Blog

By Nicole Jansezian

As an architect, Talya Baruchi defines home from many different perspectives.

“When you plan a home, you plan a house, four walls, you plan the street, you plan for the people and a public area,” she explained. “Back in my town near the Gaza border, I only have four walls to go back to. Here, I have a home.”

Talya was anxious about having to return home to Maagalim where sirens still sound daily alerting of incoming rockets.

“There’s no routine in my area yet and that is something I can’t make in my home.”

Along with some of their neighbors, Talya and her young son were welcomed at a moshav in the hills outside Jerusalem where CBN Israel set up a food truck for free lunches for evacuees and is helping to pay for the costs of temporary lodging and shelter.

“What we have here is home, we have routine,” Talya told CBN Israel.

CBN Israel provided a daily food truck where residents can gather for a free meal in the middle of the day at Yad Hashmona, the moshav where Talya is staying.

The food truck project has provided more than just food—it has become part of the “public space” that makes a home and has enabled evacuees to connect with each other and share the traumas and challenges of being forced from their homes.

“The kids that have now been a month out of their house,” said Daniel Carlson, director of CBN Israel. “They are still getting missile attacks almost on a daily basis. There’s no school. There’s no normal life.”

Israelis that have been evacuated from the north and south have had to make a new routine and new home for themselves in different towns and neighborhoods around the country. While the government has been slow to provide support, many organizations—including CBN Israel—have pitched in and are welcoming the evacuees.

CBN Israel hosted a festival at Yad Hashmona with bouncy castles, carnival food, and a movie—Superbook—for the displaced children staying there giving them a few moments to disconnect from the war. 

CBN Israel held a similar event for evacuees staying at a conference center in Israel’s coastal plain, which still comes under daily rocket fire, and in the southern city of Eilat where many evacuees are staying. The festival included a food truck, cotton candy, music, and bouncy castles and an airing of Superbook in Hebrew.

Carlson said the music had to be kept at a certain decibel in order to be able to hear sirens.

“With all that’s going on, this just gives them some time to forget and be kids again,” Carlson said.

Talya thanked CBN for being present during her hour of extreme need.

“We can see their logo everywhere around the hotel,” she said. “And to see the logo here now, it warms my heart that there are people who think of us, that we can be better off in this strange situation, in this dark situation, who want the best for us.”

Nicole Jansezian is the media coordinator for CBN Israel. A long-time journalist, Nicole was previously the news editor of All Israel News and All Arab News and a journalist at The Associated Press. On her YouTube channel, Nicole gives a platform to the minority communities in Jerusalem and highlights stories of fascinating people in this intense city. Born and raised in Queens, N.Y., she lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Tony, and their three children.