R&R For The Heart And Soul: Chabad-Style NY Welcome For Wounded Israeli Veterans

A year and a half after the left side of his body was torn head-to-toe by shrapnel in the Gaza war, 23-year-old Ron Lichi was enjoying a relaxing tour of the Empire State Building, the White House and the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s gravesite, among other American tourist destinations.

Lichi, along with nine other soldiers wounded in the Gaza conflict, was in the U.S. for 10 days through a “Belev Echad” (one heart) trip provided by the Chabad Israel Center of the Upper East Side and the Chabad Terror Victims Project. With $100,000 raised purely by Rabbi Uriel Vigler and his wife Shevy from neighborhood donors, the soldiers selected for the trip were able to visit sites in New York City, the Hamptons, Niagara Falls and Washington, D.C.

“The trip has been a very good break from all the treatments and the physical therapies and those kinds of things,” said Lichi, who was a commanding officer in the Golani unit and was hit by friendly fire. “The most important thing for me on this trip was this community — the people who opened up their houses for us. It was amazing to know that there’s support for Israel, even abroad.” Continue reading…