After the murder of Koby, the Mandell family knew immediately that the tragedy of Koby's loss could easily destroy them.

They knew they had to fight against their despair, their pain, their suffering, and the cruelty of Koby's death. The best way, they felt, would be to take the cruelty of Koby's murder and transform it into kindness. They wanted to help people like themselves, struck by terror, be able to return to life, with strength, hope, and healing.

All of the programs that the Koby Mandell Foundation initiate work to bridge the isolation that bereaved children and adults are struck with after the loss of a loved one. All programs provide emotional, physical, and spiritual healing that create a network of support for families in grief.

In this way, the Mandells respond to pain and suffering with a Jewish response -- to build, to grow, to make meaning out of suffering, to choose life and to help others in this mission.

Grief can destroy not just a family, but generations. There are ravaged societies that turn their pain into hate. But that is not the Jewish response. The Koby Mandell Foundation helps families keep their hearts and spirits open. By facing pain with the support and love of others, families can be strengthened, not destroyed. That is the Koby Mandell Foundation's response to terrorism. The terrorists will not win; a network of love and sharing is created in the wake of the terrorists' attempts to destroy the people of Israel.