Progress, Despite the Rockets

By Aliza Lichtenfeld

I’m halfway through my second summer in Sderot, and I am simply amazed by the children of this town. They are exemplary. They are the world’s role models. Throughout the years of terror they have experienced, they somehow continue to wear smiles that radiate, and giggles that penetrate the heart.

And now they are going to have a gan!

The first Chabad gan yeladim in Sderot is on track for completion later this year. The kindergarten, under the supervision of Sderot Shliach Rabbi Moshe Pizem, will feature full-day hours, holiday programming and vacation scheduling, complementing the Pizems’ successful and popular Gan Israel day camp and children’s activities throughout the year.

“Baruch Hashem, we were in possession of a spacious, bomb-proof building, but extensive interior renovations were required to bring the gan up to code,” explains Rabbi Pizem. “We take no government funding and we were able to raise enough donations to modernize the infrastructure, which will allow us to open the gan soon. Still, we need additional financial assistance to increase capacity as dozens of families are trying to reserve spots and we haven’t even opened.”

“There are so many families that are still recovering from the terror and they are desperate for us to open because they send their older children to us all year and need a safe, yiddishkeit environment for their pre-schoolers. Most of these families cannot even pay for day camp, but they know we don’t turn anyone away. And once we get our license, the government of Israel will then pay a stipend for each student so we will be overflowing with applications.”

This is my second summer volunteering for Camp Gan Israel in Sderot, and the families in Sderot are excited for the gan’s opening this fall. I see the Pizems’ enthusiastic interaction with the Sderot children every day and I hope I can spend some time in the new gan before seminary next year. I am also thankful that I was able to help raise some of the funds for the gan’s repairs and even gave my parents money to send to Ezrat Israel on behalf of Chabad of Sderot. I was so excited to see the transformation of the exterior from last year to this summer, as my pictures show.

I hope the American community will consider donating to help increase the number of rooms. Even a small amount goes a long way for the families served by the Pizems. And please, stop by on trips to Sderot to show support for Rabbi and Rebbetzin Pizems’ work.

While combining a great, newly renovated building with the Pizem’s outstanding Chabad inreach and outreach, this gan will help bring Moshiach soon!