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to serve. “Both of my sisters’ 
husbands were called, and 
the son of my family’s next-
door neighbors is missing.”
Meirav, who is the Eim 
Bayit or House Mother at 
Lindenbaum Seminary in 
Jerusalem’s southeastern 
Arnona neighborhood, 
said, “Our group trip to 
Poland that was supposed 
to leave tonight (Oct. 8) 
was canceled because of 
the situation.” Lindenbaum, 
which is affiliated with 
Ohr Torah Stone, founded 
by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, 
has programs for North 
American students, South 
American students, sabras 
and students with special 
needs in its Midreshet 
Darkaynu program.

Aaron Poris, a reporter 
and correspondent for the 
Media Line, a news agency 
covering the Middle East for 
English-speaking audiences, 
grew up in Metro Detroit 
and made aliyah in 2015.
When the Tel Aviv-area 
resident heard the first 
sirens, he knew it would 

be difficult. “We spent the 
night in the protected room 
with the blast doors closed. 
I don’t think that Americans 
understand what it means 
to have a massive safe room, 
also with steel shutters to 
close over the window and 
filtered air in case of a gas 
attack,” he said. “Thankfully, 
my daughter is only a year 
old, and the dog didn’t care.”
Poris likens all Israel to 
one family. “Everybody 
knows somebody or is at 
most one degree away from 
someone who’s been injured 
or worse,” he noted. 
“Generally, there’s a large 
unity across the country. 
Small issues aren’t discussed, 
set aside. Everything is 
focused on helping people. 
There are food drives, blood 
drives, etc., and the response 
is incredible,” he said. “Israel 
is very strong; nobody’s 
crumbling. There is a feeling 
that we’ll get through this; 
we’ll end the threat in a 
more permanent way.”
He noted there is 
considerable tension among 
Israelis. He says, “The 
real stories are a lot worse 
than what is shown on TV 
because the media don’t, 
can’t, share that kind of 

thing,” referring to the 100-
plus kidnapped soldiers, 
grandparents, mothers 
and children. “Emphasized 
by the Hamas videos of 
children being tortured and 
crying out for their mothers, 
Hamas by all intentions 
and purposes is ISIS. They 
are the same and always 
were. This one is just an 
Iranian-funded version. 
And the evidence is the 
glee with which they revel 
in the barbarous acts they 
jovially film and post. Not 
all Gazans are terrorists. But 
Hamas definitely is.”
Professionally, he is 
covering the war and the 
survivors. His stories can be 
read at www.themedialine.
org.

Having made aliyah in 2019, 
the Warshays, formerly 
of Oak Park, heard three 
air raid sirens Saturday 
morning in Efrat. When 
the first one sounded, 
Shaina, who was home with 
their four children, rushed 
everyone into the bomb 
shelter, which doubles as 
the girls’ bedroom. “We 
were getting ready to go to 

shul when it sounded. We 
have water and some other 
supplies stored in the closet, 
as well as the beds, books 
and games to amuse the 
children while we were in 
there,” she said.
“We were in the middle 
of the morning Amidah 
prayer when the first siren 
sounded,” said Nathaniel 
(author of this story), who 
was at their synagogue, 
Zemer Hazayit, for Simchat 
Torah and Shabbat services. 
“We went into a protected 
staircase and continued. 
We moved back into the 
sanctuary when all clear 
was sounded, continued at a 
quickened pace, interrupted 
by one more siren.”
The Warshay children are 
under age 10, so there is 
some fear of the unknown, 
Shaina said. 
“Even though our 
synagogue-wide luncheon 
was canceled, we joined 
with friends in our 
apartment building and 
had a wonderful afternoon 
together,” Nathaniel said. 
“Not what we expected or 
wanted, but we had no idea 
how horrible the situation 
actually was until after 
Shabbat ended.” 

Yonaton and 
Meirav Edrei 
and their 
children, 
Jerusalem

Aaron 
Poris

Nathaniel and Shaina Warshay 
and their children, Efrat

