Hearts and Crafts

Sandy Eller

To the average person, a skein of yarn, is well, a skein of yarn, something that your grandmother might use to make an afghan blanket or a baby sweater. But for Stacey Betsalel, that same skein of yarn became a much-needed commodity that would provide comfort and purpose to so many in the wake of the October 7th terror attacks.

Like so many others, Stacey rolled up her sleeves and got involved with the relief effort as Israel found itself at war. Packing duffel bags with gear for members of the Israel Defense Forces was definitely a rewarding experience for the Bergenfield, New Jersey mother of four. Still, after a few weeks, she found herself looking for a project that focused more on morale-boosting. She started concentrating her efforts on sending board games, thermals, care packages, and supplies for evacuees and families who had a loved one serving on miluim. But seeing a post on the Hotel Brigade WhatsApp chat had Stacey shifting gears.

“There was a social worker in Tel Aviv named Shirel Buchler who was requesting yarn for Tel Aviv knitting circles,” Stacey says. “She had bought yarn and needles and was giving them to the evacuees, because they were bored and sitting around in hotels doing nothing.”

Stacey was all in. She understood that people who were unable to return to their homes had undergone serious trauma and were likely suffering from depression, making it important for them to find something that would occupy both their thoughts and their hands. Stacey messaged Buchler, telling her that she would be happy to collect yarn and send it to Israel, not realizing that she was embarking on a project that was about to take off in ways she could have never imagined.

Yarn drives in Bergenfield gave way to similar efforts in Monsey, hosted by Rivky Kaufman, a friend of Stacey’s. Once word got out that Stacey was collecting yarn to send to knitting circles in Israel, people started dropping off bags of yarn at her house. An Amazon wish list created in conjunction with the crafters of the Beautifully Jewish Facebook group yielded even more contributions, with the very first post on Stacey’s Yarn Yisrael Chai Instagram page showing a massive Amazon delivery bin filled with bags and boxes sitting on her front porch.

Circle of Love

Knitting circles have been around for hundreds of years, with the age-old craft serving as a platform for social interaction. Conversation flows as stitches migrate from one needle to another, their interconnecting loops evolving into something magical, both in the finished product and the camaraderie that is formed. Stacey estimates that more than thirty knitting circles were formed in the hotels that were housing evacuees after October 7th. The process of using knitting needles and crochet hooks to create hats, sweaters, blankets, and other items proved to be a rewarding outlet for those who had been displaced.

“The therapeutic aspect can’t be overstated,” says Stacey. She explains that participating in these circles can impact physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being. In addition to lowering heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormone levels, the repetitive motion of the needles leads to a calm and meditative state, improves fine motor skills, and distracts from pain and trauma. “Their faces light up when they see all the yarn, colors, and fibers.  It’s exciting and a cure for the boredom many are experiencing,” she adds.

Stacey’s yarn donations have made their way to various hotels, including the Dan Boutique, Theatron, and Prima Park, all in Jerusalem, the Dead Sea’s Royal Hotel, and others in Tel Aviv, Tiberias, and Eilat. While hotels were housing evacuees from towns near Israel’s borders in both the north and the south in the earlier stages of the war, as time went by and the situation stabilized in some locations, most of those from southern areas were able to go home. Leaving the hotels was an emotional experience for the evacuees. Some of them set up a knitting circle in a Sderot community center when they got home in order to be able to continue with their needlework.

It is hard to fathom that displaced persons have been living in hotels for more than a year, but this reality clearly illustrates the need for the knitting circles and all the support they offer. Seeing donations pour in is an irrefutable reminder that there are people in the world who are still thinking about them, and this makes all the difference in the world to the evacuees.

“Thank you so much for bringing the yarn,” said one Dead Sea knitting circle member in a video posted to Yarn Yisrael Chai’s Instagram page. “I am happy; it makes me feel serene. I was feeling depressed, but now that you brought the yarn to all of us, all my friends, it makes us happy and feel comforted. Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you.”

One story Stacey heard was of a woman who was under chronic stress after being displaced.  She had survived an attack on her Kibbutz on 10/7 but was suffering from insomnia. She told her hotel social worker that before she learned to knit, she would stay up all night, chain-smoking.  “She shared that now when she can’t sleep, she picks up her needles and yarn, and it calms and focuses her,” says Stacey. “The knitting gave her a place to put her mind.”

“Now, when she wakes up, she picks up her knitting,” Stacey shares. “Somehow, knitting just gives you a place to put your mind.”

The knitting circle at Prima Park provided a much-needed dose of inspiration for 87-year-old Emmanuel Rochlin, a Holocaust survivor originally from Belarus. Rochlin had been refusing to get out of his bed for months after he and his family were evacuated from their homes in Northern Israel at the end of 2023. Eventually, Rochlin started coming downstairs and watching the knitting circle. After being asked if he wanted to join the group, Rochlin explained that he didn’t know how to knit or crochet but had taught handiwork and knew macrame himself. 

“It turned out that he was a macrame expert,” recalls Stacey. “They had someone build macrame stands, and he taught all the women how to macrame. It gave him a new lease on life.”

