Needham Fills a Need

Hey y'all, thought you might find it fun to see how 140 hats made their way from a wonderful group of knitters associated with Temple Beth Shalom in Needham, MA to... my house in Efrat, Israel to... Rafi Portal who spends several nights every week delivering hats, warm coffee and other treats to... soldiers on duty. Follow the photo trail below!

Some background: Every winter a group from TBS in Needham makes a trip to Israel, led by Rabbi Jay Perlman, and they bring along lots of hats for Israeli soldiers. Usually I meet up with them in a hotel in Jerusalem. This year, due to corona virus, the trip didn't happen and I'm so sorry I didn't get to thank them in person for their continued support...but this was great! Thank you all you fabulous and generous folks, and I hope to see you next year in Jerusalem!

I love this

Recently, a mom from Efrat whose family made aliya a few years ago asked me if I could provide some hats for her son's unit, which I happily gave her. Last week she sent me this video from the boys. She (and her son) were excited to see that the hats were made by a group called The Knitting Needles, based in the JCC of Tenafly, New Jersey. Why? Because when this young man was 3 years old, he was a member of that JCC! 
How wild is that? Go, NJ!

And here are a photo and a video taken by Rafi of "Hachi Achi", who drives around the southern Hebron hills visiting soldiers in remote and cold outposts. He brings them warm drinks, treats...and of course, handknit hats for soldiers. They are so grateful.

Thank you, kind knitters -- I hope these images give you a sense of all the amazing good you're doing out of there, and a feeling of pride and satisfaction. You deserve it!

And the New Year begins...

Happy 5780 to all! Here in Israel, the rains have begun to fall and the winds to blow, and winter is most definitely on its way. In parallel, hats have been pouring in from around the world to help keep our soldiers warm. Here's a photo of Lois B. and her amazing group of New Jersey knitters:

Love them! Thank you Lois, and everyone involved for all you do!

Wishing you all a wonderful new year, and (for those in the northern hemisphere) -- an easy winter.

Happy knitting, 

Channah K.

just had to share

Look at this great note and photo I just got! What a bunch of sweethearts!

Thanks for the hats! It gets pretty darn cold over here and these hats are awesome! You can really feel the warmth and love that went into making them My group loves them and wears them often. Thanks! 

Snow Day!

Last night we had a big, blustery storm with rain, slush, snow -- you name it. Buses stopped, schools closed, people got stuck far from home etc.

Yesterday, knowing there was really bad weather coming, I gave out over 300 hats to soldiers all over the Gush Etzion and Hebron Hills areas. They were so, so grateful and I hope you'll all keep knitting for them. Check out the video and photos below!

Many of these soldiers spent the night rescuing stranded drivers, and patrolling unfriendly neighborhoods in sub-zero temperatures. Thank you to all the chayalim who work so hard on our behalf! Thanks also to "Just One Chesed" and "Cafe Hachi Achi" for their help in getting the hats out to soldiers in remote outposts.

Here's my hat mail for the week, I hope you'll all keep up the amazing work:

From this past week

Got a couple more thank you photos to share with you.

This week the weather's supposed to be freezing, and below. I've got about 300 hats in reserve and am planning to give them all out. So keep knitting!

more photos

I loved meeting Eleanor Minuk of Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda synagogue in Toronto (that's her on the left, in the photo below). The dedicated knitting group in this synagogue has sent hundreds of hats to soldiers over the years, and Eleanor orchestrates the whole production, she's fantastic. Being very modest, she wants you to know that, in her words, "I can't take credit for it all. We have someone who purchases the yarn, lots of knitters, someone who puts on the tags and bags the hats." My thanks and appreciation to all of you!

There was an article in the Canadian Jewish News recently about this group, as well as dedicated Toronto knitter Ruth Belick, and you can see it here:

CJN

Shout out also to the Constantia Home in Toronto that has knit hundreds of hats, and Pam Chasen who's headed that project. 

And here are some photos I got just today of some happy soldiers in their hats. It's good and wintery here, so keep 'em coming, folks!!