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Hopefully, the war in Gaza will come to an end and Israel will be able to get back to normal everyday life.

There were many heroes in this war. Many gave their lives to protect the Jewish homeland that we love and cherish so much.

But what if I told you that one of those heroes is a Chassidic young man with a red beard and fairly long payos? What if I told you that he wears a long black coat and black hat and that he has remarkable enthusiasm and determination to do something special and extraordinary for families that suffered personal losses over the last two years?

His name is Rabbi Mendy Kenig, and from the start his sole objective was to bring comfort and peace in any way he could to families who lost loved ones in this terrible war in Gaza that took so many of Israel’s bravest and most courageous warriors.

Mendy and the organization he created, Menucha V’Yeshuah, has changed hundreds and even thousands of lives forever. It started almost two years ago in the aftermath of the October 7th attacks and the long Gaza War. Almost immediately, there were casualties and families were torn apart, with many soldiers injured or killed in battle.

Mendy Kenig sprang into action, reaching out to those families with the focus on young war widows, the children left behind, and in many instances, parents and even grandparents of those lost in the war.

Now Mendy is taking an even greater step forward by bringing 50 widows and their children for a week at Disney World in Orlando, Florida and then another week in the New York area at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel in Asbury Park, New Jersey where Menucha V’Yeshuah will host their specially-designed Shabbaton for these families as well as the donors that made these activities possible.

Amongst the guests invited to join the families for Shabbos is lecturer and motivational speaker, Sivan Rahav Meir, who has worked closely with Menucha V’Yeshuah in reaching out to the widows and their children to make them whole again in spite of their great pain and suffering in losing a loved one in the Gaza War.

The first week, the families will spend time at Disney World in Orlando, a first-time experience for most of the adults as well as the children. Mendy has developed a unique insight into how to help these families deal with their deep emotional pain by offering them a getaway Shabbaton with games and entertainment for the children and lectures and sessions on helping widows deal with raising children in the aftermath of the terrible trauma of losing a parent or sibling in a terror attack or war.

Mendy Kenig is a young man with a vision of the future combined with an ambition and desire to bring comfort to those in pain. If you ask him how he learned to do this, he will tell you that he learned how to do it by just doing it.

About six months ago, Mendy came to New York with Yerucham Rivlin, a father of 12 from Otniel near Hebron. Four of Yerucham’s sons were at the Nova Festival on October 7, 2023. Two were murdered by the Hamas terrorists and two managed to escape. One of the sons who managed to stay alive described to his father how he covered himself with blankets in the back seat of the car in scorching heat for nine hours until the terrorists lost interest and moved on.

Kenig feels, and has told me, that if he has the resources, he can do so much more to help additional families who would love the chance to be a parent at the group events run and sponsored by Menucha V’Yeshuah.

“The trip to the U.S and the week in New Jersey will be a life changing experience for these two hundred people,” said Mendy Kenig. In addition to lectures by Sivan Rahav Meir, the group will be joined by Rabbi YY Jacobson in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Rabbi Jacobson is an outstanding orator who connects to his audiences, both young and old, unlike anyone else in the Jewish world today.

Life has changed dramatically for these hundreds of families in Israel in the aftermath of October 7th. “We offer these families what they need to heal at this point in their lives: rest, care, and renewal,” says Kenig.

On the situation in Israel, Sivan adds, “We have the unique opportunity to use the trauma that our country suffered as an opportunity to unify and come together.”

And in microcosm that is exactly what Menucha V’Yeshuah has accomplished and is in the process of achieving on an even greater level.

Mendy Kenig wants to do more for a greater number of people and he can do it if we reach out to him and make it possible. Mendy doesn’t just dream big for the benefit of the widows and orphans of Israel as you can see, he knows how to get the job done.

As far as next week’s trips to Orlando and New Jersey are concerned, Menucha V’Yeshuah is flying close to 200 people with El Al to New York and then from New York to Orlando for an excursion to Disney World. Some of the young mothers who lost their husbands in Gaza these last two years have observed that their children are so excited about the trip that they are counting down the days until the two-week odyssey begins.

If you have time to view some of the videos of the Menucha V’Yeshuah Shabbatonim that were recorded prior to Shabbos or after Shabbos, you not only see, but you can feel the comfort and unity of what a Shabbos together with these families actually means. They are frequently joined by singing groups for Shabbos and additional personalities like the Chief Rabbis of Israel and Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi, Sivan Meir, and other outstanding personalities.

Most of us cannot grasp the pain and anguish that these families are suffering and enduring, and how dramatically life has changed for them. At this point, all they have is us: people who care deeply amount them and who want to do anything possible so they can heal, watch their children grow, and slowly come to grips with the absence of their father or brother as the case may be.

Maybe we can’t feel what they’re feeling, but we know people who have experienced these losses directly. What we can do this week is be there for them and help them with the healing process. You can reach Mendy Kenig by calling 972-52-715-1189.

Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

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