Successful singer Pini Einhorn and his friend Moysh Roth decided to take action after the Black Shabbat of Simchat Torah. They went down south and brough soldiers food, clothes, and goodies but discovered the soldiers are already getting everything they need. They thought how they can contribute to the People of Israel and came up with the idea of bringing a little bit of joy into the homes of bereaved families.
"iPad, Sony 5, Playmobile – anything can that could bring a smile”
With the aid of donors from the United States, who want be a part of the Jewish People and try to relieve their pain even momentarily, they are buying high level toys and games and adapting them for children from bereaved families. Within ten days, they have visited 110 families, bringing ten to each child. They sit and play with them, hear the families, sing with them, listen to them, and give their heart out.
The association built a whole network mapping out the number of children, their ages, gender, and their special preferences, allowing them to arrive with desired toys for every child – gifts such as cameras, iPads, Sony 5s, Playmobiles, Legos, and more.
A Family Sitting Shiva Alone
Einhorn describes how he leaves these encounters broken and pained but full of hope for our wonderful people. He tells of how they came to a home in Ofakim where they were sitting shiva with a locked door. The family was afraid to open, for fear of terrorists. Einhorn and his friend sat and sang “Am Yisrael Chai” outside the house and it was only then that they agreed to open up. Einhorn describes how “They sat alone, no-one came to console them. We sat, we sang to them, we gave out gifts, we came, 5-6 guys,’ and brought spirit into the house. We listened to them, we cried with them, we hurt with them. It was a very emotional event.”
“We are Charedim and are welcomed everywhere”
Einhorn added that the connections and unity between sectors is clear everywhere. “Our enemies didn’t look at what kipa we have or don’t. We come, a group of Charedim, and we are received with love wherever we come, incredible unity.”
But despite all this, the great intensity of the visits and the sirens during the trips overwhelmed some of the gang, and they sought to take a break for a few days from the pains and fears which came up from meeting with the bereaved families. Einhorn tells of another family from Ofakim whose pain is inconceivable: “We came to a home where the father was murdered Shabbat morning on the way to prayer, a family of nine children, with one daughter with almost 100% disability. The father would drive the daughter every morning to her special school. The mother doesn’t have a license and suddenly it’s not just to lose a father, it’s to lose the person who held up the house.”
Pini Einhorn and Moysh Roth feel a great sense of mission in their work; they connected people through music and now they’re connecting people in other ways.
They call on anyone who has the emotional strength to go and console mourning families, listen to the families of the captives, and connect with them “for Am Yisrael Chai and we are all one soul.”