The solidarity and support shown by Jews all over the world goes beyond donations, special projects, or campaigns. They also come in the form of heartwarming gestures from individual people who just want to help in Israel's darkest hour. One of those kind souls is Yaakov Abekasis, a 91-year-old French Jew who lives in Florida and was unable to be indifferent to Hamas' brutal attack.
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"I watch the news in French, English and Hebrew. It hurts me deeply," Abekasis says. "I've never seen such horrible images on the news of what was done to my people, whom I love. I see on television all the horrors committed by the terrorists. My heart aches for the murdered and kidnapped children and all the soldiers and the civilians. I served in the military and I was wondering what I could give to the IDF and the public. If I were young, I would leave everything behind and come to Israel to enlist, but today I'm an old man."
Abekasis contacted a flower shop in Haifa. Do me a favor, I don't know all the arrangements. Please prepare wreaths for all the fallen, the people who lost their lives, so they will never be forgotten," he told the owner Elad Hzut. He also asked to transfer the wreaths to the military HQ in Tel Aviv, where, according to him, "all the decision makers are stationed, they should always remember those who died, when they consider their decisions."
'For the murdered children'
"We are experienced in the business of flowers and unfortunately also in wreaths for funerals but the request from this wonderful Jew' who called from Florida, touched every one of us in the store, Hazut says. Abekasis told Hazut that he wanted to send a bouquet to each family that suffered the loss of a relative. "In the end, he asked me to prepare 13 wreaths with the most colorful flowers and to divide them into groups. One would be 'For the murdered children,' another, 'For the murdered people of Kfar Aza,' another, 'For the murdered Border Patrol soldiers' and so forth."
For every wreath, Abekasis asked to add a heart-shaped arrangement to each of the wreaths with a note: "With love, Yaakov Abekasis." On Thursday, the store completed Abekasis' request and the flowers were placed in a line in front of the military Headquarters. "He insisted on paying for everything. He did it from his heart, from his deep love for the people of Israel."
Donations to IDF from across the world
