A weeklong solidarity mission to Israel organized by the Chabad movement from 26 Jewish communities across the United States and Canada, which concluded this week, shared a message of fellowship and celebrated Israeli heroism in the face of war.
The trip was attended by a 170-strong member delegation associated with the Jewish Learning Institute, the adult-education arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Led by 26 rabbis and their wives, it emerged as one of the largest single solidarity missions to Israel since the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, when 1,200 people were slaughtered, thousands more wounded and 253 men, women and children were taken captive into the Gaza Strip.
The latest tour, which came as the war reached the six-month mark, included visits to the hard-hit Gaza border communities. The mission met with bereaved parents and hostage families, and engaged in volunteer work in farms and soup kitchens.
The group also distributed donations for widows and orphans; celebrated bar and bat mitzvahs with displaced Israeli youth at the Western Wall in Jerusalem; placed more than 100 mezuzot on a new army base; and hosted a barbecue dinner for hundreds of IDF soldiers stationed on the Gaza border.
“The soldiers asked that we share what we saw and experienced with our communities back home, so people don’t lose faith, don’t forget what happened, or fail to understand the importance of what is going on here,” said Jacob Levy from Tucson, Ariz. “It is for all Jews that they are fighting for, every one of us would be worse off if there wasn’t an Israel.”
Deborah from Laguna Hills, Calif., who declined to give her last name, said that she joined the trip to show solidarity with the people of Israel but also because of the isolation of being a Jew in the Diaspora. “Seeing friends take anti-Israel stances publicly was shocking and distressing,” she said.
“In addition to coming here for the people of Israel, I also came to find community and connection with those who have a deep love of our people and the State of Israel, and I found that. I not only learned but actually experienced that we are not alone in this world but rather, we are one global Jewish family.”
