In a relatively short time, so many human interest stories have emanated from the Israel-Hamas war that it is impossible to absorb them all.
Moreover, several of the news stories are more or less identical in all major daily papers and online platforms, but many of the human interest stories vary. Some relate to the atrocities inflicted by Hamas. Some demonstrate that Israel is overflowing with unsung heroes and acts of kindness, while others show the negative side of Israel.
One of the positive stories that was published in Yediot Aharonot had more to do with disturbances from across the northern border. Journalist Israel Moskowitz, who has a knack for finding human interest stories, wrote about Yanai Hasin from Kiryat Shmona, who had been eagerly awaiting the celebration of his bar mitzvah. When the security situation in the North threatened the safety of the residents of Kiryat Shmona, many of them, including the Hasin family, were evacuated to student dormitories in the Jezreel Valley College, where some of the evacuees from the Gaza border area had also been accommodated. It seemed to Yanai that his bar mitzvah would not take place after all, and he was very sad and depressed.
His mother, Liat, told a few people that he had been scheduled to celebrate his bar mitzvah that week, and how unhappy he was to miss out. Several of the temporary residents decided that he would have his bar mitzvah after all, and with the help of the Afula Municipality, local restaurants and pastry shops provided a pro bono celebration. Tnuva joined in and sent dairy products, and on Friday of last week, Yanai read his Torah portion, Bereshit (Genesis), from a Torah scroll that had been brought to the makeshift synagogue in the main hall of the college.
Relatives and friends were present, as was Afula Mayor Avi Alkabetz. The sound of shofars and darbuka drums rang out, and in the final analysis, due to good-hearted people, Yanai’s bar mitzvah exceeded all expectations. He could not have been happier.
Heartwarming stories amid Israel-Hamas war
■ ANOTHER STORY that warms the heart is that of United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Penina Assulin, a resident of Netivot, who was set to celebrate her wedding last week. However, due to the security situation in southern Israel, she and her fiancé, Pinchas Koren, were forced to cancel the event, as well as their agreement with the banquet hall and the various other suppliers of goods and services.
On hearing about this, United Hatzalah president and founder, Eli Beer, immediately took it upon himself to support the couple by orchestrating an alternative wedding in Jerusalem. He successfully enlisted the help of various service providers, all of whom volunteered their services for the occasion.
Last Sunday evening, the long-awaited moment finally took place in the capital’s Rehavia neighborhood, as the bride and groom stood under the bridal canopy. Beer’s daughter and her friends volunteered to serve as waitstaff free of charge. United Hatzalah CEO Eli Pollak was honored with saying one of the seven blessings.
The delighted bride thanked the organization and said, “I want to thank the United Hatzalah family, Eli Beer, and all of the orange angels who mobilized and helped me on the most special day of my life.”
Elaborating on the initiative, Beer said: “This embodies the essence of the United Hatzalah family and of the people of Israel. In spite of the grave tragedy that struck our nation last week, we have witnessed a remarkable show of unity and solidarity within Israeli society since the beginning of the war. United Hatzalah has been both on the giving and receiving end of this solidarity and acts of loving-kindness, and we are glad that we were able to make sure that Penina was able to celebrate her special day with her new husband in safe conditions without further delay.
“I want to thank all of the vendors who agreed to provide their services to the couple free of charge and helped bring this joyous occasion to life.”
How Israeli Arabs are helping Israel's war effort
■ TIMES ARE not easy for Israel’s Arab population. No matter how law-abiding its members may be, they are regarded with suspicion by many Jews, some of whom would be surprised to find out that more than 700 Muslims and Christians are volunteers with United Hatzalah, nationwide, not to mention the number of Arab doctors and nurses treating the wounded in Israeli hospitals.
Six years ago Gaber Abo Gafer joined United Hazalah and founded the Rahat chapter, which on Saturday, October 7, responded to five missile attacks within Rahat itself. Since the onset of the war, the 70 volunteers of the Rahat chapter have been tirelessly responding to medical emergencies, and have also provided humanitarian aid to residents of all faiths in the Gaza border communities.
A kosher food production plant in Rahat closed down due to the security situation. Rahat volunteers, together with other local community members, saw this as an opportunity and used the plant’s facilities to prepare hot kosher meals for the soldiers and first responders on the front lines.
