1942 - 2023

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week

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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
32255 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 205,
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
248-354-6060
thejewishnews.com

 
 
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The Detroit Jewish 
News Foundation

| Board of Directors:
 Chair: Gary Torgow
 Vice President: David Kramer 
 Secretary: Robin Axelrod
 Treasurer: Max Berlin
 Board members: Michael J. Eizelman 
 Larry Jackier, Jeffrey Schlussel, 
 Mark Zausmer
 
 
 Executive Director:
 Marni Raitt 
 Senior Advisor to the Board: 
 Mark Davidoff
 Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair: 
 Mike Smith
 Founding President & Publisher Emeritus: 
 Arthur Horwitz
 Founding Publisher 
 Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory

 

 Editorial 
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Contributing Writers:
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Suzanne Chessler, Shari S. Cohen, 
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Yevgeniya Gazman, Stacy Gittleman, 
Esther Allweiss Ingber, Barbara Lewis, 
Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, 
Alan Muskovitz, Karen Schwartz, 
Robin Schwartz, Steve Stein, 
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6 | OCTOBER 26 • 2023 J
N

PURELY COMMENTARY

continued on page 7

From the Front Lines
How It Feels to Be In Israel Right Now
T

he mood in Israel is 
like a combination of 
COVID and 9-11. We are 
told to stay close to home, many 
places of business are closed, 
and schools have 
switched to remote 
learning, which 
is reminiscent of 
coronavirus days. 
But the feelings 
of vulnerability, 
helplessness, and 
the reminder that 
pure evil exists in this world 
remind me very much of how 
many felt on 9-11. 
Soon after the war began, my 
daughter Sarit, son-in-law Tuvia, 
and their three boys left their 
home in Carmei Gat (about 15 
miles northeast of Sderot). Our 
grandchildren, ages 7, 5 and 1, 
were terrified as the entire family 
holed up in their safe room 
for hours and a house nearby 

suffered a direct rocket hit. They 
packed their bags and drove 45 
minutes north to Hashmonaim, 
where my husband and I live. 
Now they stay with Tuvia’s 
parents, who live a block away, 
and come to visit us during the 
day. It’s relatively quiet here: 
We can hear the booms of the 
Iron Dome nearby; remarkably, 
we have not yet had any sirens 
forcing us to run to our safe room. 
My son Noam, age 25, lives 
in New York but is also with us 
now. He came for the Jewish 
holidays, and his flight back to 
the USA was canceled because of 
the war. He has been with us for 
10 days longer than he planned 
to. Noam booked three different 
flights, and all were canceled, but 
now he is confirmed for an El Al 
flight this week, which hopefully 
will not be canceled as well. 
The cybersecurity company 
I work for has been extremely 

helpful. Nearly all the employees 
have family members that have 
been called up to serve — or 
have themselves been called up. 
Some have family or friends 
who were brutally murdered 
by Hamas or know people who 
were taken hostage. 
Our company leaders meet 
with all the employees and let us 
know that they are here to help 
with whatever we need. Like 
many people, I work from home, 
but it’s often very hard to focus 
on work when there’s so much to 
worry about. 
My brother created a list 
of all our relatives who have 
been called up to serve in the 
Israeli army so that we can 
add their names to our daily 
prayers. There are 22 names 
in all. One is my son Avichai, 
age 21, who recently finished 
his mandatory army service, 
but for some unknown reason 

was initially not called up to 
serve. He discovered that he and 
nine other paratroopers were 
somehow overlooked because of 
an administrative glitch. 
Several days into the war, he 
and his friends visited an army 
base, explained the situation 
and demanded to be called up. 
Two days later, my husband and 
I embraced him as we dropped 
him off at an army base. 
I worry about Avichai, but I 
understand how he feels. These 
are scary times, but here in 
Israel, there’s a palpable feeling 
of unity and resolve. Everyone 
is horrified by Hamas’ barbaric 
and depraved acts, and everyone 
wants to do something to help. 
My WhatsApp groups multiply 
like rabbits and eat up my data 
with endless messages about 
initiatives to purchase supplies 
for soldiers, pray for the hostages 
and provide housing for people 

Yaffa 
Klugerman

