Dressed in their finest, the first grade girls from Chabad-Lubavitch of Ashdod’s elementary school received their first prayer books during an annual ceremony at the Tzemach Tzedek Synagogue in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Together with their parents and teachers, the students then walked to the Western Wall to pray.

Families in the coastal city had been looking forward to the occasion as a welcome respite from the threat of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. …