Month: October 2025

Two years of war and a happy country?

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

I returned from Israel on Friday. It was a long return trip, waking up at 5 am IST (10 pm Thursday night ET) and leaving early in the morning from Haifa to get to Ben Gurion airport. The long flight to JFK was easy but was during the day so I didn’t sleep much. A 2 hour layover and I was on my flight home. I got to my house around midnight, 26 hours after I woke up in Haifa.

The long trip gave me a lot of time to think. Dealing with jetlag upon my return gave me more time to think. This was a different trip for me. I knew going into it that I needed to be in Israel for my soul. I wasn’t touring the ‘normal’ way and was going to spend a few days just being in Israel before a day of work in Jerusalem and then 3 days up north working. It was a day about my relationship with Israel and Israelis, not about the Jewish connection to Israel. I was in Jerusalem but not the old city. I didn’t visit the Dead Sea or Masada. I did spend time on the beach, hanging in restaurants with Israelis, visiting schools and youth programs, and being connected to ordinary people.

On the plane returning and in the past two days, I have found myself reflecting on the ordinary people of Israel. Israel is typically rated one of the happiest countries in the world. This despite living in a very tough neighborhood with genocidal terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah on their borders. Terrorists try to come in every day to murder Israeli people and Iran is an existential threat. This was before the horrors of October 7th. Yet in the 2025 survey of the world’s happiest countries, Israel ranked 5th. A country that was attacked and invaded in 2023 where over 1,200 people murdered in the attack. A country at war with so many of her citizens called back to serve in the reserves. A country being villified by the international community based on terrible lies, being called terrible things, all due to Jew hatred. A country that had the north evacuated due to daily rocket attacks and who spent time almost daily in bomb shelters. This is the country that was the 5th happiest in 2024?

This past week helped me really understand how a country facing all these challenges could be the world’s 5th happiest country (for comparison, the United States was 21st). In Israel, they focus on what they have rather than what they don’t have. They focus on gratitude not desire. It’s a country that realizes that gratitude is a far better way to live than envy.

It got me thinking about my life and the changes I have made in the past few years. My dad dying in September 2022 was a life changing event for me. Not just because I lost a parent and mentor. It was a realization that the end is closer than any of us want to acknowledge and the question is more about who we want to be and how we want to live than how much we can have.

So I have changed my life. I removed a great deal of stress. for decades, my job was filled with stress. I’m just as busy and working just as hard but now it is without the stress that I used to have. I make sure that I am rested and not burning the candle at both ends. I make sure to eat and eat healthy. No more skipping lunch because I’m too busy. I eat healthy now – whole foods rather than something quick. Today I had the time to make a fresh salad for lunch, cutting up lettuce, tomatoes and other veggies rather than grabbing something quick to stuff down my throat because I had no time between meetings.

On this Israel trip, I got to meet people who were doing the same thing. People who lived by their values so they moved their family to the north to repopulate that area after the war. While many people won’t move back, there are many who realize how important it is to live there and are choosing to do so. The high school student who had the opportunity to decide whether he wanted to take the exams for his bagrut (high school diploma) and decided not to take them. As he shared that with us, I could feel his trepidation as he was waiting for criticism. Criticism that he didn’t get. The early childhood teacher who loved his job and the children he interacted with. The little tricks he did for them and the joy in their faces as he did them. The care in his voice as he talked to them and way they were truly little people, not just kids.

I talked with people who are more concerned about the mental health of IDF combat soldiers than their personal income. They are volunteering tremendous amounts of time to do their part in providing for the mental health care needed for these soldiers. Each time an IDF combat soldier commits suicide, a little piece of them dies, so they work to reduce that number to zero. They invest their time, their money, and their heart and soul.

