The singer and composer Tova Gadot came to the home of the girl's family who was affected by a Bedouin attacker in the Negev and gave her a unique Bat Mitzvah gift.
Ido ben Porat, 27 in Cheshvan, 11/21/22
Tova Gadot with the child - photo courtesy of the photographer
Tova Gadot, a singer and creator, collected from the public an amount of 26,000 NIS for the girl from the Negev, who was injured two years ago by a Bedouin attacker and who recently celebrated her Bat Mitzvah. Yesterday she arrived together with her husband R' Aviad Gadot, director of the ToratLehima [Combat theory] association, to give the girl the gift and the album in the name of the entire nation of Israel. The emotional visit was accompanied by family friend MK Almog Cohen from the Otzma Yehudit party, who is the center of care in the Negev on behalf of the party that will be a member of the government.
During the visit, Gadot talked with the girl and her family, and heard from them about the national challenges that reached their home, in the form of a brutal Bedouin outlaw. Hundreds of donors responded to Gadot's call and contributed a gift to the girl from the Negev, including the comedian Manny Assyag, and the media people Yinon Magal and Attila Shumpelvi.
Upon giving the gift, Gadot excitedly said to the bat mitzvah girl: "You are standing at the threshold of a new world, the holy mothers are reaching out to you and you, like a bride, are blessed and filled with a great light, the light of the holiness of the people of Israel."
The girl's father said: "About 12 years ago, our daughter who was injured was born. When she was a baby, we stayed with the rabbi who accompanied us in my wife's conversion process, the late Rabbi Avichai Rontsky. A few days after we were in Itamar, one of the most terrible attacks that Israel has ever known happened. The murder of the Vogel family hy"d.
"I remember that this event shook us to the depths of our souls and I asked the rabbi how we could continue from here and he, in his humility and holiness, calmly said that Ehud and his family went up in the fire of heaven and became a holy tabernacle of the Yeshiva in Itamar (Mishkan Ehud). I could not fully contain it at the time. Even before the construction of this Mishkan, my wife and I got married with our seven children at the end of my wife's conversion process and our return to repentance," he added.
According to him, "From then until today, this extension is used as land for the canopies of the yeshiva students. Our daughter was about six months old at the time.
About two years ago we had an attack during which our daughter was injured and her body mutilated. We went through two years of rehabilitation, strengthening and connecting to the rule. I roared as the girl's mother roared to the whole of Israel, and thus overnight our daughter became a daughter of Israel, a daughter of the whole and not just ours."
"Today, after the bat mitzvah she had and receiving the gift from your generosity, the first circle in a long journey is closed, which for us has only begun with a holy connection between brothers and sisters of the Bnei Israel [the Jewish people]. May we all be privileged to please the Creator and ourselves and our friends and neighbors. May we be privileged to put a smile on the face of another Jew every day, that we may put the measure of justice in its proper place so that our children will have the privilege of living in a more reformed society.
In our souls this is not far from us but in our mouths and in our hearts. May we have a complete redemption soon in our days. Tikun Olam * in the Kingdom of G-d. May we increase love for our spouses in an ever-growing circle and influence love and light on each other. Thank you Beloved brothers and sisters, he concluded.
Knesset member Almog Cohen said: "When I took office, I approached first and foremost to deal with the issue of security in the Negev, for which I was sent to the Knesset by the public. I met with senior officials in the entire security system, and with forces on the ground who long for a government that will allow them to start operating. To this end, we will take care not only of budgeting and standards, but also for a change of consciousness and clear instructions on the part of the government to act decisively up to the level of the stolen weapons, the drug den and the bed of the terrorist to be arrested or eliminated. This is my duty and our duty to this precious girl whom I feel as if she really is my little sister, to her family, and to the residents of the Negev and the entire State of Israel, And so with G-d's help we will do."
The ToraLehima organization, which was established to promote Jewish identity and the value of victory in the IDF, stated: "Understanding that the people of Israel are facing an all-out campaign of violent Arab nationalism, we started dealing with the problem of internal security after disturbances caused by Israeli Arabs, including Bedouin gangs in the Negev about a year and a half ago".
"We have been pointing out for some time the problem of breaking into bases and stealing weapons from the IDF, which are now in the thousands in the hands of Arabs, Bedouins, the drug factory in the training areas, as well as physical harm to Jews by Bedouin nationalists, as happened to this precious girl in her home in the Negev. We call on the commander of the Southern Command, Colonel Eliezer Toledano, as well as the police to stop worrying and act hard against that fifth recruit who harms the people of Israel," the organization said.