Toronto's Jewish community responds to the needs of Sderot

By Daniel Horowitz
UJA Federation--
As word reached Toronto last month that Qassam rockets were being fired regularly at the southern Israeli city of Sderot, UJA Federation immediately swung into action by sending a million dollars to the city. The money is allowing Sderot¹s children to be treated to a one-week respite from the rocket fire at summer camps in safer sections of the country. UIA Federations Canada also committed one million dollars to this initiative.

The camps were made possible by the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), UJA Federation’s overseas partner.

“We will also have trauma counseling at the camps, to help the children deal with the impossible conditions they are living under,” says the Jewish Agency’s Yael Raz.

“It’s very rewarding to see that so many miles away, our Toronto community understands and feels so much compassion for all the pain the children of Sderot are experiencing,” notes David Koschitzky, vice-chair, UJA Federation.

JAFI, with the assistance of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and other Canadian Federations, is providing other crisis assistance for beleaguered Israelis as well.

Soon after the rockets began to fall, close to 3,000 youngsters were taken out of danger and brought to amusement parks and other locations for fun activities in central Israel ­ leaving the trauma behind for a short time.

Fifty-two buses brought these children to Israel’s best-loved water parks and other popular attractions. Twenty-five newly arrived young people from Ethiopia were also taken to a day of fun and 250 youngsters enjoyed Israel’s soccer cup finals.

The complex logistics for these massive operations were handled by Jewish Agency personnel, who risked their lives day in and day out. Working closely with the local municipalities, they recruited thousands of children and made sure that there were enough accompanying counselors to provide proper supervision at all times.

About three weeks ago, JAFI produced yet another activity in record-breaking time, in which 671 Sderot and perimeter community members were brought to Jerusalem to see a performance of the Chinese Circus.
“Parents, children, singles, new immigrants and senior citizens enjoyed the fantastic antics of the circus performers. It was a pleasure to finally see joy on the faces of these people,” says Ofer Baram, JAFI’s public sector manager in the Southern District. “We immediately secured additional tickets from the Israel Festival to keep up with the demand. It was incredible.”

The Jewish Agency, upon learning that a number of bomb shelters were in disastrous condition, provided necessities such as essential sanitary supplies, cleaning materials, fans, emergency lighting, bottled water and canned goods. At two bomb shelters, one of which serves as a youth club in a predominately Ethiopian neighbourhood, the Jewish Agency bought refrigerators and board games in the event that the residents need to stay there for an extended period of time.