Another example of fraternal responsibility took place on Shabbat when Muslim members of the Rahat chapter took over many of the ambulance shifts in the Gaza border communities, enabling their Jewish colleagues to have a day of rest.
Samara Ala, head of the Muslim and Christian divisions of United Hatzalah, said that, despite the dangers, “the Arab chapters of United Hatzalah have come out in force to help save lives during this difficult period. Some of our members have been killed, including Awad Darusha, and others injured, like Dr. Tarek Abu Arar, who was held hostage, and used as a human shield, and shot by Hamas. Yet we are proud that we are able to do our part and save lives.”
Seeking shelter in a country engulfed by war
■ BY THE beginning of this week, Tel Aviv had taken in 6,000 evacuees from the south of the country. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai was happy that none of his civilian constituents were wounded by rockets fired from Gaza, and attributed this to the fact that Tel Aviv has the largest number of private and public bomb shelters in the country. To be on the safe side, Huldai ordered that all underground car parks be used as bomb shelters. A candidate for yet another term as mayor, even though the elections have been postponed for at least three months, Huldai said that he is not even thinking of politics at this time. “All that the city of Tel Aviv wants to do is to serve the people of Israel, said Huldai.
Unfortunately, his colleague Ashkelon Mayor Tomer Glam cannot boast that his city is as safe as Tel Aviv. In fact, there is a dire dearth of shelters in Ashkelon, with 40% of the population without access to safety. Why is this? Because the municipality and the government are at odds as to whose responsibility it is to build bomb shelters. For some 15 years now, the Ashkelon Municipality has been asking the government for additional funding for bomb shelters – but to no avail. The cost for meeting current needs is NIS 2 billion.
More bomb shelters are also needed in the north of the country. In August of this year, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem placed six new portable bomb shelters in the town of Shlomi and refurbished 53 existing shelters. Other Christian and interreligious groups have also undertaken to help with a variety of community needs throughout Israel. Why should the safety of Israeli citizens depend on the goodwill of Christian organizations instead of the government?
Bomb shelters in Jerusalem
■ IN JERUSALEM, Mayor Moshe Lion can boast of 147 public bomb shelters, plus an additional 27 shelters in schools. Full details of neighborhoods and addresses are available on the website of the Jerusalem Municipality, and it would be wise for residents of the capital to make a printout in order to know which is closest to where they live, and where they can go if they happen to be elsewhere in the city upon hearing a rocket-warning siren.
Israelis: Good at volunteering, bad at organizing
■ IN CRISES, Israelis are wonderful at volunteering but not always effective or efficient in organizing. There has been a surfeit of volunteers for packing food and other supplies for residents of the South, soldiers, and senior citizens. Latet CEO Eran Weintrob, whose organization is an umbrella for 210 local associations working in 105 communities across the country, has described the situation as volunteer chaos. So many people who want to help are turned away.
Yet at the same time, there are people in distress who claim that no one has been in touch with them, and that they have not received anything, even though they are among the survivors of the Hamas massacre, or rocket attacks from Gaza.
Several individuals and organizations are trying to monitor the various activities that require volunteers. The Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry has asked people living in apartment buildings to knock at every door on their floor to check whether the occupants are safe or in need of any kind of assistance.
Municipalities often have lists of people who live alone, and even if there is no knock on their door, it would be beneficial for them to receive daily phone calls. Such tasks could be given to residents of sheltered living complexes, many of whom are frustrated because they want to volunteer, but have been advised not to leave the premises. But they can have a short list of people to telephone for a chat on a daily basis.
One of the solutions for people who want to volunteer but can’t find a cause is to check out the KAN social media platforms that include various volunteer initiatives.
Trying to help refugees from the South
■ HAZVI YISRAEL congregation in Jerusalem has organized a committee for the placement of refugees from southern Israel communities. The committee is currently looking for apartments where some families can stay during this period of highest threat. The committee, headed by Isaac Heller, has organized a database of family size, community, children, bed requirements, kashrut, etc. Heller is personally working on placing a single mother with five children from Netivot, and has opened his own home for what he calls “a lovely family.”
Anyone who has an available apartment, or one large enough to take in a family on a temporary basis, should contact Heller at 058-692-6127.
