I
Spotlight
Heeding Israel Fs Call
Rachel Gottlieb Kalmowitz
Special to the Jewish News
able to stop crying since the attack. He
described himself as a Hollywood actor
— trying to be strong for his family,
but unable to sleep at night, filled with
nightmares about bombs. When asked
why he doesn't move, Yossi explained,
"This is my home and motioned to his
recently rebuilt walls and gate and the
tattered Israeli flag still flying.
Mark Regev, the spokesman for the
Prime Minister's Office, explained to us,
"Hamas has no motivation to reform if
they get legitimacy before they change'
They refuse to apply the United Nations
benchmarks, namely acknowledg-
ing Israel's right to exist, renouncing
violence and recognizing prior treaties
between the Palestinian Authority and
Israel. While the IDF sends leaflets and
makes calls to the areas where they
will bomb, giving residents the chance
to evacuate, Hamas tries to maximize
civilian casualties on both sides, using
human shields and launching rockets
from residential neighborhoods. As their
charter dictates, Hamas' goal is to anni-
hilate Israel. As a result, it is inevitable
that while Hamas reigns in Gaza, mis-
siles will rain on southern Israel. A para-
phrased quote by Benjamin Netanyahu
is starkly clear: If the Palestinians lay
down their arms, there will be peace. If
the Israelis lay down their arms, there
will be no Israel.
M
y husband, Carey, and I had
planned to volunteer for the
Israel Defense Forces through
the Sar-El program this summer. I still
think that this will be a worthwhile and
rewarding way to give to Israel, and my
husband, who volunteered with Sar-El in
2003, agrees.
However, when we received an e-mail
in mid-January inviting us to be a part
of a 48-hour solidarity mission the first
week in February, we realized that it was
imperative to show Israel our support
now Now, with the world refusing to see
why Israel's resolve to restore security to
the southern communities is not mor-
ally equivalent to the brazen terrorism
of Hamas. Now, with her enemies united
and ready to destroy her, rocket-by-
rocket, news report by news report. Now,
with even many Jews afraid to affirm
their commitment to Israel, concerned
that Israel's actions, when viewed with-
out context, seem disproportionate, as
though we in the safety of the Midwest
can begin to imagine what it is like to
live in the Middle East.
Having just returned from our whirl-
wind trip, sponsored by the United
Jewish Communities (UJC), the New
York-based umbrella organization of
Jewish federations across the U.S., and
attended by 14 UJC young leaders, I am
still overwhelmed by the power of what
we saw in southern Israel.
"Tzeva adorn (Color Red) is always
there, right here ... In your head." So
says Avi Vaknin, a musician in Sderot,
Israel, in Sderot: Rock in the Red Zone, a
remarkable documentary by filmmaker
Laura Bialis (www.sderotmovie.com ).
Imagine a life guided by knowledge
that at any moment, you could hear the
tzeva adorn alarm and have 15 seconds
before an explosion. Are you afraid to go
to sleep, shower or even listen to your
iPod? Are you willing to take a walk or
let your children go to school? Some New
Yorkers suffered post traumatic stress
disorder from the trauma of 9-11; but
in Sderot, many have ongoing traumatic
stress disorder. The rockets have been
falling in Sderot for eight years, lead-
ing to a sense of isolation and constant
anxiety. Though we saw a remarkable
resiliency among the people, a psychia-
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February 26 • 2009
Helping Hand
Rachel and Carey Kalmowitz with Israeli children in Nitzan, where former residents
of the Israeli settlement of Gush Katif in southern Gaza now live. This playground
moved with the kids and, for some, is the only remnant of their former home.
trist who works at the trauma center in
Sderot compared this trait to a rubber
ball, which bounces lower and lower
each time it bounces back.
Dalia, the woman who runs the
trauma center, said, "The children are
the story" She explained that experienc-
ing constant fear while growing up, they
would be less capable as adults. The
impact can also exhibit itself with early
developmental difficulties, such as not
wanting to sleep alone. At a daycare facil-
ity that had recently sustained a direct
hit from a Kassam rocket, the director
told us that when the alarm sounds, the
children know to put their arms up to
be carried to a shelter. Imagine, instead
of signaling a simple desire to be held,
these young children of Sderot think of
this as the way to respond in a missile
attack.
Power Of Missiles
Before we arrived in Ashkelon on the
second day of our mission, a Grad mis-
sile struck the central bus station. While
there, we met with Yossi Ben-Dayan,
whose house sustained a direct hit a
few weeks before in a similar attack. His
three children had been home alone; and
though all made it to the shelter safely,
he told us that his wife had not been
If you are now wondering what you
can do to help, increase your pledge to
Federation, which supports the pro-
grams that do so much in affected areas,
and to the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC), which brings elect-
ed officials to Israel, so that they under-
stand the situation more fully.
Visit Israel, including the areas cur-
rently vulnerable to rockets from Gaza,
remembering that as Hamas acquires
longer-range weapons, all of Israel could
be vulnerable.
Thank the IDF soldiers and the resi-
dents in southern Israel for their cour-
age, and most of all, as the psychiatrist
in Sderot asked of us, think about
them every once in a while, and tell
their stories.
❑
Rachel Gottlieb Kalmowitz is cantonal soloist
at Temple Beth El, Bloomfield Township.