When the World Shrinks to the Size of a Shelter
These days in Israel, our world has gotten smaller again.
Not emotionally smaller — if anything, the opposite. But physically smaller. Families are staying closer to home, closer to shelters, closer to the people they love most. Plans are tentative. Events are postponed. We listen closely for alerts and check the news much more often than we should.
For many organizations, including ours at Jeremy’s Circle, it also means pausing in-person gatherings that are a central part of what we do.
But cancer doesn’t pause for wars.
The children and teens we support already live with a level of uncertainty that most adults struggle to comprehend. Their families are coping with cancer or the loss of a parent to cancer. Medical appointments still happen. Treatments continue. The emotional rollercoaster doesn’t stop because the country is under threat.
If anything, the stress only grows.
And so, like many Israeli organizations have learned to do over the years, from the pandemic to previous conflicts, we adapt. If we can’t gather physically, we gather online. Last week, hundreds of children from Jeremy’s Circle families participated in a virtual Purim costume contest, sending in photos of creative costumes — some real, some designed using AI tools. It was joyful, funny, wildly imaginative, and exactly the kind of distraction children deserve in difficult times.
Seeing the laugh-out-loud pictures come in, including kids dressed as washing machines, arcade games, anime characters, and more (all posted here), was a reminder that kids will find ways to create joy if we give them the space to do it.
Tuesday, we hosted an online cookie-baking workshop. Families logged in from kitchens across the country, mixing dough and laughing as they made their cookies together. And on Wednesday, we hosted a comic evening for the teens and adults.
None of these replaces the feeling of being together in the same room. But they do something equally important: they remind these kids that they are not alone.
That is the essence of Jeremy’s Circle.
The organization was born nearly two decades ago from a simple realization: when a parent has cancer, children often feel isolated. Their friends may not understand what they are going through. Their parents are overwhelmed. Their world suddenly becomes very different.
Jeremy’s Circle creates a community where those children can meet others who understand — through activities, friendships, and shared experiences.
Over the years, we’ve hosted hundreds of in-person events across Israel. But we’ve also learned something valuable: connection doesn’t depend on geography. Sometimes it just requires showing up, even if “showing up” means clicking a Zoom link.
Which brings me to something important for readers outside Israel.
If you have friends or family here, now is a good time to check in. Send a message. Make a call. Join a video chat. Share a silly meme. Israelis are remarkably resilient, but resilience does not mean people don’t need support. Especially families already carrying heavy burdens.
And if someone needed you before the war, chances are they need you even more now.
Connection matters.
Even when we can’t gather in the same room.
Especially then.
