An intense visit among a nation’s unsung heroes

Stanley Stone,
the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey.

Late last month, when the officers of our federation met in a special session to develop our Israel Emergency Campaign plan, one of the key components was to continue to maintain travel to Israel, even during these difficult times. Thus, an important underpinning of our IEC efforts was for a delegation to travel to Israel to see the situation first hand and to meet with residents of northern Israel who had been under a constant barrage of shelling for more than a month. The overall objective was to express solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the North and let them know they are not alone.

On Aug. 6, nine individuals from our federation left on this mission. While we did not all know each other and we came from different backgrounds and with different perspectives, we quickly became a close-knit group, united in our concern for Israel and desire to want to help. Everyone that participated in this intense three-day trip added a very special aspect. It was truly an honor to be part of it.

The morning our group departed for our Solidarity Mission, we learned the terrible news that 11 reserve soldiers had been killed by a Katyusha rocket attack in northern Israel. As we boarded the plane that afternoon, we learned that Haifa was attacked again. It was against that backdrop that we embarked on our mission of unity with our fellow Jews.

The mission offered scenes and images unlike those seen by many of us on previous trips to Israel. We visited Nahariya Hospital, which was functioning fully underground, where it was moved by day two of the war.

In Haifa, we heard the siren alerting everyone to an incoming Katyusha.

In Tirat HaCarmel, we visited a program developed by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee that recruits young adults, ages 18-25, as volunteers to work with children, the handicapped, and senior adults in the community. We visited a center that provides children with a full day of activities in a “safe,” supervised environment. This allows parents to go to work knowing their children are being cared for. On the surface, this looked like a normal summer camp/day-care center filled with children having fun. But everyone knew where the nearest shelter was and how to move out the moment a warning siren went off.

Back in Haifa we saw how a JDC program inaugurated by the federation that we funded in Jerusalem during the matzav through a special federation grant has now been duplicated in Haifa. The Supportive Community Program provides special communication links between a command center and disabled people. We met Yeva and her daughter Alona, who came to Israel in 1992 and were injured in a bus bombing in 2001. Both were distraught over how they would get their medicines, since nearly all pharmacies (as well as other businesses) in Haifa were closed. We also met Nissim, an unsung hero who serves as the abba (father) for this supportive community. He and his team of social workers are constantly out in the field, checking that shut-ins are safe and helping so many make it through this very challenging time. Nissim made the necessary arrangement for Yeva and Alona to get their medicines, even as the rockets fell.

These are but a fraction of the myriad scenes of displacement, sacrifice, and above all, hope and determination that we encountered in our brief visit — a visit whose lessons I and so many of the participants are still assimilating.

We are now in midst of the so-called seven weeks of nechama (consolation) following Tisha B’Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple) in Jerusalem. The prophet Isaiah gave us words of comfort after the destruction of the Temple. With this idea in mind, there are three important reminders I’ve gotten from this experience.

The spirit of Israelis. It seems like only yesterday that terrorist bombs were going off practically daily in Israel. From September 2000 to 2004, people wondered if Israelis could withstand the constant attacks. They did, and they came away even stronger. That was the same determination we found in the people we met from the North. As so many told us, “Since Israel left Lebanon, we were busy planting seeds of peace — tourism, new roads, and places to live. The other side was planning for death and destruction.”

Visits to Israel. During the matzav, American Jewry all but abandoned the idea of visiting Israel. Israelis have never asked us to do anything that would put our lives at risk. All the mission participants saw firsthand how the human contact made a real difference. It made our fellow Jews feel they were not alone. We must resolve to maintain that contact and to have a constant flow of trips to Israel. Now more than ever. Bottom line: Family is there in the good times and must be there in the not-so-good times.

Nechama. Our federation has established an Israel Emergency Campaign. Now we must come together and support a strong centralized campaign effort that will be able to make the greatest impact. I know there are many important causes that support Israel. But the job ahead will require the Israeli government and private philanthropy here and in Israel to join forces, in order to make a true impact. Of immediate concern for the day after the war, is dealing with posttraumatic stress of the children. The Israeli school system in the North is going to need additional school psychologists and social workers to deal with this issue. The economic damage will be immense; the attacks left many homeless. Our job is to give nechama to our Israeli brothers and sisters in every way possible.

This coming week we will mark Rosh Hodesh Elul, the last month before a new year. The moon is often compared as a symbol of the Jewish people. At the beginning and end of a month the moon is difficult to see, yet during the middle of the month it is full and provides light. Our history has been wrought with ups and downs. Yet no matter what the challenges, we, the Jewish people, never disappear. Our greatest strength is our unity. Now is the time for all Jews to close ranks and support the people of Israel in this challenging time and support the federation’s Israel Emergency Campaign. As we begin our process of teshuva (return), let us realize the wonderful gift we have with a flourishing State of Israel. May this coming year be a year where we see the beauty of a full moon on a daily basis.