The Brother I Never Knew: Special Delivery  

In the wake of the tragic events of October 7, unlikely yet remarkable human connections have emerged out of shared purpose and resilience. Through their collaboration, they developed new perspectives and understanding of the other’s world, and achieved something greater than themselves, as they learned to see beyond differences, bridging divides that once seemed insurmountable. Here are their stories.

Beitar Illit is just five minutes away from Tzur Hadassah, but the upscale town of high-end homes and a predominantly secular/traditional populace feels a lot farther. Until a group of women from Beitar bridged the gap, providing Shabbos food for families whose husbands are on the front. Because who doesn’t send food to family in time of need?

The Tuesday night before Rosh Hashanah found Miriam Haller packing 21 boxes of home-cooked food in her Beitar Illit dining room. Her kids and a neighbor were helping pack these meals for soldiers’ families, when suddenly, their kosher phones started beeping manically in unison.

Then came the loud blasts.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

One of Miriam’s kids darted outside to see what was going on and came back to report that explosions were rending the sky.

Next, the air raid sirens went off.

They quickly left the boxes and made their way to their reinforced miklat room. When the alert was over, it was back to packing boxes.

More sirens.

“We ran to the room, said our pirkei Tehillim, and reassured the kids,” says Miriam, a Florida native and mother of seven. “I told them we’re not afraid of rockets, because Hashem is protecting us, and we’re afraid of only Him.”