Panoramic view Operation Blessing

Rav David Lhungdim

The world may experience paradise if humankind recognizes the worth of humanity. In this confusing world, there are many religions, and everyone feels their religion is the correct one, yet they fail to preserve peaceful coexistence when defending their religion. As an Indian, I'd want to point out that 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, so if a person does not strive to correct his Middoth (character), he will never find perfection in his life.

When I was staying at the Olive Tree Hotel in Jerusalem, I had 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 leave Sderoth after the October 7th incident, they forget to bring pairs of shoes, the war does not end until and even after a month in Jerusalem Hotel, and they do not dare to return to Sderoth for extra shoes.

The group leader, Gigi Endaya, promised to meet our needs, and after two months in Jerusalem Hotel, some of my community members, including myself, returned to Sderoth. I was contacted again by Gigi Endaya, Deby, and Mayla that the gifts were ready, but the only problem was that some of our community had already rented houses in Teveria and Migdal ha emek, while others had returned to Sderoth and some still stayed in Jerusalem Hotel.

 I advised them to bring the gifts to Sderoth, where the community could store them in their Gallery Museum until the entire community returned to Sderot to distribute them. They did so on 09/01/24 in our gallery museum, which is adjacent to our synagogue "Alfei Menashe," where we unloaded the gifts.

I took their group 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, and that is their group's love and moral support for the Jewish nation during this critical time when nearly the entire world acted as a blind spectator even though they saw the truth and accused Israel of committing a crime.

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

It should be acknowledged that some members of our community morally support Shavei Israel, while others favor Degel Menashe, but our goal and objective is not to create unneeded issues and arguments because of other groups. As a result, we founded Shivtei Menashe to prevent such issues and other bureaucratic beliefs that undermine communal harmony.

Furthermore, I urged some of those groups not to be there when the Operation Blessing team arrived to deliver the gift to avoid an uncomfortable atmosphere, and that all interactions should be between the Sderot community and the Operation Blessing team.

Unfortunately, the failure to listen to my request resulted in gossip and unnecessary disagreements in our community, because most of our elders did not want our community to be dragged down by the misunderstanding that arose between the Shavei Israel organization and the Degel Menashe organization. I hope that eventually, each organization will value others and protect the ideals and motivations they uphold.

It is important to remember that we can coexist happily if we respect each other irrespective of which religion we believe or ideology we stand for and do not interfere with other religions. 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 Operation Blessing group from the Philippines does. May the scripture "I will bless those who bless you" come to pass in their lives.