Middlesex/Monmouth Community Bomb Shelter in Halutza
Anne/Adrian Kroll
Anne/Adrian Kroll
02/15/25
Shabbat Shalom,
I would like to dedicate my D’var Torah in memory and in honor of the six American Hostages still held by Hamas today. Edan Alexander, 21, Tenafly, NJ, Itay Chen, 19, z”l, New York, Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, Bloomfield, CT, Gadi Haggai, 73, z”l, and Judi Weinstein Haggai ,70, z”l New York, and Omer Neutra, 22, z”l, New York. And in honor of all of the hostages' devoted and distraught mothers.
Today is Day 497 since Oct 7, 2023
According to Rabbi Margie Cella’s book Hindsight is 2020 this week’s Parsha Yitro is considered by many to be the most important Parsha in the entire Torah because it contains within it the account of the encounter of the nation with God at Mt. Sinai, where two tablets containing the Ten commandments were given. Coincidentally, I couldn’t help but wonder about the fate of all the remaining hostages and also of the world as the clock continues to tick with President Trump’s ultimatum. That the remaining hostages be released by 12 noon today. Would this become the most important Shabbat of our lifetime especially for the land and the people of Israel? Rabbi Cella continues to point out how strange it is that this Parsha is named for someone who was not only not Jewish, but a priest of Midian.
Yitro brings his daughter Zipporah and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, to his son-in-law Moses. (18:1-12)
Moses follows Yitro's advice and appoints judges to help him lead the people. (18:13-27)
The Children of Israel camp in front of Mount Sinai. Upon hearing the covenant, the Israelites respond, "All that God has spoken we will do." (19:1-8)
After three days of preparation, the Israelites encounter God at Mount Sinai. (19:9-25)
God gives the Ten Commandments aloud directly to the people. (20:1-14)
Frightened, the Children of Israel ask Moses to serve as an intermediary between God and them. Moses tells the people not to be afraid. (20:15-18)
I began to focus on what it truly means to be frightened and afraid especially as a hostage or as a mother of a hostage. Sure we are all frightened when we hear thunder and see lightning. But to see your child being savagely beaten or brutally raped either in front of you or on video? Of course we are frightened when we see a fender bender or someone having a medical emergency. But imagine the echoing sounds of the last phone call that mother’s received after the Hamas attacks began?
Edan Alexander’s mother, Yael, recalls in an interview on AJC’s podcast, she told him at the end of the call “Listen to me, Edan, I am here. I’m with you. I love you. Just protect yourself. Just be safe.” Something all mothers might say to their children, perhaps when they leave for college or summer camp never thinking that they may never hear from them again. That they wouldn’t return home for their younger brother's bar mitzvah in April. Imagine planning your child’s bar mitzvah while your other child is being held captive.
Then there is Itay Chen, the youngest American hostage still in Hamas captivity. He was an IDF soldier and the only reason that he was on duty that dreadful morning was because he had switched weekends so that he could attend his brother's bar mitzvah the following week. His parents learned after months of hoping and praying that he died on October 7th. He was a boy scout, and loved to play basketball and PlayStation. I had the honor and privilege of giving his father a much needed hug especially when you are frightened when he spoke at Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center advocating for Itay’s body to be released no less. Can you imagine?
Sagui Dekel-Chen lived on Kibbutz Nir Oz , frightened as he was he continued to send text messages to warn neighbors to seek shelter from the gunman in their saferooms. He made sure that his then pregnant wife and two daughters were safe inside a bomb shelter before he confronted the terrorists himself. Imagine how frightened you would be if you gave birth while your husband was still in captivity.
“Here in the fields, we are full of fear. People are dying and birds aren’t flying” are lyrics composed in the 1980’s by Gadi Haggai z”l. He and his wife Judi Weinstein Haggai z”l were on their daily stroll when rockets, gun fire and savage beasts robbed them from continuing to enjoy their golden years together.
Imagine how frightened they were when they called their daughter in Singapore while lying face down in a field or how frightened Judi was when she saw her husband get shot and called the paramedics which never arrived and then was shot by the beasts. Both Gadi and Judi’s bodies remain in Hamas captivity.
Omer Neutra z”l decided to take a gap year, and joined an IDF tank brigade. Imagine how frightened he must have been when Hamas militants ambushed his tank with rocket-propelled grenades; his body was kidnapped and remains in Gaza. He graduated from The Schechter School of Long Island in 2019. Omer played many sports at SSLI, including basketball, volleyball, and soccer. In January the school retired his sports number 24 during a memorial service that was held in his memory.
Frightened is putting it mildly.
Those that survive will most definitely suffer from PTSD. Holocaust survivors know it all too well that those psychological and emotional scars will last forever even with the most sophisticated of PTSD therapies and treatments.
With their feelings of fear and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in mind, Jewish National Fund-USA seeks to shift the focus of the residents by ensuring that safety is always within reach, as well as beautifying bomb shelters with colorful, vibrant murals in the area and effectively aiding the improvement of mental health in children and adults alike.
