The Jewish community in Colombus decided to help Otef Aza communities after the massacre of October 7th, by selling special home-made bracelets - and they have raised by now more than $20,000.
Ofra Greenshtein, along with Rachel Gold, Kara Friedman, Ari Scheier and numerous others from the Columbus community are making the bracelets in their living rooms with their friends and friends of friends, Jewish and non-Jewish. "It literally is taking a village to make the 300 bracelets we have on order today," she says.
"We are all in an ocean of sadness and rage after this monstrous massacre," says Greenshtein, who is from Columbus, Ohio.
Sharing her thoughts on the situation, she adds, "While we live abroad, we are all glued to the news and constantly checking with family and friends. As the horrific evidence kept coming it was hard for us to contain the pain."
"As the NY mayor said - NO, we are not alright, therefore we felt and knew we needed to support Israel from afar, not only by being Israel's advocates on social media (which we all are) and in our towns, but also to raise money and raise awareness."
The community decided to give the money directly to the hard-hit kibbutzes of Kfar Aza, Nahal Oz and Be'eri, to help them locate the missing and kidnapped, help families with all their physical and mental needs, and restore the beloved kibbutzim in the Gaza border region.
They explain: "With this initiative of making these beautiful bracelets here in Columbus, Ohio that we designed, we are bringing, hopefully, more awareness by having more and more people wearing a Chai, Israel, and Hope bracelet while we are also raising money. This also helps us keep our sanity by this therapeutic creation."