I went to visit Hapoel Jerusalem Football Club (HJFC), a team that is much more than a professional team in the Premier League for men and women’s soccer. Their social programs are changing the face of Jerusalem and the future of Israel. Hersh Goldberg-Polin (z’l) was one of the leaders of their fan club. I wear my Hapoel Jerusalem FC shirt with his face on it proudly. It speaks to people living by their values, choosing to make the world a better place which means they are happier in their daily lives. Read the post below which describes somebody’s experience with the girls program of HJFC. It’s extraordinary.

I used to believe that I could never make Aliyah (move to Israel) because I want to live like an American in Israel and to do so is extremely expensive. There is a saying about life in Israel that explains this well.

People don’t move to Israel to become financially rich. They move to Israel to be spiritually rich. To be emotionally fulfilled. To have meaning in their life. You don’t have to move to Israel to have those things. We can choose them in our daily lives. Yet in America, we rarely do. We place money ahead of our values. Our answer to the saying, “You can either be happy or right” is often to be right. The lesson I was reminded of on this trip is that we don’t have to make those choices. We can learn to focus on what matters. Being happy. Enjoying life.

When I came back from Israel, my oldest son was home for the weekend. It was great having him home for the weekend, even though we didn’t do anything. Just having him around was nice. My best friend’s son is getting married next weekend and I’ll be there to celebrate. A few days later, my younger son is taking the LSAT and has to go to Ft Myers to take it (that’s an entirely different story). So we’ll drive down to Ft Myers, stay in a hotel, he’ll take the LSAT and then we’ll drive home. 8 hours in the car together along with a night at the hotel together. Priceless. That’s the key to being happy – enjoying every minute and the opportunities they present.

I think of my dog, a now 10 month old chocolate lab. She gets excited to see me every morning, not because I’m going to take her outside and give her breakfast. Not because she’ll get treats and do a puzzle. She gets excited because we are together. When my wife comes downstairs and comes home from work, my puppy is filled with anticipation and realizes she is the luckiest dog in the world because she’s with her people, with her pack. That’s how I want to be.

Israel taught me that. Despite two years of war, they cherish every moment. Despite a year of rockets falling on them and rushing to their safe room day after day after day, they found ways to appreciate things. As I sat on the beach in Tel Aviv, breathing the fresh air, listening to the waves and people all around me, I realized just how lucky I am. It’s not about the things I have or don’t have. It’s not about the size of my house or my bank account. It’s about the people in my life. Recognizing the beauty in the world around me. The gifts of life.

I have been to Israel 24 times. Trip 25 is scheduled. What a gift. What a blessing. As I look at that image, my heartbeat slows, any stress disappears, I relax and realize just how lucky I am. And when we realize how lucky we are instead of thinking about all we don’t have, the world is a much better place.

Coexistence vs. Shared Society

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

One thing has become crystal clear over the past few years. Our world is really messed up. Those who used to advocate for standing up against hate are now leading the charge with their Jew hatred. Places that were once safe for Jews no longer are. The Arab world has begun to stand up against Hamas — sort of. The far left advocates for the Palestinians until Hamas begins to murder them – then they go silent. There is a famine in Gaza until a ceasefire is agreed upon at which point there is suddenly 3 months worth of food, overnight. The cries for the ceasefire are endless until there is one agreed upon and then those crying for the ceasefire urge Hamas to reject it so more people will die. New York, home to one of the largest Jewish populations outside of Israel, is ready to elect a Mayor who openly hates the Jews. A huge number of those NY Jews are ready to vote to elect him as Mayor as he openly talks about excluding anybody who supports the existence of Israel from his administration. The mainstream media publishes lie after lie and when caught, just pretends it didn’t happen.

It’s a crazy world we are living in. A crazy world we are told we are living in that often isn’t accurate or the truth. The words we use are often the wrong ones and we call things by the wrong name to incite people (famine instead of hunger, genocide instead of war, militant instead of terrorist).