Israelis abroad trying to help
■ IT’S BEEN said many times before: you can take the Israeli out of Israel, but you can’t take Israel out of the Israelis. Whether they live abroad or are simply studying or vacationing, Israelis of every stripe have been flocking to airports in the hope of coming home to participate in the war effort. This includes doctors who have well-paid positions in the countries in which they reside. The fact that they are qualified to work in Israel is a tremendous boon. Some of the returning Israelis who were on vacation or business trips and about to board a connecting flight turned around and went back to check-in counters to exchange their tickets for a flight to Israel.
Israeli philanthropists who live in other countries have also come home to see what they can do to help. Among them is haredi (ultra-Orthodox) philanthropist David Hager, who was one of the founders of the Nahal Haredi unit, and who, since the declaration of war, has been rushing from one army base to another to contribute funds and to help in other ways. He has also visited the Gaza border communities, and, like everyone else, had to scuffle for shelter during a rocket attack.
Hager is well aware of the difference between officialdom and boots on the ground. He wanted to hear personally from soldiers in the various units what their needs really are. He made a list of all that was told to him, and went out on a shopping spree for the soldiers, providing them with thousands of items to protect them from the rain and the cold, as well as torches, straps for their guns, water bottles, plus 600 kosher l’mehadrin hot meals for a dinner that he hosted for residents of the South at the Leonardo Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem.
He also took time out to visit wounded soldiers and to pay condolence calls to families whose sons and daughters had fallen in battle. Like many others, he speaks of the importance of national unity at such a fateful time.
Miriam Peretz pays condolences
■ PAYING CONDOLENCE calls on bereaved families of fallen soldiers has become second nature to Israel Prize laureate Miriam Peretz, who lost two sons of her own in the past. The most difficult thing for her is to know what to say to a grieving grandmother who tells her: “I never thought to live to see the day when I would bury my grandchild.”
Focus on foreign dignitaries
■ BECAUSE AMERICA has indeed proved itself to be Israel’s greatest ally at this time, the media focus has been on the visits by US dignitaries, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, twice; Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin; a bipartisan delegation of US senators led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and including Republican senators Mitt Romney and Bill Cassidy and Democrat senators Mark Kelly and Jacky Rosen. Moreover, US President Joe Biden is due to arrive Wednesday on a lightning solidarity visit. Other visitors have included Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. With the exception Colonna, President Isaac Herzog met them all, in addition to visiting the wounded in hospitals, meeting with survivors of the Kibbutz Be’eri massacre, meeting with families of people abducted by Hamas, speaking to foreign leaders by phone, giving media briefings and interviews, attending the opening of the winter session of the Knesset – and more. It’s doubtful that he’s had much sleep since October 7.
Accompanied by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Colonna visited French nationals at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon as well as families of abducted French citizens.
Israel currently maintains diplomatic relations with 159 countries, most of whose leaders have sent messages of condolence for the huge losses of mainly young lives in a brutal assault by Hamas terrorists.
Poland, Jews, and a nuclear submarine
■ AN EVENT of interest to Jews in general, as well as to the people of Poland, whose main focus this past weekend were the Polish elections, was the commissioning last Saturday in the Naval Submarine Base in Connecticut, of a new nuclear submarine named in honor of Admiral Hyman Rickover, known as the “Father of the Nuclear Navy.” An immigrant from Poland to Chicago, Rickover was the longest-serving naval officer in American history, and possibly anywhere in the world. He served for 63 years. According to attorney Michael Traison, who divides his time between Israel, America, and Poland, and is a member of the commissioning committee, Rickover was born in Makow Mazowickie, the birthplace of architect David Azrieli, who introduced shopping malls to Israel.
Among the dignitaries attending the commissioning ceremony were Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, who delivered the principal address, and Adm. James F. Caldwell, the director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.
Well wishes for Israeli institutions
■ APROPOS POLAND, one of the deeply concerned well-wishers who wrote to Israeli friends and colleagues was Monika Krawczyk, the director of the Warsaw-based Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute, which has close relations with numerous Israeli entities. Among them are Yad Mordechai Kibbutz and Museum; Yad Vashem; Moreshet Mordechai Anielewicz; Ghetto Fighters House; the National Library of Israel; the University of Haifa; Bar-Ilan University; Tel Aviv University; the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Ariel University; Herzog College; Genizah Kiddush Hashem; the Begin Heritage Center; the Jabotinsky Institute; the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem: ANU Museum; Masuah Center; the Israel Museum; Federation of Holocaust Remembrance Organizations; Piotrkow Descendants Organization; Czestochowa Descendants Organization; Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies; Association of Tour Guides in Israel; Education Ministry; the World Zionist Organization; The Jewish Agency for Israel; and the Polish Institute in Tel Aviv; along with researchers, educators, and journalists.
