Hi, my name is Betty Hager, and I am celebrating my Bat Mitzvah on May 31, 2025. For my Mitzvah Project I have decided to beautify a bomb shelter in Israel. You may wonder, why would someone want to beautify a bomb shelter; who needs a bomb shelter? Here in America, there are no public bomb shelters because we don’t need them. Unfortunately, in Israel, everyone needs to be able to get to a shelter quickly, at any time, whether there is a "ceasefire" in place, or not. This may not be on your radar, and it may not matter to you, but it matters a lot to me, and I hope that when you understand why it matters so much, that you will please help me to reach my goal of $10,000 to create a beautiful artistic design, intended to bring more light into the World and help some of the amazing Israelis living in the South of the country. Here’s why:

Have you ever been scared just to go outside? Or have you ever been scared just to play on a playground? Well, in Israel, people can be doing everyday ordinary things, going about their lives, like grocery shopping, taking a walk, or even just sitting on a bench, and suddenly a rocket siren will sound and they have anywhere from as little as 15 seconds to find a bomb shelter because terrorists decide to launch random rockets and missiles and bombs indiscriminately, at places where Israelis live. Imagine how terrifying it must be to have to literally run for your life when a moment earlier you were just out walking your dog or playing on a seesaw in the park.

Now, you may think it doesn’t really matter whether a bomb shelter is pretty or not, but the beautification project serves several purposes. First, a distinctive piece of artwork on the outside of a shelter can help people identify where their loved ones are taking refuge. And second, I feel like something as simple as flowers or smiley faces or something else beautiful can give people (especially the children) a sense of comfort knowing that they are not alone. And particularly, that we here in the United States care about what happens to all Israeli citizens, Jewish and non-Jewish.

In honor of my Bat Mitzvah, my family and I will be traveling to Israel this Summer (my first time being there!) and if we can reach our goal of $10,000 in time, we will be able to work with the artist and have the bomb shelter project completed in time for us to attend a dedication ceremony for the bomb shelter with the villagers of Shlomit, in the Halutza area of Southern Israel. Please consider helping me to perform this act of loving kindness for the people of Shlomit.