Early Simchat Torah morning, on 7th October 2023, Ariel Zohar from Kibbutz Nahal Oz got up to go for a run. While he was gone, Hamas terrorists broke into his home, murdering his father Yaniv, his mother Yasmin and his two sisters Techelet and Keshet. In addition, they also murdered his maternal grandfather, Chaim Livine.

Like all of us this year, on Shabbat Chanukah, 7th December 2023, Ariel will celebrate his bar mitzvah. There is nothing that will fill the void left by his parents and siblings brutal murder by Hamas terrorists. Ariel will not be able to dance with his family, he will not hear the words of wisdom and blessings from his parents, he will not be able to embrace his sisters, he alone will be in his family photo.

While we plan and prepare for our Bar Mitzvahs, we have an opportunity to try and bring a small measure of comfort to Ariel and his extended family by raising money that will be used for a capital project to be dedicated in memory of Ariel’s family as well as establishing a fund for Ariel to be used as he reaches milestones in his life. By asking your family and friends to help contribute towards this campaign in addition to donating a small percentage of the money you receive as gifts, we are hoping to raise more than £50,000 for the Ariel Zohar Bar Mitzvah project which will be a campaign run in connection with the One Family organisation (https://onefamilytogether.org/).

We cannot begin to imagine the pain and suffering of Ariel, but we can help perpetuate his family’s legacy and ensure that Ariel has sufficient funds to meet some of his requirements as he progresses through life. Let us, the boys of year 8, take on this task and bring a small measure of comfort to someone who could have easily been our classmate.