Separated by war united in heart

As terrorists infiltrated Sderot and other parts of the southern settlement, residents were evacuated to other parts of Israel, and among them was a tiny community of Bnei Menashe, numbering 120 houses, which received a place for their synagogue just before the day of atonement (Yom Kippur) by a man of integrity and dignity, the Mayor of Sderot, Alon Davidi.

A visit from the mayor of Sderot Alon Davidi at the Olive Tree Hotel Jerusalem

A gallery museum was established for the Bnei Menashe community two years ago, the first of its kind in Israel. Visitors can visit and see depictions of early Bnei Menashe converts to Judaism, and the mayor promised to provide the community with a safer place for synagogue on that day.

For the Mayor, "A promise is a promise," as he promised to donate a synagogue near the museum gallery, one can see how ecstatic the community was from their faces when a board was placed on which it was written "here will be built a synagogue for the Bnei Menashe in Sderot," but our joy was sporadic when Hamas infiltrated deep inside the heart of Sderot, killing many civilians.

The Mayor and his staff never disappoint us; he sends a large team to assist all communities in evacuating to various regions of Israel; it goes without saying that he and his staff never sleep peacefully for the benefit of the citizens of Sderot.

The Bnei Menashe community, which consisted of roughly 17 families in the VERT hotel and six old men and women in the Royal Hotel, formed a part of the Sderot inhabitants that was evacuated to the Dead Sea Hotel. They were among the first to be evacuated to the hotel with the assistance of the Sderot Municipality and Agaf Ha Klita.

Bnei Menashe in Vert Hotel and The Royal Hotel in the Dead Sea under Enosh Lhouvum

They were placed under the supervision of Enosh Lhouvum, a Bnei Menashe council member and notable community leader who works under the Deputy Mayor Khava Nakshanov for the municipality's division of the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration Sderot.

When I asked Enosh about the situation of the elderly and the community, he responded that we need not be concerned because the Municipality of Sderot and the Government of Israel take care of all needs according to each household, and for the elderly old men and women, there is a team who takes care of them and supplies them with medicine in accordance with their specifications.

On Sunday, I received a phone call from Gai Eliyahu, a Senior Police Officer from the Community Division (Khativat Kehilloth), informing me that he and his team will be visiting the residents of Sderot, and that on Tuesday, he and his team of Officers will organize activities for the children of Sderot. He also instructed me to contact Eden and Ela from his police department.

with Senior Police Officer Gai Eliyahu and Ela from Khativat Kehilati with their team of police Officers organizing activities for the children of Sderot

On Tuesday, as promised by Gai, he called me on the phone. He informed me that he and his staff were already planning events for the Sderot communities in the Grand Cort Hotel Jerusalem and that on the following Sunday, more events would take place in the Olive Tree Hotel and Leonardo Hotel.

What fascinated me was that this team of officers played with the children as if they were kindergarten educators, things like which I hadn't witnessed before, if it was India I would have to stamp my feet on the ground and salute them, they brought police attire for the children, drawing paper and color, and so on, and at the end they presented gifts to each and every child.

Regardless of our trials, we find comfort in our unity. For example, when we arrive in Jerusalem, we have no possession of both the Siddur and the volumes of Tehilim, and our community is accustomed to pray according to Jerushalmi Nusach.

Yehuda Aronson, a social worker from Jerusalem, asked me how he could assist our community. I informed him that our community needed 50 siddurim and 50 tehilim, and just before Shabbat, he delivered them.

Rabbi Mordekhai Elbaz from Ikhud HaRabani Sderoth, and Recieving sets of Prayer books and Tehilim from Yehuda Aharonson social worker from Jerusalem

And Rabbi Mordekhai, a good friend of mine from Ikhud Harabani Sderot, did not cease supporting our Avrekhim; it was through his Mesiruth Nefesh that several evening Kollel was established in Sderoth.

He called me on the phone and asked what the name of our Kollel, to which I answered Kollel Ohel Rakhel in remembrance of Rakhel Immenu, to whom we, the Bnei Menashe, are linked, and he promised to pay me money for each Avrekhim who learned in our Kollel.

Despite having been separated by war, the enemy has planted in the hearts of each and every Jew a love and unity that politicians, laymen, police officers, physicians, engineers, and others never dreamed of, which may be described as a dream come true.