“When I heard the horrific news on October 7, I wanted to jump on a plane from America and be there for my brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael!” Although she wasn’t able to do that then, two years later, Audrey Abramowitz, educator and New Jersey resident, shared her recent experience volunteering with her fiancé, David Newton, a realtor and New Jersey resident, at the Shuva Achim Junction at the entrance of Shuva near the border of Gaza.
She spoke with passion about how glad she was to be able to volunteer there for two weeks this summer. It was truly a life-changing experience.
“I met the most wonderful people, all volunteers, who came from all over the world.” She was in awe of the Shuva brothers – Kobi, Eliran, and Dror Trabelisi – who founded the Shuva Achim Center on October 7 and kept it going 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All three brothers are originally from Netivot. Dror lives in Netivot, Eliran lives in Ramat Gan, and Kobi lives in Shuva.
Audrey stayed in a small room, about 12 feet by 12 feet. Shuva Moshav is four miles from the Gaza border. The moshav is made up of homes. There is one large shul, but there are no stores. A junction outside the moshav became a triage center on October 7 when a helicopter, sent as reinforcement with 54 chayalim onboard, was hit by an RPG but managed to land. Miraculously, everyone on board survived.
The three brothers eventually built a kitchen café where the triage area had been. This was where they first brought water to the chayalim and phone chargers so they could call their families. In the beginning, the brothers brought water and snacks, but this soon evolved into bringing meals. Then they brought sinks, refrigerators, tables, and couches, transforming the place into a serving area where soldiers can procure ice water, coffee, and warm food 24/7. The brothers help with the food preparation for 1,500 soldiers daily. Three thousand hot meals are served every day.
Each day, she and David would work from six to eight hours outside, peeling and cutting vegetables, cleaning huge pots, wiping counters, sweeping, or preparing beef patties, fish, or chicken. They made sure there was ice water available and that the coffee machine was ready. There was no air conditioning, and Audrey and David worked through the extreme heat wave in the middle of August.
People drop off the food, Audrey explained. Sometimes there are carrots or beets or potatoes, rice, or pasta. Everything is kosher, and there is a mashgiach on the premises.
“We did what needed to be done,” Audrey said. “We were feeding one thousand five hundred chayalim a day. We prepared food in huge pots, and then Dror, one of the Shuva brothers we had the privilege to work under, or Chen, a woman volunteer, would add spices and sauce and cook it.”
I asked Audrey how she withstood the terrible heat during the heat wave in August while working all those hours outdoors.
“I thought of the chayalim in Azza with their heavy equipment and uniforms, who are away from their families fighting to keep us safe. If I was uncomfortable, I wouldn’t say it out loud. Men came to the Shuva Achim Junction who were from the front. They may have just lost their best friend.” She felt that any discomfort she experienced was a small price to pay to be able to give back to the chayalim in some way.
A chayal told Audrey, “You give us a bit of normalcy. We see people out of uniform serving us.”
Audrey shared that she would always try to say thank you to the chayalim for what they are doing. They would always thank her and David and expressed amazement that they both came from America to help out.
David shared, “There is an intersection right in front of Moshav Shuva, the closest village near the Gaza border. It is called Shuva Junction. It was miraculously spared from the October 7 attack. The residents of Shuva saw soldiers rushing into Gaza, and then they saw wounded soldiers being airlifted out.
On October 7, the three brothers from the moshav – Kobi, Eliran, and Dror Trabelisi – wanted to help, so they carried their Shabbos urn to Shuva Junction, pitched a table, and began serving coffee to soldiers. And they never left.
Over 300 days later, they are still manning a refreshment stand for soldiers coming in and out of Gaza. They serve over 3,000 hot meals a day and run a volunteer, donation-based supply depot for soldiers. Besides food, they also supply t’filin. In addition, they provide clean socks, underwear, deodorant, and assorted items a soldier might need.
All the food and other amenities are donated by individuals and businesses.
David shared that several battle-weary soldiers lounged on donated couches while others stocked up on supplies from the depot. In the background, you could hear shelling from several kilometers away. Shuva Achim provided a respite from the fighting – a break from the ugliness of the day and a reminder of the selfless humanity of so many in this time of need. “I am grateful to the brothers of Shuva for restoring my faith in brotherhood.”
One day, Audrey was sitting with another volunteer named Danielle. They were watching a group of religious men singing and dancing with the chayalim. Danielle told her, “I served coffee to a chayal and, some time later, I saw a photo of him on a sticker on a lamppost that said he fell in battle.”
This is something so painful and hard.
I asked Audrey about the scary part of being close to the fighting in Gaza. She said you could hear shooting and artillery. Often the walls would shake, but she didn’t feel scared.
She and David toured some tragic sites. They saw the police station that was overrun by terrorists in Sderot. They visited the Nova center where so many were mercilessly murdered. They also toured the site where the brave young women first alerted the IDF about the terrorist attack and were murdered. They also saw the burned cars.
It was inspiring to speak with Audrey and David and hear about how they volunteered so selflessly on behalf of klal Yisrael.
Hashem should bring us the end to all this fighting and shalom b’Yisrael, so volunteering will be for peaceful needs, not needs of war. Mi k’amcha Yisrael!
To donate or volunteer, go to my.israelgives.org/en/campaign/ShuvaAchim.
By Susie Garber
