In Israel, army of ‘can do’ volunteers fills void left by government

As he recounts the horrors he and his family witnessed at their home in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz along the border with the Gaza Strip, Maor Moravia puts the thumb and index finger of one hand to his eyes, as if to blot out what they have seen.

But then the web programmer wipes his eyes and surveys the sunny garden, the children playing, the food and clothing free for the taking, all arrayed before him at his family’s temporary home at the Shefayim Kibbutz Hotel north of Tel Aviv.

“The people of Israel are great; they cradle us with a lot of love,” he says. “We will always, always be so grateful for what they are doing for us.”

Mr. Moravia and his wife and two children are the beneficiaries of an outpouring of support and care that Israel’s civil society mobilized within