Last Sunday, we celebrated in Chubeza’s field during our traditional Open Day. Yet this time, after two years of war, we truly celebrated — knowing that the next day, 20 living hostages were set to be released from Hamas captivity.

It was a nerve-wracking day, difficult to wait through as we anticipated what was to come, making the Open Day the perfect way to spend time with you — in the open air, surrounded by the vegetables that loyally accompany us all through the twists and turns of time.
From the moment we began the Open Day preparations and setup, I could already feel us filling with energy and joy. When you began to arrive, with smiling faces and sparkling eyes, our hearts were full.

I am delighted to thank everyone involved:
Thank you to all the dedicated, amazing Chubeza workers — without whom we couldn’t have held the Open Day.
A huge thank you to our amazing team for all their efforts, before and during the great Open Day event: Setting up the canopy, leveling the ground in the circle, preparing cold water, harvesting vegetables, and so very much more.

• Thank you to Einat, our champion, who had a helping hand in everything — organizing the vegetable sales and managing them with efficiency, precision, and grace.
• Thank you to Nant, Maya, Emmanuel, Sarah, and Noga who manned the refreshment table — washing, peeling, chopping, and serving fresh vegetables for endless, yummy snacking (and happily encouraging quite a few kids to sample some lesser-known veggies). They also helped prepare the pitas on the saj. Delectable!
• Thank you to Sima, the baker par excellence, who set up a table of amazing pastries — savory, sweet, and everything in between. We hope this marks the beginning of a Sukkot tradition at Chubeza’s Open Day!
• Thank you to Talia and Noga, our creative champs, for leading and manning the extraordinary Art Corner, for giving ready explanations and help to the kids with everything they needed, and for their patience and free spirit when some kids just wanted to scribble on the paper. We’re all for creative freedom...
• Thank you to Gabi, for tirelessly helping with everything, for driving the tractor tours (almost nonstop!) with safety, responsibility, and care.

And of course — thank YOU so much for coming! Plus, a hearty thank you to everyone who introduced themselves. It’s a delight to connect a name to a face and really get to know you, not just through messages or phone calls.

We had a wonderful time, and we hope you did too!

Wishing you a smooth, peaceful return to routine.
And reminding you that we are still waiting for all the hostages to be returned home, to close the circle at last.

Best wishes from all of us at Chubeza