I received this by email this week from One Family, an organization that helps families of terror victims. I'm sure many of you recall the story of Hallel Yaffa Ariel, the 13-year old who was murdered in her bed by terrorists on June 30.
Let's go to the videotape. Explanation below.
Hallel Yaffa Ariel was murdered on June 30th, 2016 (Sivan 24th) by a vile man while sleeping in her bed, at the age of 13.
Her
family wishes to commemorate her life at the place where she was killed
- by turning it into a Visitor Center to the family's winery in Kiryat
Arba. So they launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise the money.
This is a Headstart campaign run by the Ariel family, endorsed by OneFamily.
The Ariel Judea Winery is
a micro-winery producing wine from the Ariel family's vineyards near
their home. Hallel used to enjoy working there with her father. The Hallel
Winery Visitor Center will establish a living connection between Hallel
and the winery, vineyards, and the Kiryat Arba area - where Hallel
spent her childhood.
The Hallel Winery Center will promote Jewish-Israeli identity, personal growth, prosperity, and love. Help the family plant roots in the spot where it was hit by Israel's enemies.
Please join the project and help make the Hallel Visitor Center a reality. With your help, they will achieve their vision! All
of your donations to this campaign go directly to the Headstart
crowdfunding campaign helping the family realize this project.
Bereaved Parents Comfort Family of Ezra Schwartz at OneFamily: “We Are All With You”
Ruth Schwartz, Ari Schwartz, Nachum Lemkus, and Brenda Lemkus at the OneFamily Center in Jerusalem
Coping with the loss of a child in a terrorist
attack is one of the loneliest experiences a parent can face. For Ari
and Ruth Schwartz, who lost their son Ezra in a terror shooting in
November, the isolation is intensified because the family
lives in America, far away from the support of other bereaved parents.
That’s why OneFamily Fund,
which provides support to victims of terror, sponsored the family on a
visit to Israel and arranged for them to meet with other parents who
have lost children to
terror.
“The Schwartz family has the difficult task of
mourning the murder of their son, Ezra, all alone, in America,” said
OneFamily Chairman Marc Belzberg. “Today, at OneFamily, they benefitted
from the warm embrace, the shared experiences and
the heartfelt advice of many other Israeli parents who, like them, lost
a child to terror.”
Ari and Ruth participated in a support session with
members of bereaved families. Ruth shared her memories of Ezra, noting
that “everything was more fun when Ezra was around. His personality was
so big.” Ari asked the parents questions
that could only be directed to others who have shared the experience.
The group included BatGalim Shaer, the mother of
Gil-Ad Shaer, one of three teens who were kidnapped and murdered last
summer. The kidnapping took place in the same location as the shooting
that took Ezra’s life. During Ezra’s shiva, OneFamily
paid to fly BatGalim and her daughter to America to provide personal
support.
Others included Nachum and Brenda Lemkus, whose
daughter Dalia was stabbed to death in 2014 in the same location where
Ezra Schwartz was killed and the three teens had been kidnapped and
murdered; Tirza Levy, mother of Rabbi Nechemia Lavi,
killed in the Old City of Jerusalem in October when he came to the aid
of other terror victims; Ronit and Ury Cherki, whose son Shalom was
killed in car ramming at a bus stop in April; Cheryl Mandel, whose son
Daniel was killed in combat at 2003.
The meeting also brought together Rivkah Moriah,
whose son Avraham David Moses, killed in the terror attack on the Mercaz
HaRav yeshiva in 2008; Pirhia and Yossi Apter, who lost their son Noam
in a terrorist attack on a yeshiva in Otniel
in 2002; and Penina and Simcha Malik, whose son Gedalia was killed
fighting in Jenin.
Sarah Rosenfeld, whose son Malachi was killed in a
drive-by shooting on his way home from a basketball game in July,
started the session by telling Ari and Ruth that the purpose of the
evening was to give them a big hug and “a gift from
our own lives.” And the evening ended with hugs all around.