When families who were evacuated from kibbutzim near Gaza after October 7 moved into the heart of the Negev Desert, they immediately noticed that there were no bomb shelters nearby. Ripped from their homes and traumatized by the Hamas attacks, they were grateful for the tranquility of the desert but constantly on edge. In conjunction with the local communities, Jewish National Fund-USA jumped in to help, providing temporary bomb shelters in the middle of the desert to ensure that if a rocket reached these areas, the people would have a safe place to run.
When an alert sounds, residents have just 15 seconds or less to run for shelter from the incoming attack. Since October 7, 2023, the need for bomb shelters has become even more dire—not just in the Israel Envelope, but across the entire country. Rocket attacks from Gaza and Lebanon have become routine, and no one feels safe being far from shelter. In order to rebuild lives and regular routines, it is essential that bomb shelters are built near schools and homes across large swaths of Israel’s North and South. Evacuated residents cannot return home until enough bomb shelters are built nearby, and even those who have been able to safely remain in their homes now feel the need for added security. Jewish National Fund-USA is committed to ensuring that bomb shelters are built in the border communities along Gaza as well as in the North, as a first step to making it safe for residents to return to these areas.
Since October 7th, we have raised $73,084.00 towards the Middlesex/Monmouth Community Bomb Shelters Campaign in Halutza. Each roadside shelter costs $50,000.00. We have completed and erected one shelter and we are trying to complete the second one. We need to raise an additional $26,916.00. Please click on the link below to make your meaning donation.
https://my.jnf.org/halutza/MiddlesexMonmouthBombShelter
Since 1948, we have vowed to never forget. Having amnesia and betraying the survivors a second time is not an option. “Jews do not have history, we have memory! “While history is about what happened in the past, memory is about how that past drives our present and our future. It is all about action! That is why the verb that appears most in our prayers is Z’chor. Zecher, Zicharon Remember, remember, remember. During the Passover Seder, we do not teach our children that our ancestors came out of Egypt. We teach them that each person must see oneself as if he or she personally came out of Egypt. Our challenge as a Jew is how do you take this collective memory of our people and make it a part of your life. This is a moment to reaffirm our Jewish commitments. Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh Ba’Zeh, the entire Jewish world, is intertwined with one another.
Please join Adrian and I in completing this mitzvah. We thank all of you that have contributed already and are grateful to those that will donate. Whatever meaningful amount you can donate will make a difference.
Since writing this D’var Torah, Sagui Dekel-Chen has been reunited with his family and has been able to hold his new baby girl for the first time!
We continue to pray for the release of the remaining hostages.
Shavua Tov!
Shabbat Shalom,
I would like to dedicate my D’var Torah in memory and in honor of the six American Hostages still held by Hamas today. Edan Alexander, 21, Tenafly, NJ, Itay Chen, 19, z”l, New York, Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, Bloomfield, CT, Gadi Haggai, 73, z”l, and Judi Weinstein Haggai ,70, z”l New York, and Omer Neutra, 22, z”l, New York. And in honor of all of the hostages' devoted and distraught mothers.
Today is Day 497 since Oct 7, 2023
According to Rabbi Margie Cella’s book Hindsight is 2020 this week’s Parsha Yitro is considered by many to be the most important Parsha in the entire Torah because it contains within it the account of the encounter of the nation with God at Mt. Sinai, where two tablets containing the Ten commandments were given. Coincidentally, I couldn’t help but wonder about the fate of all the remaining hostages and also of the world as the clock continues to tick with President Trump’s ultimatum. That the remaining hostages be released by 12 noon today. Would this become the most important Shabbat of our lifetime especially for the land and the people of Israel? Rabbi Cella continues to point out how strange it is that this Parsha is named for someone who was not only not Jewish, but a priest of Midian.
Yitro brings his daughter Zipporah and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, to his son-in-law Moses. (18:1-12)
Moses follows Yitro's advice and appoints judges to help him lead the people. (18:13-27)
The Children of Israel camp in front of Mount Sinai. Upon hearing the covenant, the Israelites respond, "All that God has spoken we will do." (19:1-8)
After three days of preparation, the Israelites encounter God at Mount Sinai. (19:9-25)
God gives the Ten Commandments aloud directly to the people. (20:1-14)
Frightened, the Children of Israel ask Moses to serve as an intermediary between God and them. Moses tells the people not to be afraid. (20:15-18)
I began to focus on what it truly means to be frightened and afraid especially as a hostage or as a mother of a hostage. Sure we are all frightened when we hear thunder and see lightning. But to see your child being savagely beaten or brutally raped either in front of you or on video? Of course we are frightened when we see a fender bender or someone having a medical emergency. But imagine the echoing sounds of the last phone call that mother’s received after the Hamas attacks began?
Edan Alexander’s mother, Yael, recalls in an interview on AJC’s podcast, she told him at the end of the call “Listen to me, Edan, I am here. I’m with you. I love you. Just protect yourself. Just be safe.” Something all mothers might say to their children, perhaps when they leave for college or summer camp never thinking that they may never hear from them again. That they wouldn’t return home for their younger brother's bar mitzvah in April. Imagine planning your child’s bar mitzvah while your other child is being held captive.