Needing Needles

Those initial drives to collect yarn to be sent to Israel were just the beginning for Stacey, who runs Yarn Yisrael Chai out of her garage. Those supplying her with yarn have been very generous, including a company that delivered three pallets of donated yarn directly to her home. The only costs she has shouldered are EL AL’s $50 per bag fee and the actual price of the duffel bags.

Stacey’s shipments didn’t take long to expand beyond yarn, needles, project bags, and accessories. Collaborating with Beautifully Jewish, Ohio’s Beth El Knitzvah Group, San Francisco’s Crochet for a Cause, and Riverdale’s Bayit Connections knitting circle, among others, had Yarn Yisrael Chai receiving donations of gorgeous handmade items. In no time, Stacey’s duffel bags were filled with yarn, hats, adult and infant blankets, baby rompers, Guatemalan worry dolls, squishy toys, stuffed animals, crossbody purses, and regulation IDF knitted hats.

Good-hearted individuals have made it relatively easy for Stacey to get her duffel bags to their destinations. Word of mouth and social media have helped her find volunteers flying out of Newark and JFK airports who were willing to take the duffel bags along with them, with more good Samaritans waiting in Ben Gurion airport in Israel to pick up the bags and deliver them to the right people. The New Jersey-based Yad Leah, which sends high-quality secondhand clothing to Israel, sent ten boxes of Yarn Yisrael Chai’s handknit blankets on the most recent lifts.

On the Israeli side, Stacey has found willing partners on both sides of the equation. She has collaborated with Ayin Tova, whose volunteers teach knitting and crocheting to evacuees. Stacey has also supplied yarn and needles to a healing space in Rishpon dedicated to survivors of the Nova Music Festival and psychiatric and cancer hospitals. She has given out blankets to the Efrat-based Birthday Project, which provides children who have fathers in miluim with everything they need to throw a festive bash on their birthdays. And Yarn Yisrael Chai has also donated baby blankets to Miluima, a project that supports mothers whose husbands are doing reserve duty.

“They wrap them up and make them look like teddy bears, and we have pictures of the babies with the blankets,” says Stacey.

Yarn Yisrael Chai’s donations also support the hostages and their families. Stacey has sent yellow yarn to the Threads of Hope Project, which sells $7 handcrafted yellow ribbons for pets, with all proceeds going to benefit the Hostage Family Forum and the Let Animal Live Shelters in Israel. She has also supplied yarn to Tel Aviv’s Knitting4Hostages, a group that meets weekly to crochet tree-hugging yellow ribbons.

“You name it, we’ve sent it,” observes Stacey.

Yarn Yisrael Chai’s totals since its inception are pretty staggering, even for Stacey. As of this writing, Yarn Yisrael Chai has sent more than $65,000 worth of supplies in 75 duffel bags filled with over 240 blankets, 300 baby hats, and 200 IDF hats.

Stitched Together

The crafting community is all too happy for the opportunity to shower their brothers and sisters in Israel with love. One post on Yarn Yisrael Chai’s Instagram page tells the story of a lone soldier named Tamir from the Nachal Haredi brigade. After losing all his personal belongings while fighting on October 7th, Tamir was injured in Gaza and needed to undergo hand surgery. After hearing his story, Edison, New Jersey blogger and crafter Merri Ukraincik immediately offered to make the injured chayal a lap blanket so that he could have something personal while in rehab. One look at the Instagram picture of a smiling Tamir holding his colorfully striped handmade blanket makes it abundantly clear just how much the gift meant to him.

Members of the Israeli hotel knitting circles have also enjoyed being able to give to others, and Stacey has received several gifts from the evacuees. A photo of crocheted cats in khakis, one stitched with an American flag and the other with an Israeli flag, appear on Yarn Yisrael Chai’s Instagram page with the caption, “These were made by a talented woman from Shlomi in Northern Israel with yarn we sent over and gifted back to me. Speechless! 💙” Others include a crocheted rabbit dressed in a yellow speckled romper with fuzzy red yarn adorning the cuffs and neckline, as well as a pair of macrame owls gifted to her by Rochlin.

Stacey has fond memories of the many hours she spent crocheting blankets and pot holders with her grandmother, and she has been blown away by the generosity of spirit she has seen over the past year. She has also been amazed to see how the many groups and people with whom she collaborates represent the full spectrum of Yiddishkeit, and yet all are united by their commitment to the State of Israel and those who live there.

“This has been an interesting opportunity for me as a frum Jew, to make a kiddush Hashem and bridge the gap between these different populations of Jews, with different observance levels, who are all passionate about Israel,” Stacey observes.

While she is currently a stay-at-home mom, Stacey has found that her years of prior experience as a fundraising and event planning consultant have been helpful since she founded Yarn Yisrael Chai last year.

“Really it is a zechus for me to be doing this,” says Stacey. “I am grateful that Hashem put me here, representing Orthodox Jewry while going into so many diverse communities. I am inspired by how everyone’s Jewish neshamos are so connected to Israel. Seeing how generous and nice people have been has been one of the bright spots since October 7th.”

Sandy Eller is a freelance writer who writes for print and web media outlets and private clients. She can be contacted at sandyeller1@gmail.com.