The parents greeted Ari and Ruth with love and
support, shared their own bereavement stories, and spoke about their
journey of grieving and recovery. Most importantly, they let Ari and
Ruth know they are not alone.
“Losing a child, we are now different, “said Simcha
Malik. “But here (at OneFamily), we are normal. We have our own
language, our own society.”
Batgalim Shaer advised the couple to focus on their
four surviving children. “Remember what you do have,” she said, “not
only what you have lost.”
Brenda Lemkus warned against the feeling that
bereaved parents need to project an image of strength. “You don’t need
to be strong for anyone,” she said. “You only need to be strong for
yourself.
Nachum Lemkus urged the family to carry on with
projects that their son would have wanted them to do. “Do it in his
name, no matter what it is.” Ari agreed, noting that the original
purpose of the visit was to help fix up the park in Gush
Etzion, as Ezra was doing at the time of his death.
Ronit Cherki urged the couple to respect their own feelings. “Trust yourself about what you need,” she advised.
Rivkah Moriah spoke about the benefits of
OneFamily’s youth camps over Chanukah, Passover, and in the summer for
the four remaining children in the Schwartz family. The camps, she said,
give the children a chance to enjoy themselves without
guilt. “There is no sense of betrayal having a good time among other
bereaved children.”
Simcha Malik told the couple that part of their
journey would be to progress past the point where other people feel they
need to give to them. “It’s the other way around,” he said.
OneFamily provides financial assistance,
therapeutic programs, legal assistance and a steady stream of personal
encouragement for each victim and their family. The organization’s
presence and resources ensure that victims and their families
never need to feel alone.
*******
As some of you might recall, Ezra HY"D (May God Avenge his blood) graduated from my alma mater, Maimonides School in Brookline, Mass. The defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots held a moment of silence for Ezra during the shiva week. Ezra was a huge Patriots fan.
The story above was provided by OneFamily. I have mentioned OneFamily on this blog several times in the past. The organization was started by friends of Mrs. Carl and me.
Heart rending and beautiful: One Family's Remembrance Day ceremony
Several years ago, the government of Israel decided that Remembrance Day would also honor terror victims and not just IDF soldiers who had been killed (not necessarily) in action. It was a decision that was long overdue in my opinion and it ended the anomaly of soldiers who were killed in a terror attack being honored on Remembrance Day while civilians who were killed in the same attack were not.
One Family is probably the premier organization in Israel helping terror victims. Started by our friends Marc and Chantal Belzberg when their daughter decided in the middle of the intifada that she would rather that her parents spend money on a good cause than on her bat mitzva, One Family helps the survivors of terror attacks - both the wounded and the families of the dead and wounded. Unfortunately, those people usually need help for the rest of their lives.
Here's a highlight video from One Family's Remembrance Day ceremony. If after seeing the video you wish to donate to One Family, you will be doing a big mitzva and helping a lot of people.
American-Israeli terror victims invited to Obama speech
My friends at One Family sent me the press release below, announcing that some victims of 'Palestinian' terrorism who have American citizenship have been invited to attend President Obama's speech later today.
Obama Makes Special Invitation to American Victims of Palestinian Terror
Thursday, March 21st, Jerusalem: Through an ongoing relationship with OneFamily Fund (Israel’s national organization dedicated to terror victims and their families), President Obama’s has invited certain American and Israeli victims of terror to his speech at Binyanei Hauma on Thursday, March 21, 2013.
Included in the delegation attending Obama’s speech are Moshe Silinsky injured in a terror attack in 2013, Iriya Mordechai whose husband was murdered in 2001, Naftali Moses whose son was murdered along with seven other boys his age in 2008 while they were in their school library, and Rebecca Fuhrman injured in a Jerusalem attack in 2011.
Osher Twitto, a now 13 year old boy from southern Israel was personally invited by President Obama to attend. He was only eight years old when a Qassam rocket exploded next to him. Doctors were forced to amputate Osher's left leg.
