www.shulcenter.org | Blogs | News from the Front - Updates from Mrs. Freidy Yanover

An Email from a Soldier in Israel

Fri, 8 Aug 2014 12:50:00 PM

Today I got an email that I wanted to share from a soldier in Israel:

Hi Maya my name is Ohad i serve in Golani brigade, battalion 13.

I recieved your letter and wanted to say thanks for your support.

Many pepole from israel and outside israel wrote us kind letters sent pretty pictures and sent all kinds of supplies

All that really ment the world for us..

Its nice to see that we are not standing alone and that the whole jewish community are behind us

I just went through hell and lost some good friends and your letter managed to put a smile on my face so thanks for that..

Hope your brother will stay safe.

Thursday Afternoon Update

Thu, 7 Aug 2014 3:38:00 PM

Thursday afternoon, August 7

From Ashkelon we continued further down south (read closer and closer to Gaza!), to the city of Netivot.

The city is clean and beautiful and there are thousands of Jews living in Netivot, but like Sderot it is just too quiet. We make a brief stop near a supermarket, and though it is a Thursday afternoon, a day before Shabbat the huge supermarket is almost empty. The kosher pizza shop is also almost empty of customers, mostly if people come by, they take a pie and go back home with it.

I understand why this is so when I overhear a shopper comment to a store clerk that it is nice to actually finally see other people. The store clerk responds with "ad machar baboker" -until tomorrow morning. (The 72 hour cease fire is over at 8a.m. tomorrow morning and no one has a hope that Hamas will continue to honor it.)

Netivot, like Sderot , lives indoors where in cement rooms people cower for their lives as air raid sirens keen and wail, warning of oncoming rockets.

Galaita Kshaun lives in Netivot. A few weeks ago Galaita lived in Netivot with her husband and three children and they were expecting their fourth child. Now Galaita, who is from Ethiopia, lives in Netivot with four children and no husband, Bayhesain Kshaun was killed in Israel by Hamas terrorists who emerged from a tunnel and attacked.

I visited Galaita today, together with some other people who were supporters of Chabad Terror Victim project. She was holding Tal Ohr who is just eight days old today. Tal Ohr will never know her father. Galaita was sad and tired and looked so hopeless, she told me that when she holds the baby there is somewhat of a comfort as Bayhesain knew they were having a girl. There were few words that anyone could say to this poor woman who would now be raising her chidren on her own without the support and love of her husband, a fallen hero in Israel.

Sadly from Galaita's home we visited the home of the Biton family. Maidan Maimon Biton was just 20 years old. I ask his mother to tell us what he was like and for the rest of our visit she keeps repeating over and over what a happy person he was and how happy he made others. Maimon's father Menachem is a gentle man and Ricky his mother is a woman with a positive spirit. It is easy to see how his personality was formed. Ricky's message was very clear, she wants everyone to know what he was like so that he can be remembered not just in Netivot but all over the world wherever there are Jews who care.

Ricky holds precious a picture that was brought to her by the Rav of Netivot. A picture that was taken just before Maimon was killed. A Chabad Mitzva tank had arrived outside of Gaza and soldiers were putting on Tefillin. Maimon put Tefillin on as well and someone took his picture. Moments later enemy mortar fire killed Maimon and three others in that attack.

Ricky is grateful for the picture. She says she always knew her son was special. He was always polite and never made demands, but now she knows he was also special in the eyes of G-d.

Ricky made this visit easy for everyone. She spoke of her son with joy and urged us to never forget him.

A week ago both of these slain soldiers, Bayhesain Kshaun and Maidan Maimon Biton were details, albeit painful details in a painful news story I followed back in the states. Today I got to know them personally and met what is left of them in this world.

May their memories be blessed.

Thursday Morning August 7 - Chabad-Lubavitch Making a Difference

Thu, 7 Aug 2014 7:34:00 AM

Thursday morning August 7

Chabad-Lubavitch of Wisconsin....making a difference

Barzilai Hospital is in Ashkelon, in the south of Israel. Many of the wounded soldiers were taken to Barzilai. Thank G-d as of today there are only eight wounded soldiers in Barzilai and four are on their way home. I visited with them today, to thank them for their bravery and brotherly love, and of course to share the Chabad-Lubavitch of Wisconsin message of mitzvos and good deeds undertaken on their behalf.

Benny is a 40 year old "miluimnik" - a reservist and a veteran of earlier wars. He was wounded 10 days ago but is thank G-d making slow and steady progress. His mother Michal is overjoyed with his progress and very grateful that he is alive.

Benny has a nine year old daughter who is afraid to come visit him. Actually she is afraid of everything. Ashkelon is another city within firing range of Hamas missiles. The past few weeks have been so hard on everyone, but for a little girl, whose parents are recently divorced , who lives with her dad, is contending with the fear of falling rockets, dealing with her father disapearing off to war, experiencing her father wounded in battle is just too much for a little girl to deal with.

