Mishpacha – News of the Chareidi Community
July 31, 2014
By: Michal Ish-Shalom
Project “Protective Edge” has turned into a unifying operation, drawing together all segments of the Israeli public. The chareidi population, organizations and individuals, have rallied in great numbers, more than ever before, to provide assistance to the soldiers and their families, in a show of unity at its best. some stories border on the miraculous.
Ezer Mizion, which is active in the hospitals and supporting families of the wounded, found itself indirectly helping soldiers on the field as well. Avi Pakter, an
Ezer Mizion volunteer from Petach Tikvah, told Mishpacha that one day, at Beilinson Hospital, a representative of the Military Rabbinate came over to Rabbi Moshe Yisraeli, director of the Ezer Mizion Petach Tikvah branch, and asked for tzitzit (fringes worn for religious reasons) for three soldiers. Rabbi Yisraeli saw to it that they received the tzitzit.
Four days later, five wounded soldiers arrived at the hospital. The three who were wearing tzitzit were wounded only in their legs. The other two were wounded in the upper part of their bodies. And so, the circle was closed in a chilling manner.
Far from the front lines, at the Beilinson Hoptial in Petach Tivkah and Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, the Ezer Mizion people work day and night on behalf of the wounded soldiers and their families.
Volunteers at Beilinson and Soroka report the tremendous love and unity that this work generates. “I think that the chareidi volunteers radiate amazing unity. We show them how much we love them. We pamper them and take care of the tiniest things they request.”
But they actually accomplish a lot more than that. “We brought about a great Kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of G-d’s name,” says Yisrael Rubinstein, an Ezer Mizion volunteer active at Soroka Hospital, who also distributed meals on Shabbat.
