“She brings the bereaved families from the darkness to the light, which is especially symbolic for Hanukkah, the Festival of Light,” says Tzur Daboosh, chairman of Klil Industries. Daboosh is referring to Irit Oren Gunders, founder and head of Ohr Lamishpachot, a non-profit organization that assists bereaved parents of fallen IDF soldiers in the long and continuous process of returning to an active and productive life. Oren Gunders, in Daboosh’s estimation, is a true Hanukkah Hero.
Daboosh, who, since 2001, has chaired Klil Industries, one of Israel’s leading designers and manufacturers of advanced aluminum windows and door systems, notes that Klil was one of Ohr Lamishpachot’s earliest and largest donors when it began providing financial assistance to the organization in 2010.
“Irit Oren Gunders succeeds with great skill and diligence, meeting and speaking with bereaved families, bringing them out of the bad place they are in,” says Daboosh. “After the tragedy they have experienced, they are in great darkness and have lost the will to live.”
Ohr Lamishpachot, which was founded by Oren Gunders in 2008, today assists 13,000 bereaved parents, brothers, and sisters of these families in more than twenty different projects, including a scholarship program for siblings of fallen IDF soldiers. The organization also takes bereaved families on trips abroad, helping to bring light and enjoyment into their lives in the face of the tragedies they have suffered.
“This year,” says Daboosh, “the work of Ohr Lamishpachot became even more vital because of the many soldiers who have fallen in the course of the war. Ohr Lamishpachot succeeds without receiving any assistance from the Israeli government. The organization subsists on private donations from private individuals and corporations. “Irit Oren Gunders is our Hanukkah hero for her efforts during the war,” says Daboosh.
Klil Industries is located in Karmiel, which was the focus of many Hezbollah attacks in the war.
Daboosh adds that many of the 360 employees at Klil - from managers to staff - were called in and joined their reserve IDF units over the past year.
Daboosh says that another Hanukkah Hero of his is Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz, z”l, who served in the 75th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade and was stationed at the Nahal Oz military base next to the kibbutz. On October 7, Leibovitz, a member of the tank crew commanded by Daniel Perez, z”l, heroically battled and eliminated Hamas terrorists outside the base before he fell in battle. Perez himself was killed on that day, and his body is still being held by Hamas.
Connecting the theme of both of Daboosh’s Hanukkah Heroes, Tomer’s parents, Shay and Keren, and his sisters, Noam and Lior, have received significant assistance from Ohr Lamishpachot in the past year.
Hanukkah celebrates the bravery of the ancient Maccabees, who defeated the Syrian-Greeks. Irit Oren Gunders, who has rehabilitated bereaved families, and Tomer Leibovitz, z”l who fought with bravery and distinction, are, in the eyes of Tzur Daboosh, modern-day Maccabees.
This article was written in cooperation with Klil