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Throughout our trip, not only did we visit communities that were attacked on October 7th, help with Chesed projects, interact with and encourage soldiers, visit and speak with citizens directly impacted by the war, we also heard from outstanding experts who helped us appreciate what Israel is now confronting. Each encounter offered us a better understanding of what is transpiring in Israel.
On Wednesday morning, the second day of our Mission, after davening at the Kotel (which is relatively empty from visitors) we began our day at the yet to be opened Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem, where the “Thank Israeli Soldiers” volunteer project is located. There we were briefed by one of the heads of the project, Tuvia Elbaum. Elbaum was a former special forces fighter and in “normal” life runs a startup called “Zuta.” From the start of the War, Tuvia stopped working at his startup and devoted his entire time to running this massive undertaking. Tuvia is responsible for checking with the army exactly what is needed, where the items must be sent, and the exact quantities required. Via this extensive vetting process only items honestly needed by the IDF are purchased directly from the accepted vendors.
Tuvia introduced us to Chagit Moshe, the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, who came to speak to our group and explain how the city is addressing the multifaceted needs of the evacuees from the south and north that are now housed in Jerusalem. Even in normal times being a Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem is an enormous responsibility, but now during the war it requires a 24/7 commitment.
After assembling care packages for the soldiers, the group traveled to Yeshivat Shaalvim, where Yeshivat Hesder Sderot is currently housed following their evacuation after October 7th. We met with two wives of Kollel members that are now in the army and heard from them all about the challenges of running lives without a husband and father at home. The heroic commitment of the citizens to keep life at the Homefront as “normal” as possible is truly inspiring.
From Shaalvim we traveled to the Tel Aviv region and visited one of the world’s leading Rehabilitation hospitals, Beit Levinstein. Beit Levinstein isn’t new to us as some twenty years ago, during the Intifada, we visited the hospital as well. It was that visit that inspired our daughter, Dina, to organize the Shul’s famous Shavuot bake sales helping medical facilities serving the wounded.
At Beit Levinstein we were briefed by an American doctor, Dr. Bornstein, who now lives in Israel and is one of the leading physicians at the hospital. He told us that he feels enormous personal satisfaction that he is able to contribute in a concrete fashion helping the wounded. Right after hearing from Dr. Bornstein, we met a soldier, wounded during the battle at Kibbutz Be’eri, who sustained serious wounds to his left leg. He couldn’t stop telling us how grateful he was to be receiving the finest care possible.
Hearing stories from inspiring people continued as we traveled to what is known as “Hostage Square” in the center of Tel Aviv. There families of the hostages have set up camp and people come day and night to offer their encouragement. While we were there, the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva High School from Givat Shmuel came to daven Mincha, sing songs of faith and unity while showing empathy for the hostages and their families. We joined their circle and prayed that our collective presence would help the families know that we really care.
While visiting Hostage Square, Rabbi Leo Dee, whose wife and two daughters were killed in a terrorist attack this past Pesach, came to speak to us. He described his own encounter with tragedy and his determination not to allow it to destroy his life and the rest of his family.
With that encouragement, we visited the headquarters where a massive and very impressive operation on behalf of the hostages is located. In an office building, transformed for this sole purpose, we saw hundreds of regular civilians leave their businesses in order to devote their time solely to promoting the freeing of the hostages. The extensive network that has been created by these citizens is very impressive and inspiring. It is hard to imagine so many people putting their lives on hold for the war effort, but this is what we constantly saw throughout the country.
On Thursday we started the day by hearing a presentation from Eliana Mandell of the Koby Mandell Foundation. She spoke about the trauma that now faces so many individuals, families, and the nation as a whole, who have been directly impacted by the War. Eliana lost her older brother, Koby, who was murdered by terrorists when he was only 12 years old. In his memory Eliana’s parents created the Koby Mandell Foundation and Camp to help families and children cope after a tragedy.
The most emotional experience of the entire Mission was our visit to Har Herzl, the national military cemetery. There, we were joined by Rabbi Sobel and Rabbi David Fine of Modi’in, co-Directors of an organization called Baraki, which trains Israeli rabbis in how to serve as pastoral community leaders. The rabbis shared their personal stories of comforting bereaved families. While visiting the new graves of soldiers, we saw a high school teacher lead her students from grave to grave recounting details she either experienced first-hand as their teacher or read in the newspaper. She shared how special each soldier was, impressing upon all the enormous tragedy of their death. We also witnessed a heartbreaking scene of a young widow sitting on the ground at the foot of her husband’s grave. We learned that the couple was married only one year. This sad scene left all of us with tears in our eyes.
With this image in our hearts, we drove to Modi’in where we paid a Shiva visit to a non-religious family who immigrated from Russia over thirty years ago. The family lost their son and brother, a soldier who was an army medic, and was killed while trying to help wounded soldiers in Gaza. The father told us that he finds comfort in knowing that his son was able to help a wounded soldier survive before his son was killed by a Hamas missile. The presence in the Shiva home of both religious and non-religious visitors, many just like us, who did not know the soldier or his family, perform the Mitzvah of comforting the mourners, was indicative of the unity now present all over the country and Jewish world.
We concluded our mission by a visit, suggested to us by Asher Hoffman, who made Aliya with his family last year, to the strategically important Shomron district of the country. The Shomron is literally in the middle of the country, only a mere 15-minute drive to Petah Tikva.
We started in the settlement of Barkan at the headquarters of the Shomron Municipality. We had the privilege of hearing the very devoted and impressive Governor of the Shomron, Yossi Dagan, speak about the safety issues the Shomron is now encountering. Yossi literally is putting in 20+ hour days overseeing that the communities of the Shomron are safe. After listening to Yossi describe the immediate need of purchasing the most up to date rifles (made in Israel), six rifles, costing $2000 each, were pledged from members of our group. This was our small contribution to help these courageous Jews protect themselves and the rest of the county.
Yossi arranged for us to conclude our visit, by witnessing and joining reserve soldiers as they practiced shooting at a shooting range out in the field nearby Barkan. For the first time in our lives many of us were taught how to shoot a gun, giving us an appreciation of how important self-defense is for the Jewish community during this time of crisis.
It is my hope that these descriptions give you an appreciation of how important and impactful our mission was, demonstrating our collective concern and attachment to Israel during its battle for survival against our enemies. We will continue to organize solidarity missions as long as the need exists. Please stay tuned for information about our next mission being planned for the last week in December.
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