Out of hospital with nowhere to go

Good news and bad news for Mor family of Safed: Two girls injured in Katushya attack released from hospital, but family home destroyed in attack. Girls head for grandmother's house in Petach Tikva while mother, siblings recuperate

Andrew Friedman|Published: 07.18.06 , 06:39

When Rabbi Menachem Kutner received word that three little girls of the Mor family would be released from the hospital Sunday, just one question crossed his mind: Where would they go?

After all, the Katushya rocket that left them and their mother injured also destroyed their house in Safed. Their father Tzion has been spending his days making the hour-and-a-half drive between Haifa's Rambam Hospital, where his six-year-old Michal still hospitalized with a head wound, and Ziv Hospital in Safed, where his wife Revital and five-year-old son Natan remain in serious condition.

Kutner made a series of phone calls, and found out the girls would be taken to their grandmother's house in Petach Tikva, far from their home in Safed and far from their parents, but hopefully far from the clashes with Hizbullah closer to home.

The good news that the girls would be okay set off another alarm in Kutner's mind: Does the girls' grandmother have what she needs to take care of three little children?

In short order, the answer became abundantly clear: No.

"I've been a grandmother for many years," said Yedida Mor, Tzion's mother. "I don't have any baby food, diapers, bottles, toys – it's been a long time since I had little ones around the house, but here I am having to function as a young mother all over again."

'Very long road ahead'

Kutner, the head of Chabad's Terror Victims Project, immediately set into motion to round up the required goods. After a few phone calls and quick thinking, the rabbi was able to meet the family upon arrival in Petah Tikva from the north replete with diapers, baby formula, toys and even a new doll for two-year-old Leah.

"I wanted to give them a good feeling, that oh! – let's turn over a new leaf, in hopes for a brighter future," Kutner said.

It is difficult to describe the scene when the children discovered their new toys – especially Hanna and her new doll.

"When she was in the hospital," said Yedida Mor, "we tried to find a doll like this, but we couldn't. When she opened the box and saw what she'd gotten, her eyes lit up like glimmering stars.

"Look, they've got a very, very long road ahead. They are still injured; still need a lot of assistance, and their father is busy taking care of their mother and siblings still in the hospital. We don't know when they'll be released, but it won't be soon.

"I think that the mere fact that they have some of the stuff they need – and more than that, that they know there are people around to look after them – will make the transition period a little bit easier for everyone."

Rabbi Menachem Kutner of Chabad's Terror Victims Project can be reached via email at kutner@chabad.org.il