The children of the 'Alumim' orphanage from Zhitomir, Ukraine, who fled to Israel at the outbreak of the war with Russia, in a complex operation under fire, and were initially housed in Nes Harim, in a special compound of the Israel Fund. Since then, they have moved to Ashkelon, and have now been forced to evacuate again - this time to the Chabad village.
Since the outbreak of the surprise attack, Ashkelon became one of the most isolated cities in the south, until the directors of the children's home, Chabad emissaries, realized that they could not leave the children there - who had experienced trauma from the severe war in Ukraine - and decided to move them to a calmer place.
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""We barely recovered and we entered the cycle of war again," said Yuri, 11, one of the children. "We feel safer in Israel, but the alarms put us in tension every time.".
The children of the orphanage, along with the treatment team, who immigrated to Israel from Ukraine with them, moved to Kfar Chabad and were housed in the compound of the 'Or Simcha' educational institution.
On the morning of Simchat Torah, the children woke up to the sound of alarms. They immediately rushed to the shelter, where they stayed for nearly six hours straight. "We realized that this was something very serious," said one of the staff members. "We heard loud explosions, and we had to calm ourselves and, above all, calm the frightened children.".
Only towards evening did the team members begin to understand the magnitude of the incident. "We also received information about the infiltration of terrorists and injuries to people, and we all locked ourselves in the shelter, praying that this whole situation would pass.".
Following the intensification of the fighting, the Chabad emissaries decided to move the children to a safe place. "It was not an easy decision," says the director of the children's home, Chabad emissary and rabbi of the city of Zhytomyr, Rabbi Shlomo Wilhelm, "When it comes to the safety of the children - we do not take any risks, physical or mental.".
The road from Ashkelon to Kfar Chabad, located in the central region, was accompanied by great fear of alarms that would catch them on the way. "After we received permission to leave, we hurried and did so, and so, we were once again forced to relocate due to war. Every minute felt like an eternity for the children.".
In Kfar Chabad, alarms sounded from time to time, but in much smaller numbers than in the southern region. "The children are much calmer," says Rabbi Wilhelm, "They sleep well, eat calmly, study leisurely. Of course, we combine workshops and emotional therapy for them due to the situation.".
The children themselves feel safe in their new compound, but are waiting for their home in Ashkelon. "It feels like there's war everywhere and we just have to escape from place to place," said one of the children, "but now we feel much calmer and safer.".
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