It’s the third day of “Operation Shield and Arrow,” and children are engaged in activities and entertainment in the bomb shelters of the Chabad Houses of Ashkelon. While there are sounds of song and laughter, there are signs of anxiety on everyone’s faces.

More than 800 rockets aimed at civilian centers in Israel have been launched by terrorists in Gaza over the last 36 hours. In Ashkelon, sirens have been ongoing, giving residents a 30-second warning to reach shelter—the approximate time it takes for a rocket launched from Gaza to reach the coastal city. With sirens so frequent, most residents prefer to stay in the shelters and only leave for short, urgent needs.

Chabad-Lubavitch of Ashkelon, directed by Rabbi Menachem M. and Yehudis Lieberman, was well-prepared for this crisis. Its network of 37 emissary couples swiftly mobilized as soon as the Israeli military operation commenced on the morning of Lag BaOmer. Lag BaOmer parades were transitioned to a nationwide online “parade,” which soon reached Zoom’s maximum capacity. Chabad centers promptly opened their bomb shelters, stocking them with essential supplies and offering a safe haven for children and their parents. In the shelters, children have been enjoying art projects, fun games and a show called “Class King,” performed by the children themselves.

In Ashkelon’s Neve Dekalim neighborhood, Rabbi Chaim Atias hosted an impromptu Lag BaOmer parade inside the Chabad House shelter—children took turns going up to a makeshift stage with their drums, signs, and chants of the 12 pesukim, or Torah verses. They then marched around the bomb shelter, exiting one door and walking the few steps to the shelter’s second door. It was a very minimized version of what had been planned, but still gave the children a feeling of empowerment and expression amidst the unpredictable.

“There’s nothing like Chabad!” wrote one parent, after forwarding a photo of the children relaxing in the bomb shelter to her local parents’ WhatsApp group.

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Many Ashkelon residents don’t have bomb shelters in their homes, while others are not healthy enough to cope with wartime conditions. In response, Chabad emissaries and families in Ashkelon and in towns and cities around Israel have set up a network to evacuate people in need, find them a fitting place to relocate, and provide safe transportation to their temporary homes.

“This morning I received a message about an elderly woman who had previously experienced a traumatic fall while running to shelter,” said Lieberman. “Since the operation outbreak on Tuesday, she has been staying in a public bomb shelter with nothing but a mattress on the floor. We found someone to drive her to Jerusalem, where she is being hosted by kind volunteers. This is one of the many individual situations we are dealing with right now.”

While Chabad of Ashkelon has years of experience helping the local community under fire, there is one new segment of the community that brings a different set of challenges.

In the first year of the war in Ukraine, Ashkelon absorbed much of the Chabad community of Zhitomer, including many families and an orphanage headed by Rabbi Shlomo Wilhelm.

 

Pool photo: Hadas Porush/Flash90

The Zhitomer orphans live in two large homes in Ashkelon and attend the Chabad of Ashkelon schools. The homes have bomb shelters where the children are now spending their days and dealing with traumas similar to those they had escaped.

On Wednesday evening, a missile from Gaza landed not far from Rabbi Wilhelm’s new home in Ashkelon.

“Now some are wondering why they left the missiles in Ukraine only to be under fire here,” said Lieberman.

Despite the challenges, the children are kept occupied. They attend classes online and via Zoom, along with their fellow 2,000 students in Chabad of Ashkelon’s school system, and teachers are incorporating therapeutic lessons and educational entertainment into the children’s days.