Panoramic view of Operation Blessing

Rav David Lhungdim

The world will surely experience paradise if humankind recognizes the worth of humanity. In this confusing world, there are many religions, and everyone feels their religion is the only correct one, yet they fail to preserve peaceful coexistence when defending their religion. As an Indian, I want to point out that though idol worship is prevalent throughout the country, yet every religion values peace and love.

Before my Aliyah, I thought that everything would be perfect in Israel, but after my Aliyah, I realized that no one is perfect in this world and that achieving perfection is in the hands of each individual. Therefore, if a person does not strive to correct his Middot (character traits), he will never find perfection in life.

When I was staying at the Olive Tree Hotel in Jerusalem, I met a guest from the Philippines. They were from "Operation Blessing," a division of CBN, and they were Christian, an organization that supported the state of Israel during this vital period.

With Operations Blessings team with their group leader Gigi Endaya from Philippines

They asked how they could help our community, and my response was simple: we need shoes, diapers, and milk for infants, because when most community members left Sderot after the events of October 7th they forgot to bring these essential items. There was no end in sight for the war, and even after a month at the hotel in Jerusalem they did not dare return to Sderot for extra shoes.

The group leader, Gigi Endaya, promised to meet our needs, and after two months in our hotel some of my community members, including myself, returned to Sderot. I was contacted again by Gigi Endaya, Deby, and Mayla that the gifts were ready, but now the problem was that some of our community had already rented homes in Teveria (Tiberias) and Migdal HaEmek, while others had returned to Sderot and some continued staying in Jerusalem.

I advised them to bring the gifts to Sderot, where the community would store them in the community museum until the entire Bnei Menashe community returned to Sderot to distribute them. On the 9th of January they did exactly that and unloaded the gifts in the museum which is adjacent to our synagogue Alfei Menashe.

I took their group on a tour and told them about our art museum and synagogue, as well as when and how they were founded. After a few minutes, they asked if they could interview me, to which I gladly agreed. One of the things they asked me was, "What would you like to comment about our team?"

I responded that we were grateful for the gift, but there is something else that I endorsed more than the gift, which is the group's love and moral support for the Jewish nation during this critical time when nearly the entire world acted as a blind spectator. Despite witnessing the truth they accused Israel of committing a genocide.

Even though we received the gifts warmly it saddened me because our community is comprised of 120 families and the majority of them immigrated to Israel through the Shavei Israel organization. Recently a misunderstanding erupted between the Shavei Israel and the Degel Menashe organizations.

It should be acknowledged that some members of our community support Shavei Israel, while others lend their support to Degel Menashe. However, our goal and objective is not to create unnecessary issues and arguments due to the presence of other groups. As a result, we founded Shivtei Menashe to prevent such issues and other bureaucratic hurdles that undermine communal harmony.

Furthermore, I urged some of those groups not to be present when the team from "Operation Blessing" arrived to deliver the gifts. This was in order to avoid an uncomfortable atmosphere, and that all interactions should be between the Sderot community and the team of Operation Blessing.

Unfortunately, their failure to listen to my repeated requests resulted in slander and unnecessary disagreements within our community. This is because most of our elders did not want the community to be dragged down by the misunderstanding that arose between the Shavei Israel and Degel Menashe organizations. I hope that eventually each organization will value the other while protecting the ideals they uphold.

It is important to remember that we can coexist happily if we respect each other irrespective of which religion we believe in or ideology we stand for. Above all, everyone should uphold love and mutual respect.

I hope that more people will soon see the truth and help Israel morally, just as the team from Operation Blessing from the Philippines did. May the verse "I will bless those who bless you" come to pass in their lives.