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One stop was for a gathering to 
meet with the residents of Kibbutz 
Shlomit who had been evacuated to 
a hotel. Shlomit is on the border of 
Egypt and very close to Gaza. 
Among them was Dana Cohen 
(pronounced “Donna”), the widow of 
Aviad Cohen, one of Shlomit’s civil 
defense team who, along with three 
of his comrades, made the ultimate 
sacrifice in fighting off terrorists at a 
neighboring kibbutz. 
Rabbi Tolwin shared the details of 
the heroism that ultimately saved two 
kibbutzim. 
“Standard protocol was for 
Shlomit’s civil defense team to not 
leave their post. However, their 
village was not under attack while 
desperate calls for help were coming 
from Kibbutz Pri Gan. The result of 
an emergency meeting resulted in the 
team leaving their posts to fend off 
the terrorists there. 
“Four team members were killed 
and several injured in the mission. No 
Kibbutz Pri Gan residents were killed 
as a result of their heroism and Shlomit 
was spared from being attacked.”
Mission members also met with a 
mother of nine, a nurse who survived 
several gunshots while trying to save 
a soldier’s life. And a shivah call was 
paid to the family of Sgt. Rose Ida 
Lubin, who was stabbed to death out-
side of Jerusalem’s Old City while on 
duty as a border police officer. Rose 
was a Lone Soldier who had recently 
immigrated from Atlanta.
The itinerary included assisting 
the “Pantry Packers.” As described on 
their website they are “the food dis-
tribution arm of Tzedakah Central/
Colel Chabad, the oldest continuously 
operating network of social services 
in Israel. They deliver crates contain-
ing all the necessary foods and house-
hold maintenance supplies to Israel’s 
poorest families and senior citizens.”

OUR COMMUNITY
ON THE COVER

continued from page 11

Rabbi Simcha Tolwin, 
executive director of Aish 
HaTorah Detroit in Israel with 
Ethan Gross, member of the 
JWV Department of Michigan

JEREMY SPARIG PHOTOGRAPHY