“Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families.”
Nehemiah 4:14
Dear Friends,
In two days, the calendar will turn, and this year’s window to prepare will close. The needs in Israel will not end with the bells, and danger will not pause for fireworks. That is why these two days matter. Readiness is built before a crisis. It is built by people who choose to act now so that someone else can live tomorrow. As we approach year-end, we are asking you to help us put the final pieces in place for the Emergency Fund that will drive our response in the months ahead.
On 7 October 2023, a young man named Yuval went to the Nova music festival to dance under a rising sun. What he thought were fireworks became the opening flashes of an attack. As he and his friends tried to escape down a narrow side road, a police officer shouted a warning: terrorists were racing straight toward them. The first convoy appeared. Bullets shredded the car. His friend Ron, in the back seat, was mortally wounded. Yuval and his other friend, Tamir, bailed out and ran. He flattened himself beneath a bush, forcing stillness while armed terrorists scanned for movement, then pushed himself to run again, though blood soaked his back. A stranger pulled him into a roadside safety shelter. Later, a resident from a nearby Moshav brought him to a safe room. Moments of refuge, stacked one on the next, became the difference between life and death.
Hours later, Yuval learned that Tamir had survived, but Ron had not. Guilt tried to root in his heart. He chose a different path.
Even before that day, Yuval had begun serving elderly Israelis, especially Holocaust survivors, who had been left alone in the long isolation of COVID. After the massacre, he leaned in deeper, delivering essentials and, more importantly, time.
With help from friends like you, Vision for Israel awarded Yuval a scholarship to continue his studies in the aftermath of trauma. Your generosity told him that his calling still mattered and that hope could take root again.
Yuval’s story captures what practical protection looks like. It looks like shelter placed where it is actually reachable in seconds. It looks like responders trained and equipped to move through danger. It looks like a network of people prepared to act. In a country where threats still simmer across several fronts and casualties occur every day, preparation is not fear. It is love made ready.
The last two years have been long. Families continue to grieve. Communities are still rebuilding. The war has stretched across multiple fronts, and there are casualties every day. In this reality, preparation is not optional. It is an expression of love for our neighbors. Since 1994, Vision for Israel has been serving in precisely these moments with a commitment to practical compassion. We exist to minister to a vulnerable population in crisis and to support the systems that protect life.
Because of your generosity, millions of shekels have been invested in protective gear, emergency equipment, and shelters for communities in the south and the north. We have placed medi-cycles that arrive when traffic stands still. We have supported emergency response squads that patrol neighborhoods. We have installed shelters near schools and community centres so the dash for safety is measured in steps, not city blocks. And we have supported families with basic needs and trauma care because the wounds of war are deep and persistent.
Yet the calls for help keep coming. MDA requests ambulances equipped for trauma. Municipal police ask for a reliable vehicle that can respond quickly. Emergency squads need vests and helmets that meet current standards. Communities ask for shelters where there are none. We cannot say to them, “Wait until next month.” When lives are at stake, delay is a decision with consequences.
This is where the Emergency Fund changes the story. The fund gives us the ability to say yes to urgent needs, to purchase equipment before supplies run short, to move resources where they will make the greatest difference, and to keep our commitments to the communities that rely on us. It is the backbone of our readiness for what may come tomorrow.
Our goal is to raise £190,000 ($250,000) by 31 December. We are asking you to help us reach this goal so that, as the year closes, Israel’s families can step into the new year with greater protection. Your gift today equips those who will run toward danger when others are running away. It places equipment in the hands of volunteers and professionals who will keep watch through the night.
Please take a moment now to give a year-end gift to the Emergency Fund and get your tax benefits for 2025.
Toda raba for standing with us. As we finish the year, may your home be filled with peace and hope. Your generosity in these final hours will echo in the lives saved when the next siren sounds.
Shalom to you and yours,
Barry & Batya