Michal shares this with me, and Benny nods as she speaks and it is clear he is longing for his daughter.

I had brought the files of resolutions with me to the hospital and waited for the groups of visitors to leave ( there are groups of visitors who come all the time. Tourists from America, Jews from other countries who come to show their solidarity with Israel and with the soldiers), so that I could properly explain what the file contained to each individual. But Benny didn't want me to just leave the file with a brief explanation, he asked me to read the resolutions to him. He wanted to hear the names and the messages of friendship and support. As I read, he kept on murmuring "lo l'ha'amin" - unbelievable...

Benny is not an observant Jew. He lives a very secular life and is the CO of an engineering company in Ashdod, but he was very emotional about the fact, and in his words honored, that American Jews who did not know him, were prepared to undertake Mitzvot for his sake.

Wednesday afternoon - Always somebody's son

Wed, 6 Aug 2014 4:15:00 PM

Wednesday afternoon, August 6

Always somebody's son

On Shabbos at The Shul the names of the IDF wounded are announced for a Mi Sheberach, a blessing of healing. Thank G-d the list grows progressively shorter, as soldiers heal and go back home.

Today some of these names became real people at Hadassah hospital.

Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital is in Jerusalem and this is where I headed for the afternoon, knowing that there were wounded soldiers on the fifth and sixth floors. On the fifth floor we encountered Chen.

This visit was so incredibly meaningful. Not just for me, but for Rut as well.

Rut is Chen's mother. She is a mother who is filled with love for her children. Two of whom are in the IDF.

She tells me that Chen called on Friday night. But the family do not answer the phone on Friday night as it is Shabbat. Ruth felt that she needed to get the phone and so she picked it up. She immediately told her son that he was getting such a mitzva calling her to tell her he was okay, even though it was shabbos. But Chen was calling to tell his parents that he had been wounded.

He has had surgery on his foot and his ear is filled with blood and he cannot hear from that ear. His skin is pierced with shrapnel over his entire body. He is in terrible pain and he is healing slowly.

Rut tells us a story of tragedy that accompanies Chen's victory from the jaws of death.

Chen and his batallion were excavating and clearing a Hamas tunnel. There was shooting from within the tunnel, an explosion and Chen was hit. His buddy ran in to pull him out. Grabbing his legs, where Chen had been hit, Chen began to scream in pain...his friend screamed back at him saying " you could have pain or be dead!", and he dragged him out of the tunnel to safety. And then he ran into the tunnel to save another member of their batllion. And then he was shot. In the neck. And he didn't make it.

Staff Sgt. Avraham Grintzvaig, 21 of Petah Tikva, died in battle saving the lives of his fellow soldiers.

It was clear that Rut needed this chance to talk. When I told Rut that I too was a mother of a soldier she opened up and allowed herself to speak the pain off her heart and find words of strength and greatness.

Hearing this story of mesirat nefesh - self sacrifice, listening to Rut segue to a place of strength telling me that she is grateful for the gift of her son, I am inspired and awed. As she sees it, if there were two options, receiving him in a box or wounded, she is grateful for this gift. He will heal she says, and he will be fine!!

As Chen heals he will read the file that was left at his bedside, a file of resolutions and messages of love from the Jewish community of Milwaukee. Rut says these will make him stronger and help him to smile again.

Wednesday August 6 - Wisconsin features in soldier packs

Wed, 6 Aug 2014 1:27:00 PM

Early this morning I supervised as your resolutions became part of the packs of love sent to the soldiers who are still at the front. Though it has been quiet for 37 hours, and no rockets have fallen, there are a great number of soldiers there and they will remain there for four weeks at least. Hundreds of packets were packed for the soldiers this morning. Each packet consists of a set of clean clothes, some snacks and a picture drawn by a child. Todays packs also contained copies of the many loving resolutions that were made as a strong voice of support by the many friends and Jewish community members.

I had made many copies of the resolutions before leaving Milwaukee, and as a result of this these special resolutions and messages of love will be received by many many soldiers. Your decisions to undertake a mitzva or a good deed in honor of the soldiers will go a long way in making an important difference in the lives of these young people who serve their country with loyalty and devotion, but who would really all love to go home.

Some of the c-teens sent letters in enclosed envelopes. Those letters were hand delivered to a group of soldiers last night. I cannot tell you their reactions, as the envelopes were closed, but I noticed that the guys slipped their letters into their military packs.

