Before he was struck by an anti-tank missile, Ilan Ochayon worked as an instructor with an organization that helps rehabilitate disabled people, wounded soldiers, and terror victims through sports. Now, with a leg badly injured by shrapnel, he must undergo rehabilitation himself.

Eitan Hermon was a farmer and a marathon runner until a bomb destroyed his right foot.

But through special grants funded by the people of MetroWest, they and 22 other Israeli victims of the Second Lebanon War will receive special aid to help restore parts of their shattered lives.

The 25 recipients are the first in a series of war victims who have applied for funds provided by the Leah & Edward Frankel Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest New Jersey.

The Frankels pledged $200,000 and issued a challenge to individuals in the Jewish community for another $200,000. Thus far, some $120,000 of the $400,000 has been given to wounded veterans and families of men killed in combat.

“It was great that the community stepped up to the plate so fast,” said Edward Frankel, speaking from his winter home in Jupiter, Fla.

Stacy Sulman, associate director of the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest, is administering the fund from foundation offices at United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ on the Aidekman campus in Whippany.

“Our goal is to help as many people as we can,” said Sulman. “Most Israeli soldiers get some aid from the Ministry of Defense if they are injured, and their families get aid if the soldier has fallen. But that aid doesn’t cover getting their lives back on track.”

Sulman said injuries prevent some of the young men from returning to school or getting jobs.

“This will help them by paying rent and their first year of college. At this point we are covering their first year of needs, and then inviting them to reapply if they are still in need,” she said. “They are severely disabled and can’t get money elsewhere.”

That fact disturbs Frankel, who screened all the applications.

“Israel now has plenty of wealthy people; I’d like to see them step up to the plate,” Frankel said. “If I ever do a matching fund again, I want the matching to be done by Israelis.”

Scott Newman, a North Caldwell business consultant who is active in the UJC MetroWest Israel and Overseas Committee, had a firsthand look at some of the problems faced by soldiers and their families.

Newman dispensed checks to seven of the recipients he met with in Ramat Gan on March 13.

“When I was listening to these kids, I had to fight back the tears,” he told NJJN a week after returning. “These kids were so together. They were very mature in the way they described what had happened to them and how they were injured.”

To Newman, the stories were devastating.

“Each kid would tell me how he got wounded. One was in a tank, and he went to look up when a missile struck. His legs got injured, but had he not been looking up, it would have gotten his torso and he would have been killed. There was an officer who got a lot of shrapnel in the back of his head.”

Among the others who are receiving grants ranging from $2,000 to $7,000 are Gideon Goldenberg, who was comatose for four months and has endured five operations on his leg and intestines; Roy Greeluck, who is wheelchair-bound after being shot in the back; and Orel Kabelo, who was hospitalized for three months with myriad broken bones and still suffers from balance and hearing problems.

They and the others will be assisted by foundation funding, which will supply such things as laptop computers, tuition assistance, and aid to families in distress.

Frankel plans to meet with some of the grant recipients during a trip to Israel planned for June.

The Jewish Agency for Israel, the Maccabi World Union, and the Israel Crisis Management Center are accepting applications from wounded veterans and grieving families.

“It takes time for some of these applications to come in,” explained Sulman.

Once submitted, the applications are turned over to Amir Shacham, the UJC MetroWest emissary in Israel, then shipped to New Jersey to be reviewed by a four-member committee at MetroWest.

Sulman also sits on the committee.

“We are still collecting applications. We just started reviewing the first ones in January,” she said.

Newman said many of the wounded already appear to be healing.

“These kids seemed remarkably comfortable,” he said. “They didn’t seem to be bitter. They were so articulate. They were proud of what they did, and it was unfortunate that they had to be hurt.”