The power of stories

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Today has been a day focused on stories.  I have found that stories have the most impact and do my best to be a storyteller throughout my career.  As I continue to focus on what’s happening in the war between Israel and Hamas, I find myself captivated by the stories that are now coming out.  Some are sad.  Some are uplifting.  Some are horrifying.  They all are powerful.

When I woke up this morning and began my morning routine of reading various news sources that I like to read (The Free Press, Daniel Gordis and Kareem Abdul Jabbar on substack, 1040 Daily Digest, eJewishPhilanthropy, Jewish Insider Daily, Philanthropy Today, FLAME, and all my sports news), I was struck immediately by the story of Iris Haim. 

Iris’s son Yotam was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th and brought into Gaza.  He and two others managed to escape and were thought to be terrorists and mistakenly killed by IDF soldiers the other day.  It’s a heartbreaking story.  And yet just days later, here is Iris speaking out to the IDF soldiers who mistakenly killed her son, telling them that she loves them.  That she wants them to visit her so she can give them a hug.  That she knows in the moment they did what they thought was right and what was needed.  Tears came to my eyes as I looked at the picture of her and Yotam while listening to her place the blame where it belongs, on Hamas for taking her son hostage, and sending love to the IDF soldiers.  I can’t imagine what she is going through nor what the IDF soldiers are going through.  It was an extraordinary expression of forgiveness and love.  I had tears in my eyes and have watched in many times to see true humanity.  You can watch the video and below it see her on TV just a few weeks ago talking about Yotam and IDF soldiers who were killed. 

I continued to explore the news and saw a horrific story about the music festival.  Hamas terrorists took the phone of an Israeli at the festival, used his facial recognition to open it, and videoed their torture of him (I won’t write what they did but you can watch the video and learn) and the murder of 9 others at the festival.  They then used his WhatsApp to send the video to all of his friends and then sent it to him mother.  I can’t imagine what his mother thought when she got a message from him, knowing he was at the festival that was under attack, opened it, and saw her son being tortured, mutilated, and humiliated and other friends being murdered.  The brutality is astounding.  I went from being inspired and overwhelmed by love to pure anger and rage.  This is why Israel can’t stop until Hamas is removed and their leadership eliminated.  They are pure evil.  Here is the video that I watched – remember there is graphic description of what happened so be prepared.

As my day came to a close, I read two more stories.  The first was about 85-year-old Yaffa Adar, who shared her story of how she survived 49 days in Hamas captivity.  “Every morning, I’d sing to myself Bocelli and say, ‘God, maybe this will bring a good day. Maybe today will bring [my release],’” she recalled, admitting that for a long time that day never came.

It reminded me of the story of Osama who I met in 2019 and was involved with Combatants for Peace.  He life was changed when he was at his lowest point in prison and was ready to give up when he heard somebody humming a song.  That music gave him hope.  A few years later, at his first Shabbat dinner, they began by singing Shalom Aleichem.  Osama broke down in tears because he realized this was the song that saved his life. 

This story inspired Andrea Bocelli as well, who wrote to Yaffa.  You can read about it and what Bocelli wrote to Yaffa here.  It’s a powerful statement about the power of music and the understanding that our actions and what we give to the world may have much more power than we ever imagine at the time we are doing.

The final story comes from a friend of mine, Sherri Mandell.  Her husband, Rabbi Seth Mandell, was the Hillel Director when I was at Penn State, but I didn’t go to Hillel and never met him there.  He left to be the Hillel Director at University of Maryland, where one of my best friends worked for him.  He later made Aliyah and lived in Tekoah. In May 2001, while living in Tekoah, his 13-year-old son, Koby Mandell, and his friend Yosef Ish Ran were murdered by terrorists near their home.   They started the Koby Mandell Foundation and that’s how and when I met Sherri and Seth. 

