As the War in Gaza continues thousands of our young soldiers are fighting this very moment for Israel’s defense
7 January 2009
Despite Israeli Air Force efforts to halt Hamas’ murderous bombings, these have continued daily reaching a radius of more than 40 kms. around the Gaza Strip.
The hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens in the south of Israel have endured these endless attacks and have stood strong. With an aim to put an end to Hamas’ consistent threat the IDF has launched an ongoing ground forces attack in which our brave fighters are risking their lives to attain this goal
Their sacrifice is unparalleled! The Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization is here for them.
Open your hearts and help us help them regain their lives.
| ‘Sadnat Gal’ Members Exhibit Their Works at Tel-Aviv’s Beit Halochem |
| 19 January 2009 |
| Several members of “Sadnat Gal” (an outpatient Rehabilitation Care Centre attended by IDF victims of combat stress)exhibited their Mosaic works at an Exhibition showing at Tel-Aviv’s Beit Halochem. Y.P, one of the Zahal Disabled Veterans who visits Sadnat Gal and whose works are exhibited at Beit Halochem has written a moving description of his personal experience. Broken Heart /By: Y.P In the winter of 1973 (Hanukah), I returned home from Egyptian captivity with my pride in shambles, a shattered ego, a crushed spine and a broken heart … my loving family, my wife and two sons (today they are four), my late parents, my in-laws, my sister, my many friends at home and at work and all those surrounding me back then, showered me with so much love and good will, trying to understand me, support and help. It didn’t always succeed. With a battered soul and physical injuries, I mourned the loss of life of my friends who fell while fighting to defend our stronghold (along the Bar Lev Line of Fortifications) and later in captivity from where some did not return alive. I, however, did! At this point I was at the most crucial junction: one direction could lead to sadness, lethargy, deterioration, desperation, guilt feelings, anger and loss of hope. The other direction would bring me around completely, would create a powerful change brought about from an inexplicable inner strength of the soul and would help me gather the pieces and move on with my life. A hand was reaching out to me and I chose, of course, to live on, to mend the broken heart, amongst others, through the symbolic use of mosaics. Many years have gone by since. There have been ups and downs: moderate ups and steep downs. As a man of faith, I tenaciously held on to every trace of hope that came my way on the long road of my rehabilitation: prayer, studying the scriptures, secular studies as well as other professional, academic subject related to my work. In the near term and short range I had some amazing successes, especially at the peak of those “ups”. However, deep inside that steep, abysmal “down”, feelings of guilt, sadness and sorrow seeped in constantly. Slowly, I returned to my great love – playing the accordion. The broken heart continues to live within me but side by side with my joie de vivre. My heart is alive and kicking, it feels and it is moved. Renewed strong sentiments of a love of life and of living bring me to an even greater joy which I try to express through my playing to all music lovers. In the diverse art courses at the Gal Workshop (one of the dozen rehabilitation care centres), I find myself constantly busy putting together the fragments of my life which came apart during the various wars in which I took an active part as a combatant: The Six Days War, before that the retribution raids, the War of Attrition and especially during my captivity during the Yom Kippur War. Lately, I have grown very fond of the Mosaics Course, under the close and attentive guidance of Irit Orpaz. How symbolic for me to be working with mosaics and ceramics: putting together the fragments, collecting shreds, bits and pieces and piecing them together with hard glue into a puzzle with a statement. Carrying on a dialogue with the shaky past, the present and perhaps with a safe and stable future! Each one of my mosaic works has a statement, a symbolic message. Like the words of Rabbi Nachman of Breslaw: “A broken heart is loved by the Lord … and it would be good that he should have a broken heart all day long”. *Written by one of the exhibitors at the Exhibit of Works by Members of the Gal Workshop at Tel-Aviv’s Beit Halochem.
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