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The Jewish Agency and the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey, in conjunction with Office Depot in Israel, are supplying all of Nitzan's school age evacuees with new school bags and school supplies. |
Yoseph Creief, a Gush Katif evacuee, is the father of nine children. He and his wife Miriam made aliyah from France, fulfilling their dream to build a new life in Israel. Yoseph was a taxi driver in his native country, but decided to retrain as a farmer in Israel and become part of the pioneering community in Gush Katif.
For the past five years, Yoseph and Miriam have operated three very successful tomato and lettuce greenhouses, "hamamot", in the pastoral settlement of Bedolach. They were raising their children in a wonderfully warm and supportive community and were content with their lives.
Then tragedy hit the Creief family. Two months ago, in the midst of all the tension surrounding the evacuation from Gaza, Yoseph was hospitalized with a rare brain disease. The disease left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak. Upon returning from the hospital he watched in futile desperation as his home was packed up and his life as he knew it came to an end.
Speaking in a slow cadence Yoseph says, "We lost so much in such a short period of time. My wife is amazing and is taking care of everything. The community is helping us, but I fear that it is the children who are suffering the most."
Yoseph and Miriam are now living with their children in Nitzan, near Ashkelon, with other evacuees from Gush Katif. They were unable to bring their greenhouses with them, and have no means of supporting themselves. "Miriam will clean houses so we can scrape by in the meantime," says Yoseph. "It is hard to think ahead. We are just trying to get through one day at a time."
However, the Creief children need to start school, and Miriam and Yoseph have little energy to get them ready. They have six children in elementary school.
"I am frustrated that I am unable to do anything," says Yoseph, who now walks with the help of a cane. "But the outpouring of support and assistance that we have received from volunteers and from our community has been incredible."
When Yoseph's children received all of their school supplies and new school bags from the Jewish Agency, with the support of the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey, Yoseph was almost in tears.
"It seems such a small thing to buy school supplies and bags, but it is not. It is so difficult for us to even think of these things right now," says Yoseph. "When I saw my children's face light up with joy, I was thankful for the generosity of people who do not even know us."
The Jewish Agency and the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey, in conjunction with Office Depot in Israel, are supplying all of Nitzan's school age evacuees with new school bags and school supplies.
Says Jeff Kaye, Director of the Jewish Agency's Resource Development and Public Affairs Unit, "All of the families in Nitzan have undergone a difficult and painful period. Many of them are so caught up in trying to regain their balance that the simple act of buying school supplies is beyond them. We are giving the families practical assistance while raising the morale of the children. No child should start their first day of school without some excitement."
The distribution of the school supplies and bags are an extension of the Jewish Agency's "Making the Grade – Olim Kitah" program, funded with the generous support of the UJC Federations in North America. This program gives children from low-income families basic school supplies for the beginning of the school year.
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The outpouring of support and assistance that we have received from volunteers and from our community has been incredible," says Yoseph | Sarah L., a widow from Gush Katif, has a severely handicapped child. "I lived in Gush Katif for 14 years," says Sarah. "While I have been preparing myself for the evacuation over the past few months, I never imagined how hard it would be to rebuild our lives."
Being a single parent, the entire onus of the move has fallen on Sarah's shoulders. "I am trying to make sense of everything and to find some balance. I thank God for my neighbors and the wonderful volunteers, and for generous donors who have eased some of the difficulties for me."
Shira Mazooz, a fifth grader from the Gush Katif community of Neveh Dekalim says, "It was very difficult for my family to leave. My mother and father don't really have the energy to do anything. We are in a kind of vacuum now."
Shira has been urging her parents to buy school supplies for her and her sister, but she knows that even this small task is difficult. Opening her new school bag and looking at the supply of pens and pencils, erasers and notebooks, she exclaims to the Jewish Agency representatives who came to Nitzan to distribute them, "Thank you so much. Now I can go home and get everything ready for school."
For the Gush Katif evacuees, one door has closed and a new one is opening. The Jewish Agency and the UJC and Federation system are assisting these extraordinary people to start over. Yoseph Creief, who has undergone such trauma, sums up the courage of the evacuees when he is asked about his future plans. "I hope to regain my strength, and help others who are less fortunate than I."
Written by: Lisa Samin
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