Coexistence is one of these words. I never thought about it until yesterday when I spent time with people from the Arab villages of Ein Mahel and Jisr Al Zarqa. I had the opportunity to visit Ein Mahel last September and meet the leaders and some of th children in their branch of HaNoar HaOved (NOAL), an Israeli, Zionistic youth movement that is now 101 years old. That’s right, in Arab villages in Israel (55 to be exact) there are Zionist youth movement branchs. There are more than 20,000 arab children in these branches. More than 20,000 arab children who are actively involved with an Israeli, Zionistic, youth movement. Where do you see this on the news? Where do you read about this? It changes the paradigm in a way that those who hate Jews don’t like.

With the children in NOAL in Ein Mahel – Sept 2024
With te leaders of NOAL in Ein Mahel – September 2024

On Thursday, I had the chance to visit the Arab village of Jisr Al Zarqa. It is one of the poorest Arab villages that struggles with violence inside the village. As we entered the village, it was pointed out to us the locations where people were murdered by gangs inside the village last week. Jisr Al Zarqa has a remarkable asset that sets it apart from every other Arab village in Israel. It sits on the beach of the Mediterannean Sea. This poor town is right on the water with a beautiful beach. As we walked to the beach, we saw the trash strewn all around. It was a harbinger of the story we were about to be told – a story of hope and of a potential different future.

Looking at the city of Jisr Al Zarqa as we walked to the beach
Arab schools on a field trip to the beach at isr Al Zarqa

At the beach, we met Shadi, who lives in Ein Mahel and who I got to know last year during the visit. We also met Hamami, an amazing women from the village of Jisr Al Zarqa, and Hassan, an amazing young man from the village of Jisr Al Zarqa. Why did we meet with them? Because of their involvement with HaNoar HoOved (NOAL). Both Shadi and Hassan grew up in the movement. Shadi is in his early 30s, Hassan is 20. Both are leaders in the movement. You read that right – Arab (Muslim) leaders in an Israeli, Zionistic, youth movement. Shatters what the media tells you. Shatters the paradigm the world is taught and believes. We also met Hamami, a spectacular woman who is changing the reality on the ground. Hamami is a fisherman, the only woman in the fisherman’s guild in Jisr Al Zarqa. She was a professional soccer player when it was unheard of to have an Arab woman play professional sports on an Israeli team. She is a force of nature.

What is she doing? In a village where children often skip school and get in lots of trouble, she began going out in the streets and pulling them off the streets to participate in a sports program she created herself. She took them fishing, surfing, swimming, and all sorts of water sports. Every day she goes out in the streets and corrals them to come with her and do something productive instead of getting in trouble in the streets. At one point, she went to the schools and began working with them. She took the children off the streets in her program and then ordered them to return at 8 am the next day. All but 2 returned on time. The two who were late were sent home. The next day all of them showed up on time. She spent 3 months working with them on the water, with the sea, before returning them to school where they restarted their education. What an incredible woman.

Hamami’s boats on the beach
Hamami’s boats and surfboards on the beach

Uri, a member of NOAL who works with the Arab villages, learned about the work of Hamami, and went to meet her. She told us that he was the first person who didn’t try to make money off her program and instead just wanted to know how he could help her and help the children. They are now partners in the effort, as Dror Israel, the overaching organization of NOAL, works to fund and support her organization Instead of trying to MAKE money off the work of Hamami and the children, they are INVESTING money in the work of Hamami and the children! Once again, you read that right. Jews and Arabs working together, in partnership, in Israel, to help the Arab children who are at risk. You don’t hear that from the UN or in the media. But it is happening.

As we sat together to eat lunch and continue our conversation, one of our group used the phrase “coexistence’. Shadi quickly spoke up telling us not to use that word. He told us that coexistence means we live alongside each other. We don’t interact. There are Arab schools and Jewish schools. Arab youth movements and Jewish youth movements. Arab leadership programs and Jewish leadership programs. Saying coexistence means living separately, side-by-side. The right phrase, he educated us, was ‘shared society’ because we share things together. That’s what they are doing with NOAL. That’s what we need to strive for. Not coexistance where we live separately but a shared society where we truly live together. I was inspired and am changing my vocabulary.

