Even as Israel faces the aftermath of a seven-front war, rising global antisemitism, and ongoing breaches of ceasefire agreements, we enter Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, a holiday built on the belief that miracles can rise from despair.
At OneFamily, we have been witnesses to these miracles since 2001. We began nearly 25 years ago out of response to the Sbarro Restaurant bombing in Jerusalem on Aug. 9, 2001. Terrorists killed 16, including seven children and a pregnant woman, Shoshana Greenbaum from Passaic, N.J. The 31-year-old expectant mom was about to begin teaching at Yeshiva of North Jersey.
Then came Oct. 7, 2023, the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Families were torn apart, communities destroyed, and the sense of safety Israelis had spent generations building was shattered. The cruelty, torture, and terror of the hostage crisis — both for those murdered and for those who returned traumatized — will take decades to heal.
IN spite of all the tragedy, light continues to overcome the darkness. We see this every day at OneFamily as we provide emotional and financial support for every victim of terror and war in Israel — widows, orphans, bereaved parents, wounded soldiers, and siblings who carry invisible pain.
As the overwhelming need exploded across Israel with the October 7 attacks, we tripled our staff and programming so every family, in every region of Israel, can receive personal, lasting, and loving care.
Every week, we run dozens of healing retreats, therapy groups, and resilience programs from the Golan to the Negev — circles of comfort that give people the strength to keep going. This month, we are preparing for a massive therapeutic Chanukah Camp for 500 young victims ages 8 to 18. It will be a week filled with therapy, joy, sports, music, and the moments of healing these children so desperately need.
Our extraordinary team has worked around the clock — holding grieving families, guiding wounded souls, and becoming the light that so many depend on. I am deeply grateful for all of them.
This Chanukah, I am reminded that, even though the darkness attempts to overwhelm us, light is greater still. Even though thousands of families are only now beginning to understand the depth of their pain — and the long road of healing ahead — we see that resilience is the pathway to healing. And love is our greatest strength.
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