ASHKELON, Israel—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.

Trained in First-Aid for Trauma
The Liebermans were sent to Ashkelon in 1976 by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, to establish Chabad education activities in the coastal city. Since then, they’ve founded a local school network with more than 2,000 students, from daycare to classes for university students. More than 20 Chabad Houses serve the city’s 150,000 residents.
Ashkelon became a target of terrorist factions in Gaza after the Gush Katif evacuation, and in recent years has increasingly been taking the brunt of the impact during operations, along with the city of Sderot, which is just a single kilometer from the Gaza border. Facing this new challenge, the staff of Chabad in Ashkelon took trauma training with experts in the field.
Lieberman says that from his experience, an estimated 20 percent of the children will need recuperative therapy after the operation ends. After previous operations, he had set up a therapy first aid center, with the assistance of Bar-Ilan University.
“Trauma is something that builds up,” says Lieberman. “If it’s not dealt with immediately, it accumulates, and you don’t know at what point it will come out. So we do everything we can to address it, both in the moment, and as soon as the operation is over.”

“We had a senior psychologist attend a meeting of emissaries, and he asked what we do with the children,” he explained. “We told him that we have the kids give charity, say Psalms, and recite the 12 pesukim (Torah passages), all to create merit for G‑d to help the IDF and protect the Land of Israel,” the rabbi told Chabad.org.
“The psychologist told us that’s fantastic—we’re giving the children a sense of control of the situation, and helping them feel that they can do something,”continued Lieberman. “I told him that we’re not just giving them a sense of control—the kids' prayers are actually protecting all of Israel!”

Helping Residents Relocate, Including Refugees from Ukraine
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 already has years of experience helping the local community under fire, there is one new community that has brought a different challenge.
During the war in Ukraine, they absorbed much of the Chabad community from Zhitomer, including many families and an orphanage headed by Rabbi Shlomo Wilhelm.
The Zhitomer orphans live in two large homes in Ashkelon and attend the Chabad of Ashkelon schools. The orphanage homes have onsite bomb shelters where the children were spending their day, dealing with a trauma similar to what they had previously escaped.
When the rocket attacks began, the children were evacuated from Ashkelon to the Ohr Simcha Children’s Home in Kfar Chabad, in central Israel.
“These children have gone through so much hardship and in the last year we have done everything to help them cope with the trauma and surround them with love and attention,” said Wilhelm
“We decided to take them to a place in the center of the country that will be quieter than in the south,” the rabbi continued. “The first place we contacted was Ohr Simcha, which the children have visited in the past and with which they are familiar. We tried not to arouse fear and anxiety. We told them we are leaving for a long trip. They know that there’s a tense security situation, but it’s an indirect awareness. They see it as a trip and a vacation from school. Unfortunately, our administrative staff already knows how to cope with situations such as this one. We are planning to stay here for a few days, hoping that the situation in the south will improve and we can return to our routine.”
Readers can support Chabad of Ashkelon’s relief efforts here.
Perhaps the folks in the bomb shelters could open the good book to Gen.13:6 and following to see how Father Abraham resolved the strife between Lot and himself. He said 'Let there be no strife (between us) for we are brethren....separate yourself...if you go east, I'll go (west)..." Abraham's magnanimity found favor in the eyes of the Lord and it paid off.
Similarly the Abraham Accords must inspire an
end to the Arab Jewish strife in the Holyland. My suggestion is simultaneous creation of a demilitarized Arab autonomous region within totally annexed territories by Israel. Notably Quebec and South Tyrol can serve as models.
If you look at the recent history you will see that no amount of land giving or power will help.
These missiles are only launching from Gaza since Gush Katif was handed to the Arabs there on a silver platter. They plundered and ruined the area and use it to send missiles to Israelis daily.
Giving land away puts the Jewish people in Israel in grave danger.
Sounds good. But you may not be àware that Israel has given quite a large amount of their land to these people and they still bomb Israel. Enough is enough. A separate state does not appear to be the main goal.
Agree 100%
What happened to never again? Where is the deadly response or even pre-emptive activity to crush it?
Best wishes for complete and lasting riddance of the menace.
DAPA, short for Double "A" (Annexation cum Autonomy), is an ideal formula to annul Sharon's rash land giveaway, on the grounds of ingratitude, eliminate present and future terror and bombardment emanating from Gaza and Zone "C", while bringing lasting peace to all us folks in Zion. Annexation means sovereignty of Israel in all land between the Sea and the Jordan. This process was successfully started by P.M. Begin in the Golan, where Syria-sympathizing Druze have been hushed.
Autonomy is far from a two-state solution. It would confer limited authority to local Arabs to enjoy their language, religion and culture in a defined demilitarized territory with a police force focussed on keeping law and order. There would no equivalent to States' Rights, the reserve power being in Jerusalem's hands. Properly prepared and packaged this formula is palatable for both Egypt and the U.S., the two outsiders that count.
The present terrorist regime, etc. must first be replaced by democracy, water, etc