Having met Shadi last year and connecting, we spent more time together this year. We built our friendship and talked about many things. The challenge of being Zionistic (loving Israel) with the challenges of the government and the country, especially post October 7th was the start of a fascinating conversation that I look forward to continuing with my friend.

As we talked, he shared his upcoming visit to the United States, mostly New York, to share the work of NOAL, Dror Israel, and help change people’s minds about what is happening and what is possible. When I shared that I may be back in December, he was quick to ask when and tell me about an amazing three (3) day leadership conference they are having in early January and urge me to come and experience it. I’m not sure what my schedule will look like but I know it’s something that if I can attend, I will attend. I can’t wait to see Shadi and the others lead and educate these Arab and Jewish youth together about leadership and shared society. As Shadi said to me and I replied back to him, “Inshalla” which means “if it’s God’s will”. A beautiful Arabic word. Part of a shared vocabulary now.

While the title uses the phrase Shadi taught me not to use, this is a great event and when they cme near you, make sure to go meet him, listen and learn.

There is so much happening in Israel that does not fit the narrative the media tells us. There is hope and there is possibility. There are Arabs and Jews working together, not just with NOAL and Dror Israel but across the entire country. It is something you can see with your own eyes and they are people you can meet in person and speak with. It is part of why I urge people of all faiths to go to Israel and see it themselves. Experience it yourself. Don’t believe the narrative. Don’t believe the lies. We can have a shared society if and when we work hard for it. Hamami, Shadi, Hassan and Uri are only 4 people working towards it. I’ve met many, many more. Too many to list by name. Come join them. See it, feel it, believe it, and help make it happen. Bring them to your community. Share the story and share them with your friends and family. Shared society is about togetherness and that’s what we need to make it happen.

On the beach – Marc, Irit, Gary, Shadi, Sasha, Hamami, Jill, me, and Hassan – a new group of friends.

The Children of Israel

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Over the past two years the media has focused repeatedly on the children in Gaza. The suffering they faced. Some real, some made up. Stories they were real and that were made up.

They denied much of what happened to the children of Israel on October 7th. They completely ignored what happened to the children of Israel from October 8th until today. Spending this past week in Israel, I have had the opportunity to interact with many children here. Children in pre-school, elementary school and high school. Parents of young children who have struggled the past two years about what to say to their children, how to protect them from the horrors, and parents who are IDF reservists, struggling with the fact that they have been gone from their children’s lives for more than half of the past two years. It’s not something that can be ignored.

I visited a preschool in Carmiel, in the Northern District of Israel, often included in the area of Israel called the Misgav. It’s a town of 55,000 that is beautiful and as we drove through, you could see how wonderful a place it is. The preschool (Gan) I visited had 35 students, agest 3 and 4, and as we walked in, they were running around, happy, laughing, and inquisitive. They were excited to see new people and happily smiled at us, walked around us, and when we sat to talk, pulled up their own chairs to sit with us or sat on playground equipment to be a part of the group. They were wonderful, happy, normal children. It was amazing to see.

At one point, we moved inside to a smaller room to sit and talk without the children around us. We learned that the room we sat in was the safe room for the Gan. When the rocket alerts went off, this was where all 35 children and the staff of 3-5 teachers would all have to get into within 30 seconds. I ran a JCC with an early childhood center that had hundreds of children. Monthly, we practiced our fire drill in which we had to get all the children out of the building. We timed it an regularly had them all out of the building in under 5 minutes. Each class had no more than 16 children with 2 teachers. The alarm was loud and many of the children would hold their ears, cry, or be upset. In Israel, at this Gan, they had to get 35 children into a small room within 30 seconds. Who knew how long they would have to keep the children in this small room. Packing 38-40 people in this small room for any amount of time would be a challenge. Yet the teachers did it. The children did it. They managed. I think of how difficult that must have been on the children and on the teachers and am astounded that the children aren’t afraid of the room and don’t want to avoid it. That the room doesn’t hold terrible images for the teachers. The trauma is real and yet they are dealing with it.

