While the initial worldwide shock and outrage after the October 7th atrocities has calmed somewhat, the aftermath of the horrific massacre is still real for people living in Israel- especially for those living in the South. But what Hamas didn’t know was that the spirit and determination of the Jewish people are inextinguishable. As much as they tried to destroy their morale, burn down their land, and instill terror in their hearts, they’ve risen up to fight by bringing glory to our land.
Israeli farmers Eli Feinsilver, Yair Ziv, Sharon Cohen, and Rav Yizchak Sofer sustained a direct missile hit to their farm, lost their valuable Thai workers after they fled back to their home country, and suffered significant financial loss as their infrastructure was largely destroyed and almost all their crop rotted away from neglect. Yet, with classic Jewish stubbornness and determination, they refused to give up and allow the Hamas terrorists victory over their hearts.
Since they are not receiving government funding at this time, they appealed to the Israeli public, asking for funds and volunteers to help them clear out the diseased vegetables, repair the infrastructure, and start planting new crops. More than recovering some of their financial losses, the farmers were resolute that they would continue to provide the Israeli public with healthy, delicious vegetables grown in their very own homeland to prove Hamas could not win.
The response was overwhelming. For the first few days, over 40 volunteers were working on the ground every day. Dentists, lawyers, technicians, scientists, and accountants dug, weeded, planted, irrigated, and harvested the land in unison. Today, 10- 20 people still volunteer in the south daily. To date, they have received approximately $10,000 in donations to purchase nets for the hothouses to replace the damaged ones.
Due to the financial and physical help from kindhearted Jews worldwide, the farm is now successfully growing cauliflower, broccoli, white cabbage, and cucumbers. They also plan to plant eggplants, tomatoes, and other vegetables shortly. Finally, although the repairs remain incomplete, 100% of the farmland is used to grow vegetables.
“The farm has sustained an inordinate amount of direct and indirect damage,” Sharon Cohen explained. “The direct missile hit destroyed our hothouses, so we now have to spray much more pesticides on our crops. The funds needed to repair the hothouses is to the tune of 200,000 shekels.”
Additionally, the indirect damage this war has caused is vast. There was a huge decrease in production in the first few weeks after the war due to the shortage of workers and the cessation of truck workers in the south to transport the vegetables. Hundreds of tons of vegetables were discarded, and the healthy vegetables were abandoned because no one would transport them to the rest of the country.
“The amount of shekels we lost because of the lack of workers and truck drivers is difficult to predict, but would be approximately 700,000 to 1,000,000 shekels,” shares Eli Feinsilver, another partner at the farm.
If you would like to help out, go to https://thechesedfund.com/helpisraelifarmers/help-israeli-farmers and help these farmers bring glory to the Land of Israel once again.