“It took us and me some time to absorb this shocking news of Hamas’s attack on Israel and such massive loss of lives,” wrote Krawczyk. “We do not have any words, and we cannot – due to the distance – come up with specific assistance other than financial support of specific causes and to demonstrate openly that we stand for Israel. Of course, we will be happy to take your recommendations and further suggestions.
“We wish Israel to continue to be strong and wish all your good citizens to continue success and personal development in peace and in cooperation. It is clearly visible that there is no other way to suppress the enemies [but] by more powerful means than were in use. We know that many of your younger family members and relatives [and] friends were drafted and will fight for Israel so that genocide cannot happen again.
“Many of us here in Poland have relatives in Israel and even more close friends and distant friends or professional colleagues. As a popular slogan today says: ‘We have in Israel seven million sisters and brothers.’”
The message continues that the loss of even one human being is irreplaceable. “We pray for the State of Israel, IDF and all security forces, all wounded, captured (may they be returned unharmed soon) and families who lost their relatives.”
The message concludes with the words “Am Israel Hai,” the people of Israel lives, which has become the global slogan of the Jewish people.
March of Life in Rome
■ IN ROME this week supporters of and sympathizers with the Jewish community joined in the March of Life to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the deportation to Auschwitz in 1943 of more than 1,000 Roman Jews. Although Jews were deprived of their rights under the racial laws of 1939, they were not deported till four years later. Among the participants in the march were Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtier, Rome Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni plus delegations from abroad.
On October 16, 1943, which was a Saturday, the Nazis conducted a dawn raid on Jewish homes and arrested people in different neighborhoods. They were incarcerated for two days, then put on a freight train and sent to Auschwitz. As part of the commemoration, a multimedia exhibition of paintings, drawings, photographs, newspaper clippings, and objects of daily life reflecting the suffering of the Jews of Rome, opened at the Capitoline Museums.
A young country, an old school
■ WHEN A country celebrates the 75th anniversary of its independence, it is still relatively young. When a school celebrates the 75th anniversary of its establishment, it is a veteran educational institution.
Mount Scopus Memorial College, of Melbourne, which will next year celebrate its 75th anniversary, has for the first time ever appointed one of its alumni as its new principal. Dan Sztrajt, who will commence at the beginning of the 2024 school year, attended the school from kindergarten to year 12. He was school captain in 1999, and is a past Mount Scopus educator. For Sztrajt, his appointment is by way of a homecoming.
A dynamic, contemporary educator, he has a genuine passion for ensuring strong Jewish continuity, and shares the college’s deep commitment to academic excellence through its exceptional Jewish and secular curricula. A creative thinker, and a team man by nature, he values leading with kindness, integrity, and strength of purpose. He returns to Scopus from Bialik College, where he serves as assistant principal.
Retiring principal Rabbi James Kennard, who has already put his aliyah plans into motion, welcomes Sztrajt’s appointment and will work with him to ensure a smooth transition and a strong start to the 2024 academic year.
Kennard, who replaced Hilton Rubin (1997-2006) in 2007, will retire at the end of 2023. The founding principal was Abraham Feiglin (1949-1968), followed by Max Wahlhaus (1969), Aleksander Ranoschy (1970-1985), Rabbi Dr. Steven Lorch (1985-1991), and Rabbi William Altshul (1992-1996).
Nine months ago, at a huge reunion in Israel of Mount Scopus alumni and present staff and students that was hosted by the Mount Scopus Foundation and attended by President Herzog, Kennard and foundation president David Gold invited Herzog to come to Australia for the school’s 75th anniversary.
Herzog accepted the invitation, but may possibly bow out. If he does go ahead with the visit, he might emulate his father, who in 1986 visited several other countries along the way to down under, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Fiji, Tonga, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Kenya. At that time, Hong Kong was still under British rule, and the senior Herzog paid a secret visit from there to the Chinese mainland – and all the rest is history.
The current President Herzog may care to include South Korea, India, Thailand, and possibly Vietnam and Indonesia in his itinerary.
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