Clearly then, it was important to them to receive what was really personal mail. Maybe one day your will be part of a conversation that goes like this. " did I hear you say that you are from Wisconsin? Wow, back in 2014 when we were concluding Pillar of defense, some kid in Wisconsin sent me a loving and meaningful letter. It turned my life around!!" You have no idea how much of a difference every small gesture makes for these very young and very brave soldiers of the IDF.

(Editor's Note: Visit the August 8th blog post to read an email received by a community member from an IDF soldier in reponse to this campaign.)

Tuesday August 5 - Sderot

Tue, 5 Aug 2014 10:46:00 AM

Tuesday August 5

Leaving Sderot...
I am suddenly struck with a most heartbreaking realization. Sderot is a ghost town. Well, yes of course it is a city. There are close to 22,000 people living in Sderot. But you don't see a soul. There is no one outdoors. No chidren, no children in the parks, no children in the gardens. No adults or teens biking, strolling or power walking. Sure it is a hot summer day, but there is a beautiful breeze and it really is a great day to be outdoors. But no one is.

When I share this thought with Tzivia, the Rebbetzin with whom I spent the
afternoon, she adds that the children of Sderot are different to all other children. They do not ask to play outside or to go to the park. They don't pull out their bikes for leisurely rides around their beautiful city. Though technically they are safe (?) as there is a Miklat - a bomb shelter every 50 feet. You see every house has a government built bomb shelter (more about that later) . Every park has creative "child friendly" bomb shelters, (see image) more about that later... most shops have bomb shelters and if they don't have a bomb shelter there is the "best place to be in the store" that serves as a bomb shelter, bus stops ARE bomb shelters, there are "just as you walk down the street bomb shelter" then there are community centers that are bomb shelters (don't even try to imagine your local JCC) the entire Chabad house is a bomb shelter...getting the idea here? Kids
don't play outside, life is not normal and has not been normal for 14 years.
The children in Sderot have no childhood. They are tzevah adom - colour red
babies and have never known a childhood free of terror.

There is a special clinic in Sderot to treat trauma and shock. It is a clinic with professional psychologists, and psychiatrists, and therapists of all kinds. They treat the people who are depressed and in shock, who have been psychologically hurt by the constant rockets that rain down on Sderot. In response to my question if people leave, Tzivia (who incidentally is Rabbi Levi and Freidy Brook of Chabad of Waukesha's first cousin), tells me that there used to be 24,000 people in Sderot but about 4000 people have left over the past few years. Though there seems to be a recent rise and now there are closer to 22,000 people.

Imagine that number of people who live under a constant threat of missile
fire. Tzivia, for whom our visit was a breath of fresh air, and who was so thrilled with the Milwaukee C-teen hand drawn posters that she kept to decorate the bomb shelters around the city, (see photographs) told us the story of their missile miracle. Missile miracles abound.

Their missile miracle happened when she and the family were away for a rare visit in Jerusalem. She, Rabbi Pizem and the children were visiting friends and as Tzivia would have to be in a distant city for a course the following day, they decided they would not return home that night but would spend the night with family.

That night a rocket landed in their garden in Sderot and destroyed her bedroom. The roof which held the water tank (the equivalent of an indoor boiler) and the solar panels, everything collapsed into the bedroom where everything was destroyed. The main bedroom wall was demolished...The Pizems who are the Chabad emiserries to Sderot are generally always home. Miraculously, they were away that night Thank G-d.

On behalf of the Milwaukee community we brought games and toys for
the local children to play with. School never properly ended and camps have
been cancelled. So the summer months are long long days of keeping children
occupied and safe for mothers in Sderot. Dads, have been called up for miluim - they are reservists and Tzivia's neighbor, a young man was called up for miluim just yesterday and told he would be away for up to four weeks. So these toys were greatly appreciated along with the support and the beautiful posters filled with words of encouragement that the teens created and Rabbi Mendy sent along with me.

I promised more about the bomb shelters built by the government in every home. Tzivia showed me the government built bomb shelter. It is a room about nine feet long and eight feet wide. The entire family must sleep there on nights when rockets are launched at Sderot. There are no warning leaflets sent by Chamas to tell the Pizems to expect rockets on any given night....The old bomb shelter was about 6x4 and the government was unhappy with those specs so they built them a bigger room!!

And more about the park bomb shelters. A long concrete catterpillar snakes
across the children's park. An exact replica of the first, just about 7 feet away. It is tall enough for a man to stand in. It looks like a it is just another piece of park equipment, though you do wonder at the length of the thing and the hight of it, until you read a sign that says:

'You must go in past the orange line". Indeed a painted orange line about three feet into the catterpillar that goes around the inner circumference, indicates that you are only safe from rocket fire if you stand past that line, further into the caterpillars belly.

Like I said, no one really plays in the park. Play is for indoors only. Outside play is for children who live elsewhere. In Sderot outside and inside the children worry.