In the article today, she writes about how the Israeli government asked permission to show pictures of Koby and Yosef in 2001 and they declined, thinking it would be too hard on them and their family to have them public.  In the aftermath of October 7th, she questions the decision back then and grapples with the balance between personal need and the need for the world to see these atrocities because it didn’t take 30 days for people to begin denying they occurred.  It’s a powerful piece by a mother who has unfortunately dealt with this personally.  Sherri’s book, The Blessing of a Broken Heart , is the most painful book I have ever tried to read  I say tried to read because as a father, I had to put it down about halfway through because my heart was breaking and I was crying.  I tried to get through it out of a feeling of obligation, but I couldn’t.  As I read the piece by Sherri, I found myself thinking of visiting them at their home, meeting their other children, listening to them speak about Koby and the work of the foundation, my own children, and the world we live in today 

Two stories were uplifting. One was horrifying. One filled with sadness. All are emotional. As my day comes to a close, I find myself wondering both if and when we can all find the blessing of our broken hearts.

I think too much

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Since October 7th not a day goes by where I’m not thinking of Israel.  Thinking of my friends who are on the front lines.  Thinking of the children of my friends who are fighting in the IDF against Hamas.  Thinking of my friends still running to their safe rooms due to the rockets.  Thinking of my friends on the moshav who need help harvesting the crops.  Thinking of the more than 260,000 Israeli refugees who fled their homes more than 2 months ago and have been living in one hotel room for an entire family since then.  I think about what it’s like to share a hotel room with my 2 adult children for a night or two and can’t imagine more than 2 months of that being our home.  Without our things.  Without a kitchen. 

I use the term Israeli refugees instead of evacuees because I have been an evacuee.  In 1979 we lived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania when the Three Mile Island (TMI) accident happened.  We evacuated to my grandparents’ home in Connecticut for a week and then returned home.  Living in Florida, we have evacuated to my in-laws in Gainesville when a hurricane is coming.  We’re usually there for a day or two and then return home.  Spending more than two months out of your home, with no return in sight, is not being an evacuee.  It’s being a refugee.

Israel is a small country, and everybody is family.  I learn more about the cost of October 7th all the time.  I have two friends who have family members who were taken hostage by Hamas into Gaza.  Thankfully they were all returned in the last ceasefire.  I have a friend whose cousin was murdered at the music festival.  I have a friend whose son was an IDF soldier that was killed in the fighting on October 7th.  Being Jewish isn’t about our religion, it’s about being part of a people.  It’s being mishpacha, Hebrew for family.  Every day when the names of the soldiers who were killed are released, I take a deep breath and then read the names, hoping and praying that they are not names that I know.  And when they are not people that I know, I am deeply sad because they are people I will never get to know.  People who paid the ultimate sacrifice to save Israel and fight for the Jewish people.

I learned today that there is currently a 60% dropout rate in Israeli high schools.  Think about that – 60% of high school students have dropped out.  Maybe they will return when the war is over.  Maybe they won’t.  How will this affect the IDF, where they normally join after graduation?  What if they go back but are a year behind?  That means that 60% of those who would normally be joining the IDF are not.  How does this affect their long-term success, when military service and the unit you serve in is so integral to future opportunities?

A friend of mine is from Sderot, a town on the Gaza border that I have visited many times.  The playgrounds are also bomb shelters.  The movie theater is also a bomb shelter because why would anybody go to the movies if it wasn’t with the regular rockets fired by Hamas at Sderot.  I’ve been to the police station there many times where they talk to us about the ongoing rocket attacks and show us the rockets that Hamas fired at Sderot.  A friend who was in Sderot just a few weeks ago sent me a picture of the police station.  It’s gone, completely leveled.  My friend who lives there went back last week and told me that the town is empty.  There is nobody there because it’s not safe.  My heart breaks for my brothers and sisters who live on the border and are now refugees inside Israel.

My friends who live on moshav Bitzaron in southern Israel need help harvesting their crops.  I think of how I can put together a mission to help them and how I can approach my wife and children about doing that since they don’t want me to go because they are in fear for my safety in a war.  I haven’t figured out a way to bring that up in a way that wouldn’t get them angry at me for even talking about it, knowing how they feel. 

