On a humid afternoon drive to Jerusalem, Julie and Tal—the parents of hostage Bar Kupershtein—found themselves and their family stranded on the side of Road 1. Tal has been reliant on a wheelchair since experiencing a stroke and a car accident several years ago. Julie called Yaron Aviv, Yad Sarah’s National Coordinator of Volunteer Drivers, who reached out to accessible van driver Haim Dovev. Haim picked up the family and took them to their destination in Jerusalem. Only after picking them up did Haim realize who he was driving: a family whose suffering is beyond measure. He waited for the family in Jerusalem and later drove them safely home to Holon. This simple act of kindness carried extraordinary weight for the Kupershtein family.
In Israel, chesed (lovingkindness) is a core value that many incorporate into their daily lives. At Yad Sarah, we embody chesed in our wide array of services—medical equipment loans to soldiers and civilians, at home treatments through the Mobile Dental Clinic, accessible transportation, and more—and the way our volunteers treat each client who walks through our doors. During this period of war, when loss ripples through every home, acts of chesed have become a lifeline in Israel.
Since October 7th, the people of Israel have faced unimaginable tragedy. Families are broken, soldiers fallen, and civilians endure constant uncertainty. In the face of this pain, compassion and chesed sustain our nation.
For Aryeh Cohen, Yad Sarah’s national manager of volunteers, compassionate kindness is not an occasional gesture but a daily mission. Every month, he travels hundreds of miles to visit the organization’s more than 7,000 volunteers across 127 branches to ensure they have the tools necessary to support the people of Israel. Since the start of the war, he has connected with volunteers whose children were killed or wounded in combat.
One visit is etched in his heart. Aryeh visited the home of a mother whose son, a naval commando officer, was killed on the very first day of the war. What she did not know is that during the COVID-19 pandemic, her son had quietly saved thousands of lives through his volunteer work with Yad Sarah. Upon learning that Israel faced a critical shortage of oxygen tanks during the pandemic, he partnered with Yad Sarah to repurpose his unit’s diving tanks for medical use. The unit filled 30,000 tanks that were delivered to homes across the country, giving respite to people suffering from COVID-related breathing challenges. When Aryeh told the soldier’s mother this story, she wept with the knowledge that her son’s compassion protected countless lives.
That same spirit of chesed carried Rivka’s family through one of their most difficult moments. Her son Moshe is an IDF reserve soldier who was injured during a firefight with terrorists in Gaza. He survived the attack but suffered a severe arm injury and was transported out of Gaza to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, where he began a long road to recovery.
Rivka and her husband traveled from Jerusalem to Ashkelon, 50 miles each way, daily to be by Moshe’s side. Along the way, they experienced an overwhelming outpouring of kindness: volunteers bringing meals and music to the hospital, a Chabad family hosting them for Shabbat along with dozens of other guests, and the owner of a nearby apartment offering them his home free of charge while he was overseas.
When Moshe transitioned to outpatient care, Rivka contacted Yad Sarah for rehabilitation equipment. The staff provided a specialized wrist brace and therapy putty to strengthen his hand, all for a small refundable deposit. Elsewhere, this equipment would have been costly.
“From the first phone call I made to Yad Sarah, the experience was nothing short of wonderful,” Rivka shares. “Each volunteer we encountered was cheerful and efficient, even at the end of the day, expressing a genuine desire to go above and beyond in helping others.” For Rivka, who made aliyah from San Diego 40 years ago and once volunteered at Yad Sarah herself, the help her son received deepened her respect for the organization and for the many communities that unite to provide compassionate kindness during difficult times.
Chesed is not limited by age or ability. Aryeh recently visited a 104-year-old volunteer who, when asked what keeps him coming back, smiled and said, “The hand that gives is also the hand that receives.”
Every day, Yad Sarah sees individuals walk through the doors, unsure of how they will manage. Each one leaves with a sense of hope and with the equipment or service they need to continue. That is the power of chesed. It turns empathy into compassionate care. In the darkest moments, it reminds us that we are never alone.
As Israel continues to endure and to heal, Yad Sarah remains committed to standing alongside our people, providing vital equipment, transportation, and support in moments of crisis. Together, we keep this lifeline of chesed strong and ensure that the people of Israel have access to the care they need.
