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About 170 mothers and children are taking part, making it one of the most extensive American programs assembled for bereaved Israeli families since the conflict began.
By Shula Rosen
A large delegation of Israeli families who lost loved ones in the war arrived in the United States for a series of support events organized to give them space, community, and a temporary break from the pressures of daily life.
About 170 mothers and children are taking part, making it one of the most extensive American programs assembled for bereaved Israeli families since the conflict began.
The trip is coordinated by Rabbi Mendy Kenig, who founded the organization Menucha V’Yeshua and has worked closely with families coping with loss over the past year.
Kenig said many participants fear that, as time passes, their personal grief will fade from public attention. “Being forgotten,” he said, is the worry he hears most often from those he accompanies.
The group’s schedule includes gatherings in several US cities. One of the main stops is a weekend program in Orlando focused on rest and healing, followed by meetings with Jewish communities across the region.
The visit culminates with a Shabbaton in Deal, New Jersey, featuring Rabbi YY Jacobson and journalist Sivan Rahav-Meir. The event will also include a Torah dedication and a bar mitzvah ceremony planned for families participating in the mission.
Kenig said his aim throughout the journey is straightforward: “My only goal is to give them – the widows, children, mothers, fathers – a hug and to feel loved. That’s it.”
His work with bereaved families intensified after October 7, when Menucha V’Yeshua shifted its focus almost entirely to those who lost loved ones in the fighting.
Kenig often opens meetings by recounting his own experience caring for injured and special-needs family members, explaining, “People see me in my black-and-white garb with a fur hat and assume I’m here to make them religious. The message is simple: All I care about is listening and offering support. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Organizers say the mission is meant to signal ongoing solidarity with families who have endured the war’s most devastating losses.
The events in Deal will allow supporters to meet participants directly and hear their stories, reinforcing, in Kenig’s words: “You are not alone. You are not forgotten. Am Yisrael embraces you.”
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