NAPLES, Fla. — A night of solidarity and shared pain over the war in Ukraine at Chabad Naples on Wednesday.
“We’re left feeling and we find ourselves feeling infuriated, frustrated, helpless and broken," says Rabbi Fishel Zaklos.
He sees it as an opportunity to meet an urgent need.
“The people that are refugees fleeing from the horrors of the war, they need shelter, safe passage, medicine, food, water…and we need to provide it for them here in Naples," says Rabbi Fishel.
And they are - in the form of donations.
“We’ve raised $25,000 tonight, $20,000 have already been distributed…and we’ll send the rest of the $5,000 dollars," he says.
People at the service also got a chance to hear, by Zoom, from a rabbanit who runs an orphanage in Ukraine. She described the exact moment she knew the country was under attack.
“It was 5AM when the first bombs started to fall over Ukraine," she says.
She and others scrambled to get children of that orphanage to safety, eventually finding safety in the country of Israel.
“At the moment we landed in Israel we just felt a huge hug…with just a lot of people that wanted to help, they were so welcoming," she says, describing the scene.
“Chabad Rabbis and Rabbinits have been on the front lines…often times putting their own life at risk to be there for the people in Ukraine. They were the last ones to leave, and now they’re helping and doing anything they can," adds Rabbi Fishel.
You can find thelink to donate to that fund for the Ukrainian people on the Chabad of Naples website here.
