If you give yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness, and your gloom will be like midday.
Isaiah 58:10
Dear Friends,
As we light the Hanukkah candles, we remember a miracle that shone against impossible odds. This season is a reminder that God’s light is not fragile. It does not flicker when the wind howls. In Israel today, we are still walking through the shadow of the war that began on 7 October, 2023. Two years later, grief remains, and vigilance remains. Yet we also see small miracles whenever help arrives on time, whenever a shelter is close enough for a family to reach in seconds, and whenever a trained responder is ready with the right equipment at the right moment. That kind of readiness is a lamp that never fails.
Amid the darkness, a young paramedic named Amit chose to be light. On the morning of 7 October, she sheltered wounded civilians in a dental clinic in Kibbutz Be’eri. Lines were jammed. Terrorists controlled the roads. She reached a dispatcher in Jerusalem who leveled with her: rescue might not reach them. Hours later, as gunfire surged and receded, Amit calmed a patient who tried to flee, knowing death waited beyond the door. Sometime in those hours, she was shot in the leg and applied a tourniquet to herself. Still, she stayed, treating the wounded God had placed in front of her. When terrorists finally breached the clinic, they murdered her. She was twenty-two years old. A survivor later said she had been “paradise in hell.”
Her story breaks our hearts, yet it also clarifies our calling. We cannot undo what happened. We can honour it by equipping those who will answer the next call. Readiness is not an idea. It is an ambulance with oxygen and trauma supplies kept in stock, a medi-cycle positioned where it will save minutes, a protective vest that will return a volunteer to his family, a shelter within reach when the siren sounds, and trauma care for survivors in the long tail of grief.
Vision for Israel exists to act before the siren. Since 1994, we have prepared for days like these. We do it so that when the worst happens, help is not an idea. Help is a person, a vehicle, a shelter, a kit, a phone call answered, a warm blanket in cold air. Over the last two years, we have invested millions of shekels to outfit emergency response squads, provide protective gear, deliver to first responders the supplies they asked for, and install safety shelters that mean a child has a place to go to find safety. We have also supported families with essentials and trauma care because wounds are not only physical.
The requests do not slow down. Every week brings appeals for ambulances and equipment that can save lives when seconds matter, for a suitable car for municipal police, for helmets and vests that meet current standards, and for the most basic yet life-preserving need of all: more shelters in more places. Communities in the south and the north know the sound of sirens and the pause between warning and impact. Those seconds are precious. Seconds decide whether a grandmother can reach safety. Seconds decide whether a medic can arrive in time with oxygen and a defibrillator.
We cannot predict the next strike. But we can be ready for it. Israel is facing threats across several fronts, and there are casualties every day. The war has stretched on longer than any in our modern history, and the costs are measured in tears and in courage. Readiness is not about fear. It is about love that plans ahead so that, when the dark tries to swallow the light, someone is already holding a lamp.
That is why we are bolstering our Emergency Fund in this season of light. The fund allows us to say yes when a municipality calls for an emergency vehicle and produce the funds that same week. It allows us to purchase protective gear when supply chains tighten. It allows us to pre-position shelters and ready trauma supplies. It allows us to move quickly rather than write reports while minutes slip away. In simple words, the Emergency Fund fills the jars so the oil does not run out when the night is longest.
Our goal this giving season is to raise £190,000 ($250,000) by December 31. [So far we raised $XX]. Your gift today will keep the light of readiness burning through the winter and into the year ahead. Imagine with us the scenes your generosity makes possible: an ambulance pulling up with its siren and a trained responder lifting a child from danger; a shelter positioned close by, providing protection just in time; an emergency response team fitting their new vests before a patrol; a dispatcher answering a call with the right resources already on their way. These are the quiet miracles that follow your kindness.
Please act now to strengthen the Emergency Fund.
Hannukah same’ach to you and your family. Toda raba for choosing to be a light that cannot be hidden. May your gift become an answer to a prayer whispered in fear and answered with help that arrives on time.
With gratitude,
Barry & Batya