Then there is Itay Chen, the youngest American hostage still in Hamas captivity. He was an IDF soldier and the only reason that he was on duty that dreadful morning was because he had switched weekends so that he could attend his brother's bar mitzvah the following week. His parents learned after months of hoping and praying that he died on October 7th. He was a boy scout, and loved to play basketball and PlayStation. I had the honor and privilege of giving his father a much needed hug especially when you are frightened when he spoke at Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center advocating for Itay’s body to be released no less. Can you imagine?
Sagui Dekel-Chen lived on Kibbutz Nir Oz , frightened as he was he continued to send text messages to warn neighbors to seek shelter from the gunman in their saferooms. He made sure that his then pregnant wife and two daughters were safe inside a bomb shelter before he confronted the terrorists himself. Imagine how frightened you would be if you gave birth while your husband was still in captivity.
“Here in the fields, we are full of fear. People are dying and birds aren’t flying” are lyrics composed in the 1980’s by Gadi Haggai z”l. He and his wife Judi Weinstein Haggai z”l were on their daily stroll when rockets, gun fire and savage beasts robbed them from continuing to enjoy their golden years together.
Imagine how frightened they were when they called their daughter in Singapore while lying face down in a field or how frightened Judi was when she saw her husband get shot and called the paramedics which never arrived and then was shot by the beasts. Both Gadi and Judi’s bodies remain in Hamas captivity.
Omer Neutra z”l decided to take a gap year, and joined an IDF tank brigade. Imagine how frightened he must have been when Hamas militants ambushed his tank with rocket-propelled grenades; his body was kidnapped and remains in Gaza. He graduated from The Schechter School of Long Island in 2019. Omer played many sports at SSLI, including basketball, volleyball, and soccer. In January the school retired his sports number 24 during a memorial service that was held in his memory.
Frightened is putting it mildly.
Those that survive will most definitely suffer from PTSD. Holocaust survivors know it all too well that those psychological and emotional scars will last forever even with the most sophisticated of PTSD therapies and treatments.
With their feelings of fear and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in mind, Jewish National Fund-USA seeks to shift the focus of the residents by ensuring that safety is always within reach, as well as beautifying bomb shelters with colorful, vibrant murals in the area and effectively aiding the improvement of mental health in children and adults alike.
When families who were evacuated from kibbutzim near Gaza after October 7 moved into the heart of the Negev Desert, they immediately noticed that there were no bomb shelters nearby. Ripped from their homes and traumatized by the Hamas attacks, they were grateful for the tranquility of the desert but constantly on edge. In conjunction with the local communities, Jewish National Fund-USA jumped in to help, providing temporary bomb shelters in the middle of the desert to ensure that if a rocket reached these areas, the people would have a safe place to run.
When an alert sounds, residents have just 15 seconds or less to run for shelter from the incoming attack. Since October 7, 2023, the need for bomb shelters has become even more dire—not just in the Israel Envelope, but across the entire country. Rocket attacks from Gaza and Lebanon have become routine, and no one feels safe being far from shelter. In order to rebuild lives and regular routines, it is essential that bomb shelters are built near schools and homes across large swaths of Israel’s North and South. Evacuated residents cannot return home until enough bomb shelters are built nearby, and even those who have been able to safely remain in their homes now feel the need for added security. Jewish National Fund-USA is committed to ensuring that bomb shelters are built in the border communities along Gaza as well as in the North, as a first step to making it safe for residents to return to these areas.
Since October 7th, we have raised $73,084.00 towards the Middlesex/Monmouth Community Bomb Shelters Campaign in Halutza. Each roadside shelter costs $50,000.00. We have completed and erected one shelter and we are trying to complete the second one. We need to raise an additional $26,916.00. Please click on the link below to make your meaning donation.
https://my.jnf.org/halutza/MiddlesexMonmouthBombShelter
Since 1948, we have vowed to never forget. Having amnesia and betraying the survivors a second time is not an option. “Jews do not have history, we have memory! “While history is about what happened in the past, memory is about how that past drives our present and our future. It is all about action! That is why the verb that appears most in our prayers is Z’chor. Zecher, Zicharon Remember, remember, remember. During the Passover Seder, we do not teach our children that our ancestors came out of Egypt. We teach them that each person must see oneself as if he or she personally came out of Egypt. Our challenge as a Jew is how do you take this collective memory of our people and make it a part of your life. This is a moment to reaffirm our Jewish commitments. Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh Ba’Zeh, the entire Jewish world, is intertwined with one another.
Please join Adrian and I in completing this mitzvah. We thank all of you that have contributed already and are grateful to those that will donate. Whatever meaningful amount you can donate will make a difference.
Since writing this D’var Torah, Sagui Dekel-Chen has been reunited with his family and has been able to hold his new baby girl for the first time!
We continue to pray for the release of the remaining hostages.
Shavua Tov!
FEB
16
16
Gadi Haggai z"l and Judi Weinstein Haggai z"l
JUL
21
21
JUN
10
10
Our First Bomb Shelter Completed!
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