Dear Friends,

As you probably know, many bar/bat mitzvah ceremonies this summer are cancelled, as well as weddings and baby namings being moved to the center of the country. There are no 'chugim' (classes, folk dancing and painting), so we don't receive rent from them, either. Preschool and camp families want their tuition refunded. On the other hand, we need to pay salaries of the 30 employees of Or Hadash. Today we had to throw away a week's worth of food for the 100 children who would normally be at Or Hadash daily. We couldn't give it away, since nobody came to work, as it is dangerous to be on the streets, or even in a car.

Those who are weak suffer the most. Today I was informed that the father of a boy scheduled to have his bar mitzva in September committed suicide. He suffered from depression all his life, and I'm sure that the current situation didn't help. The 84 year old holocaust survivor whom Or Hadash supports called me in distress. Another bar mitzva boy's father is dying of cancer, and the family prays the war will end so that friends and family will be able to attend his funeral. Even a memorial for the son of one of our bereaved mothers was postponed, for fear that no one would come to the cemetery. The 5 Gaberu orphans (from Ethiopia), that we adopted are in Ashdod, at summer camp, so at least I have one less responsibility for them.

My daughter Yael, finished her summer camp with the Progressive Movement in Ashkelon, but didn’t return home like the rest of the teens. Instead we all preferred that she will spend some extra time with her friends in Jerusalem, even though we all miss her.

Our Preschool Coordinator, Hila, , who lives in Kiryat Biyalik (a suburb of Haifa) was lucky. She was working at Or Hadash when a missile hit her street, about one block away from her apartment. Fortunately, there was no damage to her building.

Media reports at least another week of fighting.

For me, the sooner this ends, the better. I hope to write you with news about a cease-fire next time,