Helping Victims

As funerals were held and announcements of new casualties were made, Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries around the country spent the day comforting mourners and assisting those under attack. In addition to the work of shluchim, thousands of Chabad families in the southern towns continued to reach out and lift the spirits of soldiers and individuals living near Gaza.

The growing conflict has seen an increase in activities by Chabad's Terror Victims Project on behalf of soldiers and citizens alike. Chabad leaders spoke of the “urgent mobilization” of emissaries and volunteers, who have been working around the clock to strengthen and encourage the spirit of residents and soldiers deployed in combat areas.

A group of brave young people from Taglit-Birthright Israel: Mayanot bus 720, joined with CTVP in a unique project, organized by CTVP, to bake challahs for Shabbat for the Israel Defense Forces soldiers. The challahs were packed into bags with a bottle of wine and Shabbat candles. This was done with the help of Rabbi Yitzchak Minkowitz & his children and distributed with the help of Rabbi Menashe Perman from Santiago.

Armed with treats and letters and drawings of encouragement, we walk through the quicksand to reach every soldier. Sometimes we need to display flexibility and youthful spirit, scrambling up APCs to meet another soldier and another soldier. This time it was a soldier from kibbutz in the north. To our surprise, it is precisely this kibbutznik who is the one to ask, "Do you have phylacteries?" I adorn his hands with the black straps, and am moved to tears when he declares "Hear O Israel".

Today CTVP went to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva to visit Mordechai, a medic in an IDF combat unit who was hit by a mortar and was severely wounded. We also visited an Air Force base in the immediate area. We brought the pilots and support personnel there our deep gratitude and treated these great heroes of Israel with gift baskets filled with food and other essentials.

A group of people, visiting Israel from South Africa, joined CTVP in the south of Israel. Ignoring the danger to themselves, they visited children in the bomb shelters bringing them stuffed animals along with smiles and encouragement. Then the group brought pizza and other goodies to the IDF soldiers on the front lines. The soldiers were helped to put on Tefillin along with singing and dancing.

Chabad Terror Victims Project staff and volunteers have been busy organizing entertainment for the kids in bomb shelters, giving spiritual and physical support for the troops on the front lines, organizing care packages for the home bound, and much more.

As rockets continue to shower down on Israel, we just wanted to give you an update on the situation and let you know what CTVP has been doing and how your donations are helping us help others. CTVP has been working non-stop, around the clock, since the campaign began. Please click here for article and photos

The parents of three Yeshivah students kidnapped by terrorists in Israel said they were “deeply heartened” when they were presented with books containing thousands of pledges of acts of kindness and prayer that have been received via the web. It was an extremely moving visit for the parents of Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar, as well for as the rabbis who visited them.

Chabad Terror Victims Project (CTVP.ORG) staff and volunteers, accompanied by MP Jack Bloom, a Jewish member of the Gauteng Provincial Parliament in South Africa., visited families in Israel whose lives had been recently shattered by terror and violence.

Every day we send out teams of volunteers to the south of the country, where they go from bomb shelter to bomb shelter, to the areas where rockets are exploding, and also to the shut-ins in their apartments, and distribute packages and lots of encouragement. The packages include toys and games for kids, candy, and reading books. But the most important thing is to embrace and the love that accompanies the packages

CTVP has mobilized its 300 Chabad Houses with hundreds of volunteers in the regions under fire. We are in the field bringing moral spiritual and practical support to the families and the soldiers who are in the line of fire. Our volunteers are distributing Food, Drinks and Toys to the bomb shelters and sandwiches and supplies to the soldiers awaiting orders on the front lines.