We visited an afterschool program in Kiryat Shmona that has a special program for the children who live there. It’s hard to imagine, but with the 2 years of Covid and the 2 years of the war, these children have had 4 years of learning interrupted. A child in 1st grade at the start of Covid is now in 5th grade and has barely been in school. How do you overcome the deficits that occurred both developmentally and educationally? What has to happen so that these children have a chance at a normal life and learning the basic tools that they missed, both educationally and socially? My youngest son spent his entire senior year doing online learning due to Covid (before you freak out, the schools were open and there were many reasons why we began and then stayed with online learning for him). It wasn’t easy for him to overcome the social deficits as a result of the last semester of him junior year and his full senior year being done online. We created a plan and it worked. That was just over 1 year for a 17/18 year old. Not 4 years for a 6-9 year old child. These children in Kiryat Shmona and other evacuated communities may need years of remedial work to deal with the academic deficits, let alone the social and developmental ones. Who’s talking about the damage done to them?

I spoke with a 37 year old father who has spent more than a full year since October 7, 2023, in the IDF reserves. He talked about his struggles when he returns home. He has two children – two children who have not only missed having their dad in the life for more than half of the past two years but who also know that he has put his life on the line every day he wasn’t at home. A father who has trauma to deal with so isn’t the same father that left them on October 7th to defend the people of Israel and the Jewish people. A father who struggles to be there for them all the time. Who talks about these children? Who is taking care of their needs? Where is the attention on the children of those brave soldiers who have kept going back to serve to defend not just their country but the Jewish people? Why is there no outrage at the damage to them?

We talked about a school that one of my friend’s children attend. In one classroom there is a teacher who has spent a great deal of time in reserves. There are two children dealing with the loss of family members on October 7th. Why is there no outrage about these children, living in the center of the country, who know the cost of war and the cost of freedom better than most people in the United States? Why is there no outrage at the impact on these children of losing their teacher for so long?

We have a generation of children of Israel that face enormous challenges. Who have faced enormous stress. Who have lost loved ones, parents, and friends due to the Hamas attack on October 7th and the ensuring war to keep Israel safe. Where is the outrage about what they have to deal with? Where are the world’s children’s organizations who are so critical of Israel, forgiving of Hamas and their responsibility?

This past week in Israel has shown me a new price that is being paid by Israel and the Jewish people. The price is being paid by our children. I don’t think we’ll know the exact cost we have to pay for quite some time. It’s a high price for sure, one that the world doesn’t care about. Jewish children — Jewish people — are expendable to the world. They don’t count nor do they matter. It’s unforgivable.

We can never forget the price of this war and defending Israel. It is a very high cost. The only thing worse would have been doing nothing. It’s not easy, especially when you see this price. It’s worth the high cost and we hope to never pay it again. It’s worth the many people who were impacted because of the many people who will be kept safe as a result.

When you look at the faces of these beautiful children and these beautiful babies, how can you not stand up and speak out on their behalf? How can you not do everything possible to protect them? We know Hamas does everything they can do damage and harm the children in Gaza as well as the children in Israel. We have to fight back even harder to protect ours.

Except

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

I have been in Israel for the past few days, enjoying the beach and excitement of Tel Aviv with a day trip to Jerusalem. With the living hostages now home, there is a lightness in the air and you can feel joy returning. Quite different from my trips in May, July and September of 2024.

Today I spent the day up north in the Upper Galilee. Tel Chai. Mutula. Kiryat Shmona. Places that were on the front line of the Hezbollah rocket attacks starting on October 8, 2023. It was a long ride from Haifa to get there – over 90 minutes. In Israel, 90 minutes is an eternity to drive. The Upper Galilee is beautiful. Actually it is stunning.

