Security and healing were highlighted at One Israel Fund’s annual fundraiser barbecue in West Hempstead last Thursday, noting that the expansion of the war to Judea and Samaria is prevented by the blessing of our Creator and support from participants at this event.
“Every once in a while, it could be you, it could be me,” said Eve Harow, speaking of the 36 tzadikim nistarim who preserve the world. “If you’re here tonight, you’re part of this, the responsibility we all have.” Harow serves as the Director of Tourism and Education for One Israel Fund, having made aliyah in 1988 from California.
Since 2009, this nonprofit has been hosted each summer at the backyard of Alan and Sharon Shulman, with support of all the pulpit rabbis in West Hempstead. “But our relationship goes back 30 years and they’ve been on our trips. Back then, it was Mauzone Caterers and we had Ariel Sharon as our guest of honor. Since then, Alan has catered every dinner that we’ve had,” said One Israel Fund Executive Vice President Scott Feltman. “Security, medical, and community-based projects: playrooms, a farm for at-risk youths in the Jordan Valley. We’ve done, on average, 200 unique projects, and doubled it since last October.”
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Israel has also been subjected to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, The Yemeni Houthis, and Iran. It also experienced an uptick in violence in Yehudah and Shomron. But fears that it would explode into a third intifada have not materialized, largely as a result of vigilance and support of nonprofits that provide for the civilian security needs of Jewish communities.
“We as a team, especially in Israel, work to make sure they have the right equipment. We are not duplicating, we are supplementing. We’ve provided security cameras, drones, ambulances, patrol vehicles, and community development projects,” Feltman said.
Harow has been a frequent guest at the West Hempstead fundraiser, making sure to share not only the security benefits of the fund, but also its healing aspect for family members of those in military service, including widows and orphans. She spoke of how girls in Shilo danced during the time of the prophets, and today a dance studio in Itamar hearkens to that story. The Efrat resident noted that most of her children and grandchildren also live in the Israeli territories, including her newest grandson.
“My daughter Elisheva Blum lives in Eli. She paints portraits of fallen soldiers for their families, including her neighbor. Six weeks ago, on Shabbos morning, four in the morning, the midwife announced that she was having a baby, her eighth. I had been at all of her births. We were at the hospital on Mount Scopus and from there you can see Moav. They named him Tuv Eretz, for how good is the land.”
Among those fallen was Moshe Yedidya Leiter Hy”d, who was killed last November in Beit Hanoun when an explosive in a tunnel went off. He was the son of Dr. Yechiel Leiter, founder of One Israel Fund, and a former aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He made aliyah from Scranton and, at the funeral of his son, addressed President Biden as a fellow native of that city. “You lost a son, and I’ve lost a son. You know, Mr. President, better than most, the pain that I’m feeling now.”
“Stand back, Mr. President: Don’t pressure us. Let us do what we know how to do, indeed what we must do, to defeat evil. This is a war of light against darkness, of truth against lies, of civility against murderous barbarism.”
Harow said that Moshe Yedidya’s upbringing in Eli will be followed by Tuv Eretz. “There’s a mechinah there, an army academy. The education that he’s going to get is of tremendous devotion to the Torah, to the people, and to the land. We have a lot of work to do. The way I live my life, we’ve done 120 percent of what we can do.”
Their community continues to expand, with support from the governing coalition. Harow added that among the new communities supported by her organization is Machane Gadi in the Jordan Valley, built on a former military base.
“You’re impacting the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. We’ve done things in an incredible way,” Feltman said. “By being part of this organization, you have saved lives. Thermal drones, patrol vehicles.”
Next month, One Israel Fund will have two-day trips for supporters, both leaving from Liberty Bell Park in Jerusalem. On August 6, the group will tour southern Israel communities impacted by the war with Hamas: Moshav Netiv Ha’asarah on the Gaza border, the car graveyard at Tekuma, Nova festival site, the police station in Sderot, and distributing snacks to soldiers. On August 14, the “best answer to the Sin of the Spies” will be a wine tour of the Shomron, with the Wine and Vine Research Center at Ariel University, and wineries in Shiloh and Itamar. There will also be barbecue fundraisers later this summer in the Five Towns and Great Neck.
On this side of the Ocean, One Israel Fund will be launching its Washington Caucus with supportive lawmakers on Capitol Hill and planning its women’s mission to Israel in February. With last week’s attempt to disrupt an Israel real estate event in Queens by anti-Semitic protesters, this year’s West Hempstead barbecue had security provided by the volunteers of RNSP Shmira and Six13 Guard, and the Nassau County Police Department.
“We provide for kids at risk and mother-child centers. We visit wives of soldiers and family members of hostages,” Harow said. “This generation is something else. The more evil that they’ve got, the more good we are. We can live by the Torah and have a country that’s safe and secure. We’re home against all odds.”
By Sergey Kadinsky