In 2008, four months after Osher was injured, Obama came to Israel as part of his campaign for President of the US. Osher was transported out of the hospital to meet Obama and shake his hand. He told Osher then that if he was elected President, he will meet him again, “In the White House.” President Obama has gone to great lengths to try and fulfill this promise. His office has been working with OneFamily for over a year in an interest to continue their “friendship.”
Shira Applebaum-Maresky is the daughter of Dr. David Applebaum, a prominent physician originally from Detroit, and sister of Nava Applebaum. They were both murdered in a restaurant in Jerusalem at midnight as they were having a father/daughter heart to heart talk the night before Nava was to be married.
Moshe Silinsky, aged 17, was stabbed in the abdomen at the Tapuach Junction on January 29th of this year. His father grew up in New Jersey, his mother in North Carolina. The brutal stabbing was barely covered by the American press. “I am a walking reminder that terrorism is still very much a part of our daily reality in Israel, and that we are not safe simply walking on our streets. I hope Obama brings that message home with him.”
Shmuel Silinsky, Moshe’s father, told us: “The Palestinian who did this to my son is 20 years old. That means he was born the same year that the Oslo Accords were signed, an agreement was supposed to include "education for Peace". Actions like this ought to show President Obama
For more information, Rachel Moore, Spokesperson, One Family Fund
Well, it's nice that they were invited. But I hope it's only the first step in a new effort to find and punish - under American law - the perpetrators of these and other heinous acts of terror. So far, Obama (and has predecessors) have done nothing on that front.
Video: One Family's Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) Memorial Service
As many of you know, OneFamily is an organization that was started to help families of terror victims. On Tuesday night, they had a memorial service for the terror victims who are no longer with us.
Get some tissues out and let's go to the videotape.
The Wall Street Journal has an article on OneFamily's William Goldberg Passover camp, which took place this past week. The camp is for the benefit of children from families who were victims of terror attacks.
In 10 years, OneFamily has given out about $35 million to support terror victims. The organization provides help to some 2,800 families throughout Israel, rehabilitating people who have been directly affected by terrorist attacks and the families of those victims. That includes therapy, group support and financial support.
OneFamily sponsors three camps a year. The camps serve to both relieve the tension and anxiety of victims and provide an opportunity for fun, with therapy and developing friendships as dual goals for the three-day stay.
After a terror attack, many children suffer from depression, isolation and have parents that are "absorbed in mourning," says Chantal Belzberg, executive vice chairman of OneFamily.
Camp was important to the Goldberg children, too, says Ms. Goldberg. She went to sleep-away camps for 12 years and says that no matter the camp, it's a great feeling for a child to get away. She says the OneFamily camp serves the purpose of helping children to "have a couple of days to get out of their own nightmares."
Ms. Goldberg says that the family keeps her father's philanthropy in mind when making gifts.
"He was constantly teaching and talking to us about what he felt was important," she says. "There's no question that a lot of his passions in life became ours."
You can read the full article - even if you don't have a subscription to the Wall Street Journal - here.
The Belzberg family (at least the branch here in Israel) has turned OneFamily into a hugely successful venture that has provided badly needed assistance and support to terror victims and their families. It is a classic example of the private sector stepping in where it can do things better than the government can. The Belzbergs deserve all the credit in the world for what they have done. And I hope no new Israelis ever need their services.
Video: 10 years since the Park Hotel Seder Night massacre
Last week was the 10th anniversary on the Gregorian calendar of the Seder night massacre at the Park Hotel in Netanya. One Family brought together the massacre survivors last week for a reunion. It was very moving, as you will see in the video below.
19-year old terror victim participating in triathlon
In March, 19-year old Pia Levine was on a 74 bus here in Jerusalem when a bomb was set off outside the bus. Two days later, she participated in the Jerusalem Half-Marathon and on Sunday she will participate in New York City's Nautica Triathlon.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