The contrast of the lush green with the mountains of the Golan Heights takes your breath away. The clear air, the cool breeze, the birds chirping and the cold streams fed by Mount Hermon is simply spectacular. It’s something that makes you want to stay for a month and hike, swim, explore nature and enjoy the peace and quiet. It is a place that should be in demand to live and in demand to visit. As I looked out upon the city of Metulla, I could imagine myself renting a home there for a month and enjoying the beauty.

EXCEPT, then I looked just a little bit further. The wall separating Israel and Lebanon was right there. I could see the places where Hezbollah was firing rockets on these Upper Galilee towns. I could see where Israel was forced to bomb the border community to destroy the Hezbollah rockets being kept in, and fired from homes. As I talked to one of the people from Metulla, I heard how before October 7th, they had 5 IDF soldiers protecting the town of approximately 1,500 people. She told us how now, with only about 40% of the residents returning, they have 500 IDF soldiers protecting them.

The border was empty from Hezbollah terrorists today. She told us how prior to October 7th, you could see the terrorists in the border towns. They didn’t try to hide. They wanted to be visible to attempt to scare and intimidate the residents of Metulla. Today it was quiet, peaceful and beautiful. With 500 soldiers protecting a town of about 600 people. Almost a 1:1 ratio to keep the peace. To keep the quiet. To keep them safe.

They then shared how this part of the Upper Galilee is bordered on three (3) sides by Lebanon. How on October 7th, if Hezbollah had decided to invade, they could have simply cut off the one road that goes in and out of that part of Israel and instantly had more than 25,000 hostages. How they could have taken their time murdering, raping, and kidnapping these 25,000 people, now hostages, because it would have taken so long for the IDF to get there and there is only the one road in and out.

As beautiful as these pictures are, the wall is the border to Lebanon. The town behind it has been destroyed because that’s where Hezbollah was firing rockets into Metulla and the Northern Galilee. The mountains you see all around are the border of Lebanon. You are completely surrounded by a genocidal enemy in Hezbollah who has the means, opportunity, and motive to attack and kill you.

Yet people continue to come back to live in these towns. It’s their home. They won’t be scared out. While only 40% have returned to Metulla right now, there are new groups of people moving there. In Kiryat Shmona, 80% of the 25,000 residents have returned. Their homes need to be rebuilt as they have either been destroyed by the Hezbollah rockets or ruined by being empty for two (2) years. Businesses has been destroyed and need to be rebuilt for the same reason. In some cases, the owners haven’t decided if they even want to rebuild. Yet these towns won’t go away. The commitment by their residents to live in the north of Israel, in the lush and beautiful Upper Galilee won’t disappear.

We ate lunch at an incredible restaurant in Kiryat Shmona. The portions were enormous. The schnitzel, sausages, meat and chicken were delicious. Couscous, fries, rice, and veggies were plentiful sides and the salads they served……… well if you have ever had the salads they bring out as appetizers before the meal, you know not only how many they bring (about 10 or so) and how incredible they are. Freshly baked bread (it made me jealous that I couldn’t eat it). More food than we could finish. What a great place, EXCEPT, it only recently reopened because not long after October 7th, a rocket launched by Hezbollah hit the street right in front of it and destroyed it. When we heard that, everybody got a little uncomfortable, even though we knew that the likelihood of a Hezbollah rocket being fired today is small, thanks to the IDF crushing Hezbollah.

The Upper Galilee and the north of Israel is beautiful. It’s stunning. It should be overflowing with people living there, vacationing there, having second homes there, EXCEPT there are genocidal terrorists close by. EXCEPT there is fear of rockets launching at any minute.

I hope that sometime soon, I’ll be able to spend an month relaxing and vacationing and recharging in the Upper Galilee, enjoying the beauty of nature. The mountains. The lush green. The streams and rivers. Hiking. Sitting in the cool, clean air, reading a book, having a conversation, listening to music. There is no EXCEPT for me. It’s an incredible place for us all and we cannot allow fear or hate to deter us from it. Like those who have returned to live there, we all need to claim it.

Think about spending some time in the Upper Galilee. You won’t regret enjoy the beauty and peaceful environment that is there now.