LIVINGSTON, NJ / ISRAEL — Students of the Jewish Learning Program of Temple B’nai Abraham participated in Connections Israel’s Purim project by creating Purim cards and donating funds to send Purim baskets, shalach manot, to soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces in Israel.
Making the donations even more significant to the JLP students, were that they were to a battalion requested by last year’s TBA Rishon Ido Sarig, who is also serving. Connections Israel is a grassroots nonprofit organization established in 1998 to provide the IDF soldiers with much needed equipment and supplies, foster and strengthen personal relationships between soldiers and the diaspora, and gifts to raise the morale of the soldiers.
One of Connections Israel’s goals is to connect communities and individuals overseas to the IDF. The companies receiving the JLP’s Purim goodies were spread out across Israel in several strategic areas protecting the region. Those from Connections Israel delivering the packages and cards noted that they were moved by the IDF soldiers’ tales of service defending Israel’s people, and the warm brotherhood they and their commanders displayed for one another.
Photo Courtesy of Tina Greenberg