"The girl stopped talking": Parents of toddlers from the "nursery of horrors" left alone with the consequences
Even after the abuse of 14 toddlers was exposed and the caregivers were sent to prison, the parents still cannot breathe a sigh of relief. "The girl was beaten and suddenly there is screaming at night. She cuts off contact with her surroundings," said the father of four-year-old M., who is forced to pay for her treatment out of his own pocket: "Chabad disconnected the phone, they didn't even ask for forgiveness."
Four months after the court sentenced Shita Amashu and Oria Bidush to prison, the caregivers convicted of assaulting toddlers at the Chabad nursery in Kiryat Gat, the parents say they are left to deal with the consequences for their children alone.
"Chabad disconnected the phone," accused David, whose 4-year-old daughter M. has experienced a regression in speech and behavior since she was abused at the nursery. "I saw it on the cameras. She was beaten, slapped in the face, and kicked in the back. They threw her onto a mattress and covered her with a blanket like a corpse," he described in a conversation with ynet.
During the time she was at the nursery, he said, they noticed marks on M.'s body - and received false explanations: "They told us 'she fell', 'she fought with another girl', 'we forgot to tell you'. When we came to pick her up, everything was with smiles, so we didn't suspect anything." According to him, "We lead a traditional lifestyle and it was important for us to send her to a Chabad nursery because we thought it was a nursery with Jewish values. We moved from Sderot to Kiryat Gat after October 7, M. was two and a half years old then. Now she is experiencing regression, she stopped talking. Before that, she had just started babbling and we were happy that she was starting to communicate. Suddenly she wants a pacifier again, there is screaming in the middle of the night. She sleeps with us in bed and it affects the relationship and the whole house. It's a very difficult feeling."
He described how even the daily behavior of parents can cause M. to react with anxiety: "If you raise your voice a little, the girl goes into shock. Even as an educational act. She does things that endanger herself and it is very difficult for me to scold her. It also creates inequality between her and her siblings. If you tell her 'no', she goes into anxiety and cuts off contact with her surroundings," he said.
But alongside the struggle at home, David also described a feeling of abandonment by Chabad, the operator of the nursery. He told of a complete disconnection in communication, even for the purpose of rehabilitating the children: "I tried to reach the offices physically and encountered a closed door with no answer. They disconnected the phone. On a basic level, I would like to receive an apology first of all, but we are also trying to rehabilitate the family. I put the most precious thing I have with you and there is no emotional regard for it. We are devastated. Everything is damaged and I need a therapeutic envelope for the child. They abandoned us into a black hole, endless chaos. Suddenly you have to pick up the pieces alone. We didn't receive a therapist, not a social worker. Nothing. At the HMO they gave us a psychologist, but not for the child. The state does not fund a psychologist or psychiatrist for a two-and-a-half-year-old (now four). We take her to a speech therapist alone and pay 1,600 shekels a month. She doesn't share with us what is happening to her. You see your child like this and it breaks your heart."
14 children were treated at the nursery, and David described that the 13 other families are experiencing similar consequences. According to him, the parents share similar difficulties and pay for the treatments for their children alone: "We need guidance and support. We ask Chabad to take responsibility and help. To provide professionals who will treat the children. They are an educational network and they didn't even say sorry."
However, the situation is also complicated legally. Attorney Mark Laiserovich, who represents the family and other families, explained that at this stage it is too early to sue Chabad for the damages: "Legally, it is too early. The girl has not reached sufficient maturity to determine what the behavior at the nursery left in her and what damage was caused. We are asking Chabad in the meantime - reach into your pocket and take out money so that people can treat their children," he said.
David even noted that the judge determined at the hearing that the damage to the toddlers will stay with them for a long time, and said: "We are in the month of Elul, before Rosh Hashanah. They simply disappeared and disconnected phones. Disappeared like the worst criminals. This feeling of abandonment is difficult. I am not asking them to turn back time, I am asking them to help us pick up the pieces. They didn't even say sorry."
