Yemin Orde, Israel (special) -- "Look what I have from your city, San Diego," my cousin, Miriyam Ernst, told my wife, Nancy, and me on a visit to her home here earlier this month. 

She brought out a stack of children's drawings that had been presented to the students of her second grade class in the school of nearby Kibbutz Nir Etzion. "These were brought by a teacher from the Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School"--Margalit Frydman, she said with a big smile.  It was a coincidence, pure and simple. Though I am well acquainted with the headmaster of Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School--Rabbi Simcha Weiser--and other members of the school's staff, I had no idea that the Soille students had written to Miriyam's class, and they had no idea that Miriyam was my cousin.  The drawings and letters of concern had been prompted by a fire, believed to have been started by an arsonist, which had destroyed 22 homes shortly after Simchat Torah.

ISRAELI TEACHER - Miryam Ernst, a second grade teacher at Kibbutz Nir Etzion, shows some of the drawings her class received from the Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School in San Diego.

Dwellings burned not only in Kibbutz Nir Etzion but also in the neighboring artists' village of Ein Od. 

 The communities--along with Yemin Orde, which is a live-in school catering to foreign students in Israel--all are on Mount Carmel, near Haifa. Miriyam's father, Zvi, teaches computer science at Yemin Orde and the family lives with him on the campus. 

	Miriyam's brother, Johny, took time from his normal job as an Israeli customs official in the Port of Haifa to help fight the fire. He spent hours on the line, suffering burns on his hands as well as having water and foam dumped on him from an airplane which also had been enlisted to fight the blaze.  Together the brother and the sister pored over the letters with me. One, signed by a Soille student named Rafael,said: "I am sad that the kibbutz burned; I hope you get a new home soon. Shalom.
CARING - Students at Soille San Diego Hebrew Day School displaydrawings and posters they made to comfort students at Kibbutz Nir Etzion.Fires destroyed some structures on the Mount Carmel-area kibbutz shortly after Simchat Torah.

"Joshua F. drew a picture of a house, and wrote: "I hope you get a new house." Shaina Stein wrote: "I am very sorry for you guys," and not only signed her name, but gave her phone number in San Diego. 

An unsigned artwork from another student showed everyone running from the fire and children being saved. 

A student named Baracha said, "I am very sorry that the kibbutz got burned down. I hope you get well soon and get new stuff." 

Cousin Miriyam wanted the Soille children to know that the entire kibbutz did not burn down, only some of the structures. Further, she said, she wanted the Soille pupils to know that "all the children were very happy that they were thinking about us." 

The Israeli students sent back pictures with Frydman. One drawing said "Hi, my house is not burned. Bye. bye. I live in Kiryat Carmel." 

Another, signed by Michoel, 11, said: "I am happy to know that children living so, so far away are asking about us. I guess this is what it means to be Jewish." 

Back in San Diego, Frydman, who teaches Hebrew language, said that news of the fire had "awakened in our children their sense of connection to fellow Jews and to people in need." 

She said the correspondence has led to ongoing letter writing and sharing of experiences among the Israeli and American children. 

The American children learned not only about the fire but also about how "children their own age, who study in school the same subjects, the same Torah portions, who share with them the destiny of the Jewish people, were forced to live in temporary trailers and to attend school in makeshift classrooms," a Soille spokesperson said. 

Soille San Diego Hebrew Day Sschool has a derech eretz program emphasizing character building. Education for parents includes programs on how to raise caring and responsible children. "This tragedy galvanized the srands of good character within the student body, and built bridges between these children which span the great distance," a spokesperson said.