Crochet and carry on: olim stitch hope together

With every stitch, a group of women who have long crocheted and knitted for charity are joining the broken threads of displaced families and soldiers fighting for Israel.

Comprising expats – many South African – and Israelis, the group has made more than 150 blankets for various beneficiaries since 7 October.

“Everybody’s worried,” says the group’s co-ordinator, South African expat Louise Lipschitz. “I don’t know how to describe living through this. You wake up and try your best to get on with it and do what you have to do. In the beginning, you watch the news every hour and then go on your phone to see what’s happening, and eventually, you can’t anymore because you’re so down and bewildered. It’s awful. So, you carry on doing what you have to do for the cause. The whole country, as far as volunteering and helping goes, is amazing. We carry on, crochet, and knit.”

Among the many beneficiaries of the 150 blankets the group has put together are lone soldiers, displaced families, and others impacted by the war. Each of the group’s 37 members knits or crochets squares which are stitched together to make blankets, and then donated to various charities and institutions.

The group started 25 years ago, when one of a group of women chatting at a bowling club suggested they start knitting for charity. The small group met monthly at members’ homes, but grew steadily. It ultimately moved its get-togethers to the hall at retirement home Vera Salomons Centre in Kfar Saba. Some of its residents joined, and today those at the centre still contribute their squares.

A qualified graphic designer who moved to Israel in 1978, Lipschitz retired from her job at Beit Issie Shapiro, Israel’s leading disabilities nongovernmental organisation, eight years ago. Upon retiring, she decided to volunteer for the knitting and crocheting group in spite of her limited knitting abilities. She was later asked to crochet as those skills were in higher demand. The fact that she was left-handed meant that for her, crocheting would be easier than knitting. Determined, Lipschitz soon taught herself to crochet with the help of YouTube videos.

When Lipschitz was asked to take over the running of the group, she was initially reluctant but soon found herself at the helm. “It’s good working with people, although you sometimes have to be a social worker to deal with all these ladies,” she laughs. “Crocheting is a different line of artistic ability, and I love it.” The group expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, with so many stuck at home with little to do.

Among other organisations, Lipschitz frequently collaborates with Telfed (the South African Zionist Federation – Israel) and WIZO (the Women’s International Zionist Organisation) to donate the blankets and is constantly seeking new beneficiaries. “There’s so much need in Israel, people can’t believe it, and that was even before this war,” she says. “We’re making them like a factory.”

Having family involved in the war effort only strengthens her desire to help. Lipschitz’s granddaughters are serving the army, with one in the navy and another providing training for soldiers. “It’s a lot of pressure and stress, but it’s small in comparison to what other people are going through,” she says.

Making blankets has given the group purpose in a tumultuous time, Lipschitz says. “All the ladies say, ‘Thank G-d for our squares and our knitting and knowing that they’re going to soldiers or to people from the south!’”

A member of the group, Annette Samuelson, originally from the then Rhodesia, says she’s always been a “crochet lady”. She also stresses the importance of having a way to help at this time. “I’ve been here about 47 years. The mood is horrendous and it’s heartbreaking,” she says. “We don’t want to watch television anymore. We listen for five minutes, and just switch off. Half the country is in mourning, and the other half is depressed, including children.”

Though she doesn’t have family directly impacted by the war, Samuelson knows of relatives of relatives and friends of friends. “Our granddaughter’s boyfriend’s brother was killed,” she says, sharing one of many examples. “She’s been to numerous funerals, and she’s 18, for G-d’s sake! It’s never ending. My son does hydrotherapy, and one of the workers from the pool was killed. He’s also now treating some soldiers without limbs.”

Crocheting is a small way for Samuelson to lift morale. “We give blankets to people who have moved out of their homes, or whose homes have been destroyed, or they’ve left everything behind and they’re sitting in a hotel – sometimes a family of five in one room. When we get pictures of the kids or parents hugging the blankets, it gives us a wonderful feeling. We can’t go there, so this is what we do.”

South African expat Riva Kasan has been living in Israel for more than 50 years. “Our generation learned to knit, sew, crochet, and embroider,” she says. “As our children grew, we always knitted for them, but they never wore what we made. Then, five years ago, I heard about Louise’s group, and I thought it would be a great outlet for my frustrated love of knitting. It’s been a lot of fun, we do a lot of good.”

It’s also through the group that she’s connected with South African expats for the first time. “Finding a peer group of South Africans who’ve been here for a long time has been rewarding,” she says.

While she hasn’t experienced the impact of the war personally, Kasan describes the trauma the entire country is experiencing in waves. “It’s a mitzvah to be able to contribute, even in a small way,” she says.

“It’s satisfying knowing that something which gives me pleasure can give somebody else a bit of pleasure. That applies to all the beneficiaries of our work, from children in need to battered women to the homeless and those impacted by the war.”