Israel Active

Here are some sites where newsletter readers can donate to Israeli organizations that provide vital help to Israelis at this difficult time.  Many thanks to those who have already contributed and to those who are helping by donating their own valuable time and resources.   Friends of the IDF (US donors): or IDF Soldiers Fund in Israel:  (select the English speakers’ option)   American Friends of Magen David Adom (US donors): or Magen David Adom (Israel):   Zaka (US donors):  or (Israeli donors):   United Hatzalah: Leket Food Israel: JNF USA - Orthodox Union -   Hadassah Hospital Israel: Laniado Hospital (Netanya) And many more charities here:

Moshav Tekuma, just 7km from Gaza, was bypassed by Hamas terrorists because they were unable to enter it. The religious community was completely locked down on Shabbat Oct 7, after having been subject to repeated burglaries on Shabbat previously.

12-year-old Ariel Zohar survived the massacre that took his parents and sisters on Oct 7. During the shiva, Ariel asked Zaka volunteers to try to find his father’s tefillin that had been handed down by his grandfather – a Shoah survivor.  The two men found a melted plastic bag. Inside was the tefillin – intact!

For the first time in 41 years, El Al flew on Shabbat, bringing back to Israel from New York and Bangkok (free of charge) Israelis called up for emergency military reserve duty. They also flew back security and rescue forces stranded abroad. The emergency rescue flights were religiously approved.

Ukrainian teens and young adults, who fled Russia and Ukraine to avoid war, are helping Israel’s war effort. Via non-profit Shishi Shabbat Yisraeli (SSY), they work in 12-hour shifts packing medical equipment and field rations. But here they want to support Israel’s soldiers.

Many examples of brave Israelis confronting Hamas terrorists. A wounded battalion commander rescued an abducted French tourist and carried on fighting. A brigade commander got into three separate tanks, one after another, and then ran over Hamas vehicles to reach the Sderot police station besieged by Hamas.

The World Zionist Organization has launched a project whereby owners of empty apartments in Israel release them to the WZO for evacuees from southern and northern Israel. The WZO will be the guarantor. The project includes a website, contact details, and global adverts in many languages.

An emotional meeting was held at Schneider Pediatric Hospital between transplant patient 8-year-old Refael who received a liver lobe and the family of its donor - soldier Amichai Rubin - who was killed on Oct 7.

23 American firefighters from the Emergency Volunteers Project (EVP – see previously) left their homes to join the response effort in Israel. 60 more are on standby, ready to fly over at a moment’s notice. Many of those stationed in Ashkelon were hosted in Kibbutz Be’eri during a previous visit.

Israel’s Redefine Meat is producing thousands of nutritious protein-rich vegan dishes each week to feed the many vegan / flexitarian IDF soldiers serving on the front lines. Redefine Meat’s head chef has enlisted vegan startups, 100 volunteers, and private chefs to work at his Tel Aviv kitchen.