Asher Natan was another victim, only 14, the oldest of 8 children. He’d gone to meet friends after the Shabbat meal. Suddenly his parents heard the sound of shots ringing out. Asher’s father ran to find his son. By the time he reached him, Asher was lifeless.

Shaul Chai, 68, had been at a relative’s house and was shot as he walked home, passing the synagogue where the shooting was taking place.

These are three of the seven victims whose lives were brutally destroyed.

Consoling the Chai family as they mourned the loss of family member Shaul, who was walking past the synagogue where the shooting was happening.

With the help of the local Shluchim, we have been with these seven grieving families since the shooting – helping with funerals, shiva, and food and doing whatever we can to help them at this most horrific and tragic time.

Please help us help them. Your partnership makes everything we do possible.

We Want to Help…

They wanted so much to help as Israel faced unceasing rocket fire over 11 straight days.

So Dr. Lana M. Rifkin contacted Dr. Mendy Uminer of Chabad of Chestnut Hill and told him :

“Our organization, Russian Jewish Community Foundation (RJCF), has raised emergency funds for Israel.  We’re looking for a non-profit that is on the ground and has been, specifically during the rocket attacks and now during the cease-fire we hope will last.”

Rabbi Uminer immediately put Dr. Rifkin in touch with Chabad’s Terror Victims Project (CTVP).

Dr. Rifkin asked what CTVP was doing to help the suffering families. Moshe Gruenberg of CTVP told her that among many other things, emergency aid was being distributed to families who lost their homes from rocket strikes. CTVP was ensuring that the children of Ashkelon and Sderot were  being treated by post trauma professionals. Presents were being delivered to the children of the Eshkol region (over 1500 rockets fell there over the 11 days). CTVP is organizing a Bar Mitzvah for a child whose father was severely hurt in a direct rocket attack.

Moshe told her CTVP is there for the families of victims of terror and war and has been since the Six-Day War in 1967.  Dr. Rifkin  knew her organization had found the right people to most effectively utilize the funds they had raised.  

Moshe said:   “We deeply appreciate that they want to stand with us and help us. As soon as it is possible to come to Israel, we invite them to go with us to the hospitals and areas hardest hit by the rockets.  RJCF and their community's monetary commitment will help bring these families support and their presence will bring  comfort. We thank RJCF and their community for their care and concern.”

And we pray with everyone around the world that the cease-fire will last.