In the shadow of the war in Ukraine, many Israelis rallied to help refugees and people who have lost loved ones.
Some have immigrated to Israel, some want to express sympathy.
A special project.
Dozens of psychologists and social workers:
Remote psychiatric treatments
Zhenya Fukshansky has set up a unique venture in which about 150 Russian-speaking Israeli psychologists and social workers provide emotional support to Ukrainians in the area of the fire, to refugees and also to people in distress.
"I was born in Kyiv, and have been in Israel since 1990. I have been a social worker and psychotherapist for 30 years, and for the past 12 years I have worked for Maccabi. During this time I gained a lot of experience in emotional support, mainly because of the emergency in our country," says Fukshansky.
"After what started in Ukraine, I asked myself what I could do. I decided that my experience could help, and that it could be done online. We have a WhatsApp group of Russian-speaking Israeli psychologists and social workers, and after a post I posted on social media the conversations started coming," she Says.
Every day 400-500 inquiries arrive, and the pace only increases.
"More and more people are joining us all the time. There are currently 150-160 Russian-speaking psychologists in the venture.
"The cases are very difficult. We talk to people whose families have been killed, people who have been left homeless, people who ask how the children can be reassured."
Fukhansky is very proud of the venture, and especially of the fact that it helps people, and most importantly - at no cost.
Raziel Youth Village School Students:
Warm blankets and baby food
The packages collected, Photo: Maya Milstein Yona
The influx of refugees from the war zone continues, and students at the Atid Youth Village in Herzliya, in cooperation with the parents 'and teachers' committee, worked to collect about 50 boxes, including thermal clothing, medicines, hygiene and toiletries, baby equipment, dry food and more. Humanitarian aid for the residents of Ukraine The packages were flown to the border crossing between Ukraine and Poland, with the help of the "Israeli Friends of Ukraine" organization, and distributed to the many refugees in the temporary camps.
Student Esther Ter-Avensian, 17, who is studying at a boarding school in the youth village, shares: "I immigrated to Israel from Ukraine at the age of 12 and a half. My friends and relatives suffer a lot. Every time I watch the news, it is difficult for me and my parents. At school and in the boarding school, guys from the shoes from Ukraine are studying with me, who are very difficult for them now.
"Everyone is stressed, and I try to strengthen them and not leave them alone."
Maya Milstein-Yona, representative of the parents' committee and the collection initiatives: "We are a youth village with a special connection to Ukraine. High school students whose parents live there study here, and there are many parents and children in the community who immigrated from the former Soviet Union.
"One of the mothers who was born in Ukraine connected us to an organization that donates equipment there - and we immediately spread the message among the parents, students and teachers, who were wholeheartedly involved."
Residents of the Efrat Local Council:
Toys for refugees
The boxes collected, Photo: Efrat Council spokeswoman
Ari Haber, a resident of the Efrat local council in Gush Etzion, initiated an exciting tribute for refugee children from Ukraine and collected dozens of toys for them.
"I asked myself what I could do for the Jews of Ukraine," Haber said, "and I remembered the story of my older brother from the time of the great aliyah of Ethiopian Jews, when my parents asked him to choose a toy that he could donate to them."
The bar added: "The phrase 'all Israel guarantees each other' is a phrase that comes to express love at the highest level. The high support proves that all of us, in Israel and in Efrat, care."
With the help of the Ministry of Diaspora, the toys were loaded on a plane to Kishinev, and transferred to a center where the Jewish refugees waiting to immigrate to Israel are concentrated.
Oded Ravibi, head of the local council, addressed the residents: "We are at a point in time where we are looking for some light in the great darkness, something we can know we have done. Ari's initiative quickly became something that everyone wanted to take part in."
Friends of Ukraine in Israel
Aircraft of medical equipment
Stacking equipment, Photo: Kogonovsk Irana
Thanks to donations from citizens from all over the country, about 100 tons of humanitarian equipment, mainly medical equipment, were collected by the Friends of Ukraine in Israel organization and flown to the bleeding country.
The organization continues to formulate a list of equipment, which is constantly changing according to the needs of the field.
One of the volunteers coordinating the project is Taisia Schechter (29) from Beit Yehoshua.
Schechter immigrated to Israel from Donetsk in 2011. "I have a family left in Ukraine, my grandparents who are in a quiet and safe place. My father moved to the Russian border in 2014, and he is still there. The situation is not good and there are evacuations, but it is difficult to evacuate them .
"I joined other people in the group that works under the Ukrainian embassy in Israel. We have collection points in almost every city. We get updates that there is a great shortage of medical equipment, from medicines to devices that ordinary people can not buy, so we also collect money for devices."
Students of the Ayanot Youth Village - Naamat:
Letters from heart to heart
Letters of support, Photo: Courtesy of the Youth Village
Eleventh-grade students from the Diplomacy Department at the Ayanot-Na'amat Youth Village also decided to take action and write letters of support and encouragement to students from Kharkiv, Ukraine
. She herself immigrated from Russia 24 years ago, and her sister and family are in Kharkiv. Nadia passed the letters to her sister's granddaughter, Masha, who is a ninth-grade student in Kharkiv.
Student Dror Yitzhaki: "For me, this is a gesture of identification and brotherhood.
We, the Israelis, know what war is and how important it is to support such moments, and it is important that we, as teenagers, be involved in what is happening. "
The Ukrainian students were so excited about the support that the very next day the students of the program received exciting letters of reply.
One of them read: "My name is Veronica, and I thank you for your support during these difficult days in my country and in me. When I see Israel and other countries organizing such gestures for us, my heart beats with excitement."
Students of the "Eternal Israel" school from Beit Shemesh
Games for orphanage children
Art supplies shipped,
Poppit, plasticine and stickers: In Beit Shemesh, students of the Netzach Yisrael school sent packages and letters to the children of the Tikva orphanage in Odessa, Ukraine, after they fled to a safer place.
The colorful delivery includes colored pages, plasticine, markers, stickers and more - art supplies that every child would want to receive.
According to Rabbi Shaul Miller, the school's principal, "The education staff mediated the events for the children and discussed in class what could be done from here to feel guaranteed with the Jews there. The initiative to create packages for orphaned children came from the children, and they were happy to enlist."
The mayor of Beit Shemesh, Dr. Aliza Bloch, added: "I spoke with the absorption minister and told her that the gates of the city of Beit Shemesh are open for the absorption of immigrants as much as necessary.
It is exciting to see our education teams and the students take the initiative, accept responsibility and seek to support even a small distance support for children who are really similar to them and who have been through difficult times. "
Participating in the preparation of the article: Noam (Devol) Dvir, Ilya Yagurov, Efrat Forsher and Meital Yasur Beit Or.
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