"We Enter Homes to Find Pots from Simchat Torah and Refrigerators with Worms"

More and more families from the south are returning home these days, and more families are expected to return in the coming weeks. These should be heartening statistics, but for some, they trigger warnings. This is the case with Yael Lavie.

Yael, a teacher by profession and an event designer, lives in Jerusalem, seemingly far from the south. Yet, for a month and a half, she’s been thinking about the evacuees set to return home, realizing it won't be easy. The homes awaiting them are far from spotless, having been deserted in haste and left untouched since. There's no need to elaborate on their condition.

Challah on the Table and Hot Plates on the Counter

"I have relatives in Sderot," Yael shares, "and shortly after the outbreak of the war, some returned to retrieve various belongings. I heard firsthand about their shock upon seeing how they left their homes and what had transpired in the meantime. It turned out that in their rush to escape, they couldn’t prepare anything, not even cleaning the cereal bowls with milk left on tables with swarms of gnats above them. Suddenly, it dawned on me that people will eventually want to return to their homes, and the sights greeting them would not be inviting. I understood that we must prepare the homes for their return and provide at least the initial cleaning and care."

Yael not only thought about this but decided to take action. For the past month and a half, she has regularly visited Sderot with a team of helpers and supporters. Together, they enter homes and perform the most thorough cleaning jobs. "We focus mainly on the living room and kitchen, as these are the rooms that welcome the family and require the most work," she explains. "We usually don't enter the bedrooms to maintain privacy, but if there's a need or request, we do that as well."

The scenes, according to her, have been very difficult. "There were homes where we saw challah left on the table from Simchat Torah, the havdalah candle, and the wine bottle, and in the yard, succahs still standing. There were homes where we saw hot plates with pots full of food. Because the homeowners left in such a hurry, they just unplugged the hot plates and fled. In many cases, we’ve had to throw not only the worm-infested, mold-filled food but the pots themselves. After two months of untouched food sticking to pots, it can become nearly impossible."

Yael also mentions cases that especially touched her heart, like families whose homes showed they weren't affluent at all, yet their refrigerator was full and stocked with food because they prepared for the holiday. "Most of the products were completely spoiled," she says painfully, "sometimes we had to prepare the family that the fridge itself was spoiled due to the many power outages during the days of war, and in many cases, worms got into the motor and ruined it from within."

A Sense of Fulfillment

How do you reach families and how do they hear about you?

"Initially, we posted in the Sderot residents' Facebook group, but soon it spread, and today people contact us through a dedicated form. At the same time, I also receive inquiries from people offering to volunteer for the cleaning team. I must emphasize that not everyone can join our team because it's important to me that the work is truly efficient and performed by people doing it solely for the cause. Thankfully, we managed to form an excellent team that works efficiently, cleaning several homes a day, and when needed, contacts the tenants to update and hear about specific requests or things to note."

"Yes, we sometimes hear such concerns and of course, we don't demand anyone open their homes for us, only emphasize that we don't enter private rooms, working solely to prepare the home for their arrival. Sometimes they don't even remember how they left the home, and when they understand the situation, they usually consent. By the way, in some cases, we have another issue because evacuees might be in Eilat or the Dead Sea and have no way of giving us the key to access their apartments. In such cases, we need to be very creative, and I must say that the Jewish community showcases its best as we usually quickly find people volunteering to deliver the key to us, allowing us to enter and tend to the apartments."

These days, Yael closely encounters families returning home and meets additional families poised to return. "We meet some on-site and see the great excitement that grips the household after returning to a home they haven't been in for eighty days. I only think about how they would have seen their home if we hadn't arrived first and I gain renewed energy to continue cleaning all the other homes before all residents return."

And personally, how do you find the time for this?

"Since I'm an event designer, I have fewer bookings this period and am therefore free for this mission," she explains simply, "But beyond that, I must admit that cleaning, with all its challenges, creates a sense of addiction, and not only do I say this but everyone in our team does. Despite the extremely hard physical work, and after a month and a half of cleaning, I feel my back is almost broken, it’s also emotionally challenging. But when you leave a home after several hours of polishing it and getting it clean and fragrant, you feel an amazing sense of satisfaction that can't be explained in words. This is also why our volunteers return repeatedly. It's a genuine contribution and an unparalleled feeling."

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