I think about the rise of antisemitism that I have seen and been talking about for a decade.  I wrote a piece with some colleagues in 2016 for the Seattle Times.  That was more than 7 years ago and yet it has grown.  And I think about the op-Ed disagreeing with me, saying that antisemitism wasn’t a problem and how frustrating it was then and how angry it makes me today.  Over the past 75 years we have convinced ourselves in the United States that we are US citizens just like anybody else.   That antisemitism was going away because of wonders of the United States and our freedom of religion.  Our Jewish history is that we forget who we are due to assimilation.  Here we are again.

In a piece by Daniel Gordis today, he wrote about how, as Jews, our history in the diaspora has always been based on the question, “How long are we going to be here until we get thrown out. Now, why would anybody think they were going to get thrown out? Because they always did.”  Whether it was England in the 1200s, the Spanish Inquisition, the pogroms in Poland/Russia in the 1800s and 1900s, Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, or the many Arab states in the more recent past, this is our history.  Once again, we are finding ourselves facing this hatred in the US and around the world.  Only now we have Israel, our homeland.

I have had a number of people reach out to me to ask questions about what’s going on in Israel and to ask for clarity on many things that they are hearing, or friends are saying to them.  It’s startling to me the lack of information that so many smart, well-educated people have.  The number of people who don’t know that Gaza hasn’t been occupied since 2005 is shocking.  Or that Gaza has a border with Egypt.  Or that the blockade didn’t occur until after Hamas took over and started raining bombs and attacking through the tunnels they built.  People don’t know that Israel has been sending in humanitarian aid and continues to increase it.  There continue to be cries for Ceasefire Now, not understanding that what they are asking for is Israel to allow Hamas to restock, rebuild, and attack again, killing more Jews and resulting in the death of more Gazans.  The lack of information is an incredible failure in Israel education.  It’s why I volunteer my time as a board member for the Center for Israel Education.  I’m proud of the work they do and we need much more of it.  Check out the website – it’s worth it and the amount of information available is incredible.

I think about the word Zionism and how many people don’t know what it means.  How many people think that it means you can’t criticize the government (I don’t know a single Israeli who doesn’t criticize the Israeli government!!).  They think it means that only Jews get to live in Israel.  They think it means that if you aren’t Jewish and are a citizen in Israel, you don’t have equal rights.  They don’t know that it’s simply the right for Jews to have self determination and a state of their own. 

Since October 7th, I think too much.  Yet if I don’t think about these things and do whatever I can to deal with them, who am I?  What do I stand for?  Each of us has a role to play.  We can speak out.  We can educate those who don’t know.  We can learn more ourselves. 

What are you going to do?

Trouble sleeping after the video so a (very) long post to discuss

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

I saw the video of the Hamas atrocities from October 7, 2023, this past Thursday, December 14, 2023.  It was 47 minutes of horrifying video of the worst that people do to each other.  It was evil incarnate.  The Israel consulate shared with us that they have even worse video that they won’t share because it’s both too horrifying and because they don’t want to traumatize the families of the victims.  After what I viewed, I completely understand and don’t want or need to see that footage.

A friend asked me the next day if I was able to sleep that night, having just witnessed these atrocities and I told them that I had slept ok and was still processing everything that I saw and that I felt and integrating it with conversations I have had with family and friends living in Israel, some actively serving in the IDF and in the middle of the war.

I appreciate the sleep I had the night of Thursday December 14 because I haven’t slept well since.  The more I process, the more I think about it, the more I share with others about the experience, the more I feel my feelings, the worse I sleep.  There is so much that disturbs me about October 7, about what I hear from my Israeli family and friends, about the news coverage and what is happening in our country, what some of our Representatives and Senators in Washington are saying and doing, the United Nations, The International Red Cross, the loss of life that is occurring, all juxtaposed on my own experiences in Israel, with Israeli-Arabs, with Israeli Druze families, and with Palestinians.  My mind constantly spins with many thoughts that consume me.

On my 2019 Encounter trip to Israel, I spent 4 days meeting with leaders of Palestinian civil society and became friends with 4 amazing people.  I have found myself thinking about them often since the video.  They want peace with Israel.  They are vocal about Israel’s right to exist.  They are the people we need to have a larger voice. 

