Keren Netanel “Nathaniel Fund”
 |
Victim of a terror attack at an emergency room in Jerusalem. |
Every parent’s nightmare is not to return home in the evening and tuck the kids in to bed. We hate to ask what would become of our children if we were no longer around. Would we want our children left to the mercy of strangers?
Such terrible questions become unfortunate realities in some households. As chairman of the Love for Israel Relief Fund, I have found myself in too many houses of mourning involving small children this past year. The story was the same in each house – the father kissed his children good-bye for the last time sometimes within hours of my arrival. In every case, the father expected to return home that day as usual.
I was a complete stranger the previous day in each case. Whether because of a terrorist attack or a horrific accident; I found myself thrust into the lives of children who still awaited their father’s return even as I grieved with their families in the living rooms.
As a stranger, what could I do for these orphans? In some ways, the problems seem overwhelming. However, each case had concrete practical things I knew I could do to help. Simple deeds like making sure the families had meals in the following weeks really meant a lot. Often times the families had immediate needs like help catching up on unpaid bills or apartment repairs. In every case, the children needed long-term funds set aside for college, weddings, etc.
Previously, the Love for Israel Relief Fund has not had funds dedicated to such situations and needed to collect special donations. Every $100 we collected on average met immediate needs of each child and every $500 on average per child helped with long-term planning. This year we have started to form an emergency fund for Israeli children who have been orphaned unexpectedly. The current name is “Keren Netanel” which translates the “Nathaniel Fund”.
Donations designated “Keren Netanel” will continue to go towards this emergency fund. Our goal continues to be to comfort those who grieve in Zion one
tear at a time.