DENVER — Wednesday afternoon, the packages were still arriving as Rabbi Menachem Lehrfield sorted through bags of fleece layers, medic pouches and other supplies – all of it was purchased by donors, to be delivered by volunteers to Israel soon.
“In just in a matter of days, we’ve collected thousands of items that are going to soldiers on the front line. We’ve raised tens of thousands of dollars to support Israel in anyway we can,” Lehrfield said.
Included in the piles were messages, written by donors to the Israeli soldiers who will soon receive those items.
“This says, ‘We pray for you, and thank God for you, and to keep you safe,’” the Rabbi read from one such note.
Lehrfield, along with dozens of other volunteers, will personally deliver these items when he travels with a group to Israel next week. The Director of Outreach for Aish of the Rockies, Lehrfiled originally planned to lead a group of men to Israel for a more traditional trip this month.
But as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on, things have changed.
“On Oct. 7, when all these terrible things were coming out, the only thing I wanted to do was go to Israel,” he said.
“I’m not trained to be on front lines. I’m not going to be able to do much of anything. But I had this inexplicable, almost irrational thinking – that’s where I need to be right now. I need to be in Israel right now.”
When the previously planned trip got canceled, Lehrfield started organizing a group to travel to Israel as volunteers. Within two days, 40 people and their flights were already booked. Today, more than 70 people from seven states are planning to travel with his group.
“We’re going to be helping in really anyway we can,” he said. “As of now, it seems like we're going to be visiting soldiers that have been wounded in the hospital and helping families that have been displaced.”
“I want people to understand how personal this is to the Jewish community.”
Lehrfield’s group is still collecting donations and fundraising for their mission. There is more information about how to donate on the organization’s website.
"My brothers and sisters are hurting," he said. "And when family calls, we stop everything and drop everything and we go and help how we can."
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