Little Mushka Pizem who is about 14 months old has two words in her vocabulary. Na'alayim (shoes) and BOOM!

A postscript about Sderot
Sderot is inside the " green line". Though it is only a seven minute drive to Gaza, this beautiful city is actually not in a "disputed" area. So it would seem the terror attacks are not really about territory after all.

On a personal note, some of you know that my son Yisrael is in Gaza. He is
with the Golani brigade. I could only hope that somehow I would have the opportunity to see him while I am here.

Sroli came out of Gaza on a break and was in a kibbutz 23 minutes away from
Sderot. He asked for and received permission for me to come see him. I
cannot put into words what our reunion was like.

Monday afternoon, August 4

Mon, 4 Aug 2014 2:38:00 PM

It isn't easy arriving at Ben Gurion in the current climate. The words, "mi shema'amin lo mefached" one who has faith, does not fear, plays like a loop tape in my head. Rocket fire near Ben Gurion airport just over a week ago fell close enough to send great countries scurrying for safety by cancelling flights to Tel Aviv. (The fact that the embargo had been lifted was actually a surprise to the young woman at the Delta ticket counter in Milwaukee when she checked me in, she was surprised I was flying Delta to Tel Aviv..) and sitting on the run way waiting for another plane to clear the path for our plane, I understand the phrase sitting duck.

But the atmoshphere in the plane as we pull up to the gate in Tel Aviv is serene. Israelis returning home in good cheer. Happy to be home despite the constant and ongoing rocket attacks, for Israel is home.

The mezuzah that graces the post as you enter the customs hall, officially entering the country of Israel, is huge and cannot be missed. What a statement that mezuzah makes. Our protection comes from the Mitzvot we do, and from the mezuzot we hang on our door posts. Enter Jews, it seems to shout, have no fear, within my borders you will walk with G-d and your arrival will be blessed. Mi shema'amin lo mefached!!

Monday afternoon, August 4

Mon, 4 Aug 2014 1:07:00 PM

Monday afternoon, August 4

A dear friend from South Africa has organized a driver to take me from the airport.

It seems everyone wants to do something to show their support for Israel.

Over the sound of the radio playing a program about Tisha B'av which begins tonight, the driver and I are having a conversation about the best way for me to get to Sderot tomorrow. Sderot is a southern city close to the border of Gaza and its citizens live in a perpetual state of shock and trauma. It has been the recipient of ceaseless rocket fire, and life for those who live there is one long disruption. I am nervous about going.

We talk, and the radios drones on until we are suddenly interrupted by a female voice coming in over the air waves which calmly announces "azakah kfar azah"...This is a code red announcement. Rockets have been launched at kfar azah, another southern city, not far from sderot actually, and the alert is sent out.

The radio program continues, as though nothing out of the ordinary has happened, until five minutes later once again, this time over the voices of the radio show host and her guest, "azakah ashkelon, azakah sderot, azakah sde boker, azakah mitzpeh ramon" now the announcement is accompanied by the sound of an air raid siren that wails it's warning over and over again.

(This would be akin to listening to Iheart radio and suddenly hearing "rockets launced at bayside, rockets launced at Waukesha, rockets launched at fox point"!!

Suddenly I no longer feel like the American who has come to bring a message of support and comfort. Somehow the sound of the wailing siren worms its way into my psyche and I feel one with the land and the people, we continue our conversation about how to get to Sderot. Only now it is no longer a question of if, only how...

Sunday afternoon, August 3

Sun, 3 Aug 2014 12:38:00 PM

Sunday afternoon, August 3, 2014

Greetings to all of you. I am humbled that you have entrusted me with this opportunity to represent you on a mission of solidarity to our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters in Israel.

We hear the theme of hashgacha pratis - divine providence discussed over and over again and I want to share the divine providence that has shown itself so far as I start out on this journey.

Finding a reasonable ticket wasn't as easy as we thought it would be from Chicago, and so we searched for and found a ticket from New York, but it would require an airport transfer, from La Guardia to JFK.

The ohel is just four short miles away from Kennedy and so with the providence of time to spare between airports this trip began at the Ohel, where I came to ask of the Rebbe for his blessing that this trip be blessed with success, and that I should be a worthy representative of you all.

I felt it appropriate to bring into the Ohel all the resolutions that had been made by the members, children and adults, of the numerous Chabad communities of Wisconsin. I had placed them in files before leaving Milwaukee, so that I could leave these messages of encouragement, love and commitment at the different places I would visit in Israel whether at the bedside of a wounded soldier r"l, at the home of a family in mourning for the terrible loss of a son, or at the front.

These symbols of your faith and friendship I took into the Ohel with me to share with the Rebbe, and kept them beside me as I prayed for peace in Israel and for the continued growth and the well being of the Chabad communities of Wisconsin.