Dina Brookmeyer of West Hartford was among the women who read moving passages at the "Back to School" fundraiser benefiting the Fogel children.

Some thirty people turned out on Tuesday, August 16 for a “Back to School” fundraising event benefiting the three surviving children of the Fogel family, who were orphaned when their parents, Rabbi Udi and Ruti Fogel, and three siblings were brutally murdered by Palestinians in March, while the family slept in their home in Itamar on Israel’s West Bank. The fundraiser, held at the home of Judie and Lal Patel of West Hartford, is intended to help with the needs of the children: Tamar, 12, Ehud, 8, and Yishai, 3.
The evening’s program, “Voices of Pain- Voices of Hope” included the screening of a TV interview with Tamar Fogel, as she sat shiva for her family. In addition to readings by several of those present, Judie Patel read a personal letter from Itamar mayor Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith who addressed “the caring women of Greater Hartford”.
Fran Wittenberg of West Hartford, added her moving account of her visit to Itamar last Passover. Noting the sense of community unity she discovered in the bereaved town, she said,  “Everyone is reaching out.  The country came together.”
For information contact Judie Patel at (860) 236-4178.