Presents for the Children of the North
When Adar begins‚ we increase in joy. However‚ the children in southern Israel are still living in the shadow of missile bombardments‚ under the constant threat of Kassam rockets fired by Hamas terrorists. Volunteers from Tzerei Chabad in Israel's Terror Victims Project (CTVP) visited the kindergartens on the kibbutzim in the Eshkol Region‚ as well as a special-needs school in Ashkelon. During their visits‚ they surprised the children with gifts from their peers in the South African Jewish community.
When Adar begins, we increase in joy. However, the children in southern Israel are still living in the shadow of missile bombardments, under the constant threat of Kassam rockets fired by Hamas terrorists. Volunteers from Tzerei Chabad in Israel's Terror Victims Project (CTVP) visited the kindergartens on the kibbutzim in the Eshkol Region, as well as a special-needs school in Ashkelon. During their visits, they surprised the children with gifts from their peers in the South African Jewish community.
The residents of southern Israel are still enduring daily missile bombardments, as Hamas terrorists continue to disturb the daily lives of Israeli citizens. In the south, the war has clearly not yet come to an end. The region’s children suffer the most as they continue to attend school, but constantly listen out for the Code Red early warning system while in the classroom or at play. As soon as the alarm sounds, the children have just 15 seconds to take cover in a protected area.
To bring a spirit of joy and hapiness, Rabbi Aharon Pruss and Rabbi Menachem Kutner of Tzerei Chabad in Israel drove a car loaded with gifts for the children. These presents, for the children in southern Israel, were donated by children from the Jewish community in South Africa.
In conjunction with the Education Department of the Eshkol Regional Council,CTVP volunteers arranged a format where the children from the local kibbutzim, could speak about their feelings. Each one told a story about “his rocket” and where he was when it exploded near to his home.
On one kibbutz, the children took their guests to the kindergarten playground to show them the miracle that had occurred there. The rocket landed just ten meters away from the kindergarten, but did not explode. This happened in the morning, at the time when the parents usually bring the children to the kindergarten.
Similar stories were heard during a subsequent visit to a school for special education in Ashkelon, as well as from young patients in the children’s ward in the Barzillai Hospital. Shliach Rabbi Moshe Wilenkin and the staff of the Chabad Youth Organization put a smile on the children’s faces when they gave them their gifts.
