What the Orthodox Union and the Israel Center are doing for the "war effort", and how you can help. OU TZAFONA 70 of our volunteers, dressed in their new OU T-shirts, spent the entire Sunday morning in the OU Israel Center's "back yard" packing up another 150 boxes for the north. These are the boxes that our other volunteers are giving out and using in the different bomb shelters that they are going to. (The cost before transportation is $150 per box) 75 graduates of our OU Course Martzim (Kiruv Training course) were asked by the directors of Mr. Gaydimak's tent cities (10,000 people in total) to come to the tent city and run their Shabbat programs, lead davening, teach classes, etc… It was a major hit and we were asked to come back for next Shabbat as well. 80 of our Kehilot Yisrael Tiberias branch participants joined Rabbi Meir Schwartz for a Shabbaton this past Shabbat. A main focus of the Shabbat was learning how to deal with the situation, Rabbi Schwartz came back extremely satisfied with the Shabbaton . 700 of our OU volunteers have been working with Rabbi Eliyahu Fargun (Director of Kehilot Yisrael in Ariel) on a daily basis going from bomb shelter to bomb shelter helping families and bringing them some happiness in these terrible times. I was given the privilege of speaking with JOLT 1 and TJJ this past Shabbat about what the OU in N.Y. and in Israel are doing to help the situation. It has been a true honor. May Hashem continue giving us all the vision and the strength to continue. B'virkat HaTorah, The following is part of a letter written by a Haifa resident (temporarily living elsewhere) to the former residents of Gush Katif. Friends and family members are being injured and killed. Some of us are without roofs over our heads. I closed my business since the beginning of the battle and I don't know what will happen. We are wandering between family and good people. Our family life has been impaired. I never thought that I, a Haifa resident for 30 years, would be a refugee in my own land. Everything that is happening now sounds so familiar from the recent past. For five years, you coped with bombs - and I didn't care. You buried family and friends - and I was indifferent. You found yourselves without a home, just like that... and you never had someone that listened to you. Even when you came to visit me in my house, to explain, to convince, to share your feelings with me - I refused to listen to you... ...I am out of my house, without my regular routine. It is very hard, but the empathy, support, and people identifying with our plight helps me go on. People from Gush Katif and the Shomron: FORGIVE ME. Forgive us for leaving you on your own. Forgive us for not understanding you. [The
Parshat Va'etchanan Homepage]
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