In the early morning of Shemini Atzeret, when the news broke out that Israel was under attack, the hysteria began. The congregants of Teaneck’s Congregation Shaarei Orah, who are more like family than friends, were in a state of shock and panic. Our beloved security guard, Kevin, did his best to stay on top of the news and reported to us on a real-time basis. He also called families of our congregants to make sure they were unharmed. Everyone was restless, knowing they would have to wait until after chag to speak with their loved ones. We all supported each other in the best ways we could. Keeping ourselves distracted, even with Simchat Torah upon us, was an impossible feat.

Immediately after chag, people jumped into action. Communities were organizing collections of military equipment, fundraisers, Tehillim groups, challah bakes, bake sales, shiurim and public demonstrations. I did not know where to start—so many causes, each one of which was essential and urgent.

While in my full-on-frenetic-manic-panic mode, my daughter, Yael, asked me how I planned to help and what she can do to help as well. She was aware that her aunt, uncle and 12 cousins were at a kibbutz in the South and that, by the Grace of God, they escaped the tragic fate that their friends and neighbors endured. They were crowded and holed up in a mamad for 11 hours, with young moms and babies, one container of memrach shokolad, and a pail to substitute for a toilet. When they felt safe enough to leave the mamad, they found their car ridden with bullet holes. And that was just the beginning.

Yael, whose father, Avi Ohayon, a”h, was a fighter in the Givati Brigade and wore the same purple beret as our young chayalim are wearing as they work their way into Gaza, wanted to create something that would bring people together to work towards a common goal. Yael is a typical eighth-grade girl at Yavneh Academy, with a full schedule of classes and tests and a busy social life. The two of us put our heads together and decided to organize a weekly get-together with the girls in her grade to do some united act of chesed, kindness, tzedaka or tefillah.

The first week, the girls made personalized videos for their beloved teacher, Arik Nagel, who is currently serving in the army, one of the girl’s uncles and one of the girl’s teachers from Moriah. The videos were received with so much love and excitement. It was really meaningful to them that children 6,000 miles away were thinking of them.

The next week, we had a bake sale, in which several of the eighth-graders participated. We raised $2,200 that evening and donated it to a local group that collects and sends military equipment to army bases in urgent need.

Last week, we had a challah bake, which was very well attended and very much enjoyed by the girls. Before we began, we read aloud the מי שברך for our soldiers and a special prayer for the safe return of the hostages. The girls went around the table, each reciting a name of a hostage. Reading each name of the young, the old, the brothers, the sisters, the parents, the women, the men, the girls and the boys, made it much more personal and meaningful for the girls, as well as the moms who hosted and attended. The girls separated the challah, made the bracha and began the fun part of the evening by shaping and adding various flavors to their challahs.

It’s rather easy to do mitzvahs like these on your own. But the point Yael wanted to make was that creating unity and solidarity among friends and classmates, and doing mitzvot as a unified group, can be even more compelling and special. It’s a time when everyone is on even playing fields, no drama or judgment, working towards a common goal—that is, the unity and survival of the Jewish people and the preservation of the land of Israel as we know it.

I hope that the eighth-grade weekly initiative will continue and that it will teach Yael and her classmates what it means to be part of a larger community and that we each can play a role in the destiny of our people.

Erica Ohayon is a lawyer and lives in Teaneck with her three children.