Who Wrote the Haggadah? by Rabbi Daniel Glatstein

Dvir here.

One of the things that caught my attention as I landed in Moldova and was immediately thrown into working with the refugees was the children. I met Ukrainian children and their mothers everywhere I went – at the synagogue that was retrofitted to become our logistics and command headquarters for the entire operation which has been codenamed Operation Orange Wings; at the various refugee camps I visited with my fellow volunteers; and at the border crossings.

These children left their toys, their school, and their friends in the bombed-out Ukraine, and now they help their parents here in Moldova, in a new country where they don’t even know anyone. The fact that they can still find joy even in their current situation brings hope to their distraught mothers and grandparents. I see these children as real heroes. Many of these children are the same age as Chaim and Itzik, my children, so it’s very special for me to be able to help them and their parents.

I’m currently working on assisting many refugees who want to come to Israel

Hi, this is Vitaly again.

I just want to tell you that Mom and I crossed the border into Moldova, and I’m not cold anymore. We have been sleeping at night with many more Ukrainians who fled

The fact that they can still find joy even in their current situation brings hope to their distraught mothers and grandparents.

the wa, too. Right now, after lunch, I think I will go out looking for friends to play with while Mom rests.

Hi, we’re together – Dvir and Vitaly – and we’re in Chisinau.

We wanted to update you and tell you that it’s really fun here. There is plenty of candy, and we play together with a few other friends we met here.

In the meantime, volunteers are helping Mom so we can board the upcoming flight to Israel. We also want to say a huge thank you to United Hatzalah for this great project, which is on an international scale, for kibbutz galuyot (bringing the Jewish people from the Diaspora back to Israel), and for bringing hearts together. There is nothing like this in the world.

Hi it’s Dvir once again.

I wanted to share with you this photo of me and my new friends. In a moment, we will finish arranging what is needed, and they will be on a rescue flight to Israel tomorrow. In the short time I’ve been here, just a few days, I’ve made such a strong connection with Vitali and a few other children. I won’t soon forget this experience, and I am thankful to have been a part of it. Our team helped Vitali and his mother cross the border, we helped them again in the refugee center, and I helped them arrange the details of their flight so that they can be on their way and begin their new lives in Israel.

Before we said our goodbyes and Vitali headed for the airport, we hugged.

Haveinu shalom aleichem.

Dvir Adani is one of more than 150 emergency medical service personnel from United Hatzalah of Israel who have volunteered for a minimum of two weeks each assisting Ukrainian refugees in Moldova. As part of Operation Orange Wings, the group of EMS volunteers

was the first international aid team on

the ground in Moldova and has to-date assisted tens of thousands of refugees at the border crossings, inside the capital city of Chisinau, at refugee centers in the country, and has provided more than 80,000 hot meals to refugees. The

organization has also flown more than

2,000 Ukrainian refugees to Israel on chartered planes while delivering medical equipment, medication, and supplies to refugees both inside Ukraine and the surrounding countries.

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shwekey

Of Kiddush Hashem Large and Small

By Denise RaBinowitz

his was the topic for a panel of women at the recent

TAgudath Israel of America convention held Thanksgiving weekend. There are multiple ways men and women of all occupations can create a lasting impression of integrity and values among the larger community, said the panelists who hailed from Monsey, Lakewood, Cleveland, and the Five Towns.

The subject was of great interest to participants and viewers of the broadcast event in the light of the recent finger-pointing at Orthodox Jews during Covid, increased media smears in expanding Jewish communities, and the recent Hollywood series that perpetuated new and old negative stereotypes of Orthodox life.

The public work of two of the convention panelists was recently highlighted by members of the New York State Legislature. In their annual Women of Distinction Awards held annually during March which is Women’s History Month, Rivkie Feiner of Monsey was honored by State Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick of Rockland County and Faigie Horowitz of Lawrence was honored by Assemblywoman Mathylde Frontus of Coney Island.

Principal of Feiner Grant Strategies of Airmont, Rivkie Feiner runs a grant development business with offices in several states. She is a board member of the Jewish Federation of Rockland County and has been a tireless advocate for the frum community in the halls of local, state, and federal government. During the recent spate of antisemitic violence in Monsey and the baiting rhetoric of a Lower Hudson paper, she led missions and efforts to promote understanding. Her volunteer work includes Tomchei Shabbos of Rockland and Yeshiva Ohr Reuven.

Known as Rebbetzin Faigie in the Five Towns community for her role at Beis Medrash Agudas Achim of Lawrence, Faigie Horowitz has been an executive at nonprofits serving the broader as well as Jewish communities in her roles at the Flatbush Haitian Center, the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, Met Council on Jewish Poverty, and Chai Lifeline. Her volunteer roles span organizations serving people with special needs, co-founding Rachel’s Place Shelter, joining the board of the Ani Ledo-

Rebbetzin Faigie Horowitz speaking at the Agudah event

di Helpline, and co-founding JWOW!, Jewish Women of Wisdom.

Assemblywoman Frontus first met Rebbetzin Faigie at a community health initiative the former spearheaded for the JCC of Greater Coney Island and later when she was a newly elected Assemblywoman. To their surprise, they found they both had worked at the Flatbush Haitian Center where the Assemblywoman was a social worker, long before becoming a professor and politician. Their interests coincided. Faigie Horowitz was developing political support for fair pay for home care as part of her role as director of communications for Caring Professionals Home Care. Dr. Frontus became an early cosponsor of the bill and an advocate for the home care needs of seniors and people with disabilities who choose to live at home.

Makor Disabilities Services, formerly known as Women’s League Community Residences, operates a group home for medically frail young women in Seagate which is in the Assemblywoman’s district. As a board member for decades for the organization which cared for her severely disabled sibling, Faigie Horowitz invited the Assemblywoman to come visit and an initiative for employing local residents at the award-winning agency was begun.