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lots of explosions in the background 
from both sides. When one shoots, 
the other shoots back, but Iron Dome 
knocks down the vast majority of mis-
siles,
” he added.
Yishuv Bar Yochai, where Schochet 
lives, is located in the Meron Galil, 
which is between Tzfat and Nahariya 
on the Mediterranean coast. “The 
eastern and western areas have more 
military bases, but not here, which 
are mostly farms. My personal guess 
is that there is nothing interesting to 
them. It also may be where Hezbollah 
has rocket bases,
” he said.
Through Monday, Sept. 23, there 
were three or four sirens, according 
to Zacks. “Sometimes the app will go 
off because there’s something in the 
general area, but there won’t be a siren 
outside.
”
Schochet and his wife, Rivka, 
who made aliyah in 2013, have 
three grandchildren serving in the 
Israeli Defense Forces. “One is in 
Givati, and now is in a secret unit in 
his reserve duty,
” he said. “
Another 
one is in Handasa Kravit (combat 

engineering), and one now in basic 
training. The first two spent most of 
the war in Gaza,
” he said.
Zacks, 49, and his wife, Golda, have 
five children. “Our oldest, Naomi, lives 
in Kiryat Shemona, but was evacuated 
to the Kineret (Sea of Galilee) area,
” 
he said.
“Number four, Naftali, is in the 
army, an elite paratrooper unit in the 
98th Division, which was just rede-
ployed to the north. They’re based in 
Beit Lid but are now along the border 
in an undisclosed location. He fought 

in Gaza the past few months,
” Zacks 
said.
“Number three, Yehuda, was in 
South America on his post-army trip 
when Oct. 7 happened, and he hitched 
a ride on a donated charter to Israel. 
He was reactivated on an emergency 
recruitment and served for a num-
ber of months,
” he said, noting that 
Yehudah, who is working as a security 
guard for a factory in the north pres-
ently, is to be reactivated in November.
Their other two children are 
post-Army or still in high school. 

A Note from 
Federation

The Iranian-backed terrorist 
organization Hezbollah 
launched a barrage of 
rockets into Israel, striking 
deep into the nation. An 
area that came under heavy 
assault was Federation’s 
Partnership region in the 
Central Galilee. Fortunately, 
most of the rockets were 
intercepted by the Iron 
Dome, and we believe 
there have been no civilian 
casualties. However, 
the region was heavily 
damaged, with several 
fires threatening the local 
communities.
We are proud to share 
that one of our Israel 
Emergency Campaign 
grants funded a fire vehicle 
in the Jezreel Valley 
(one of our Partnership 
municipalities) that we now 
know has been put to good 
use. We deeply appreciate 
the ongoing support of our 
Detroit Jewish community, 
which has meant so much to 
the Israeli people over the 
past year.
We remain in close 
contact with our staff and 
partners on the ground 
in Israel, as we remain 
steadfast in our commitment 
to supporting Israel during 
this time of war with 
terrorist aggression. Our 
hearts are with our many 
family members and friends 
in the region, as well as with 
all the citizens of Israel. 

ABOVE: Emergency medical personnel 
and soldiers inspect the scene of a 
Hezbollah rocket strike in Kibbutz Sa’ar 
in northern Israel on Sept. 25, 2024.

MDA

The north of Israel

