With rockets firing continually into southern Israel from Gaza since last Friday, schools throughout the region are closed as children huddle in bunkers with their families and shell-shocked neighbors.

But in several locations, Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries are working hard to help relieve the tension in their communities. They’re not only providing assistance to anyone in need, but they’re also making sure that although the schoolhouses are shuttered, children can have some semblance of normalcy.

“We’re very preoccupied in making sure that the children who learn in our schools are not hurt psychologically,” Rabbi Mendel Lieberman, executive director of Chabad of Ashkelon, said on Sunday evening. “Many families have taken their children out of the city.

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“But for those that have stayed, many of our lessons are now being held in the safe areas and bomb shelters,” continued the rabbi, whose educational system is one of the largest Chabad-Lubavitch run public school complexes in the country. “The tension is very high.”

Still, Lieberman was thankful that the apprehension hadn’t reached the level of two years ago, prior to Israel’s Cast Lead operation against the Gaza terrorists. According to the rabbi, this is because Israel is now better able to respond to the threat with the Iron Dome anti-rocket system.

On Monday, though, the situation escalated, with dozens of Grad missiles and Qassam rockets expanding their range and hitting the town of Gedera, only 17 miles southeast of Tel Aviv. In Ashdod, two people sustained light to moderate shrapnel wounds.

There are more than 1,500 students in Ashkelon’s Chabad school system, Lieberman said.

“Many children are very, very nervous, which is why it’s so important to give support to our staff. We’re calling for people to sponsor toys or games for children who are housebound,” he detailed. “Our plan for Tuesday is to take the children to the central village Kfar Chabad for the day, if the situation remains the same, in order to lower the tension.”

Rabbi Zalman Gorelik, director of the Chabad Center of Beersheva, confirmed that the schools have been closed. Fewer people have been attending synagogue because they’re fearful of going outside, he added.

Rabbi Menachem Gurelick, director of one of Ashkelon’s many Chabad Houses, agreed that his “first priority is to calm people down, not to panic.” A father of nine, he said it was particularly difficult to reassure his four-year-old daughter.

Chabad has been organizing regular telephone calls to people who live alone, he said. “It’s very difficult, especially for the elderly among them.”

As often happens in a time of crisis, several people have been seeking spiritual advice; a number of them have approached Chabad Houses to check that their religious items are intact and to recite Psalms.

“This being a difficult time, it brings people closer,” the rabbi said.