Israeli terror survivors thank Potomac group

‘‘The most important part of Operation Embrace is that you have not forgotten us in our journey,” said Oren Kozik at the event. ‘‘Most people forget. You don’t.”

The group assisted Kozik after his son Tzur, then 10, was shot in the head in an attack in Israel in 2005. The organization provided money to the Kozik family in order to rehabilitate Tzur, who survived the attack.

The group provides assistance to Israeli victims of terror by filling in the ‘‘gap” between the victim’s financial and personal needs and what the Israeli government provides — services such as money, education support, counseling, computers or clothing.

The group has raised about $1.4 million to assist close to 3,500 victims so far, according to Anne Clemons, a founder and chief financial officer of the organization. Operation Embrace also works with four hospitals and one municipality in Israel to provide counseling services to victims.

The organization was founded in 2001 by Potomac resident Aviva Tessler, Clemons and two other Potomac residents. At that time, Tessler had recently returned from a sabbatical in Israel where she had met a young girl in an Israeli hospital who was a double amputee as a result of an attack.

‘‘One of her comments was, Aviva, please don’t be a hi-bye friend,” Tessler said. ‘‘Those words fell very heavy on my heart.”

Tessler said that victims often felt that their plight was forgotten after they were no longer in newspaper headlines.

Tessler and several friends raised money to send the young girl a laptop computer. They decided to start Operation Embrace as a way to support similar victims, as well as to lend them an emotional connection with families and congregations in the United States.

Along with financial and other support, Operation Embrace matches families and communities in Potomac and other towns in the area with victims who live in Israel. Families communicate with victims through e-mail, phone and sometimes visits.

‘‘It’s a little different than a pen pal,” Tessler said. While communication can be difficult at first with people who have experienced trauma, Tessler said having consistent communication can have a positive effect on their healing process. ‘‘Whether it’s a phone call, an e-mail, or tuition assistance, it helps them move on with their lives to know they have a cheerleader here.”

Alice Abramson, a Bethesda resident, first became involved with Operation Embrace when a representative spoke at Ohr Kodesh, her congregation. Abramson, along with Ohr Kodesh, communicates with four families in Israel that have been victims of attacks and provides them with $100 each during Jewish holidays.

‘‘At first, it was awkward,” Abramson said. ‘‘But eventually this wonderful relationship started to form.”

Abramson and her congregation were able to help a 19-year-old woman who had been debilitated in a bus bombing come to the United States for a month-long visit. The woman was able to practice her English during the trip, as well as work in the pre-school program at the congregation and take dance lessons, though she lacked partial movement in the right side of her body.

‘‘If you feel that you want to do something that will make a difference, you can be overwhelmed by needs,” Abramson said. ‘‘But if you can think of it in terms of having a positive impact on one life, it can have so much power.”

Learn more

For more information on Operation Embrace, visit www.operationembrace.org.