One of them, Ali Abu-Awaad, came to Orlando and spoke to a crowd that was half Israeli just before the pandemic.  The Israelis were blown away as they had never heard a Palestinian speak like that.  I’ll never forget what he said in Ramallah and in Orlando.  “The path to peace is not through Jewish blood.  It is through Jewish hearts.  We have to give the Jewish people a reason to trust us.”  How are they doing?  What are they feeling? 

I think of Osama, who was taught to hate the ‘Yehuds’ from birth, found redemption in an Israeli jail, through Combatants for Peace, and at a Shabbat dinner.  Does he still keep a kippah in his pocket because he never knows when he’ll be invited to Shabbat dinner? (A direct quote from him).  Does he still believe in a better future or has this shaken his hope for the future.

I think of Mahmoud, the owner of the Palestinian bookstore in East Jerusalem, where the password for Wi-Fi was “JerusalemIsOurs” and yet his startling admission to us later that evening that “If Zionism means the Jews have a right to the land and we also have a right to the land, then I am a Zionist.”  This came from somebody who a few years early thought Zionism was evil.  I think of the former Hamas member and former member of the Al Aqsa Brigade that I had lunch with one day.  Are they still on a path to peace or has this brought back their hatred and desire for violence?

I think about my friends and family in Israel.  I check in regularly.  My friends and family in Jerusalem are largely safe but also emotionally impacted.  Most of them have family living elsewhere that are at risk or have children, relatives, and/or friends who are actively serving.  Reading the names of the soldiers lost every day is a painful daily occurrence where we hope and pray not to know any of the names and then feeling guilty that we didn’t know the brave soldiers who paid the ultimate price for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. 

I think about my friends who live on Bitzaron, a Moshav in the south of Israel.  On October 7 we texted via WhatsApp as they hid in their safe room, hoping that terrorists wouldn’t come to their Moshav.  We have kept in touch throughout the time since and I have shared the aching in my soul to be in Israel, volunteering, helping to cook, clean, harvest crops, or do whatever they need me to do.  They have told me not to come yet, it wasn’t safe yet, wait a little longer.   Last week they messaged me, asking if I could come to help them with harvesting the crops as many are reservists, called up to fight in this war, and they don’t have enough people to harvest the crops.  It broke my heart telling them I couldn’t come now, as my family doesn’t want me to go because of their fears for my safety.  My wife has been to Israel 5 times and knows the realities.  My kids have seen me go to Israel most of their lives and know my love and passion for the country and the people.  They know how much I want to go and yet, as of now, I won’t go in order to honor their needs.  And yet I think of Irit and Avi and the Moshav and their crops and the need for food for the country and am left so conflicted.

I think of my friends and their children who are currently serving on the front lines.  I think of their bravery.  Some close to my age yet still on the front lines.  Others are 18, 19, 20, 21 – younger than my own children – who are doing what is needed for the Jewish people and the State of Israel.  I worry about them every single day, those serving in the South and in Gaza as well as those in the north dealing with Hezbollah.  I pray for their safety and that this war ends successfully soon so they can return to their lives.

I think of my friends who have family members that were either murdered on October 7 or were taken hostage.  The two that I know were hostages have thankfully been released.  I have previously written about Hila, kidnapped at 12 years old and released the day before her 13th birthday.  I’m so grateful to everybody who went to the Amazon page we set up to buy her birthday and Hanukkah gifts so she would feel the love from the worldwide Jewish and non-Jewish community.  Everything we listed and added and added was purchased and sent to her.  Her mother was released just after Hila’s birthday, so they are together but how are they doing?  How shattered are they?  How will they recover?  I have a little relief knowing that all of us joined together to help in our small way for her birthday and for Hanukkah to bring some light to their darkness. 

I think about those who are still hostages.  Are they alive?  Do they believe we haven’t forgotten them?  What about the infant and the children?  What about the women who were raped and taken captive?  Are they still being raped?  Are some of them now pregnant with their rapist’s baby?  Will they ever be released?  We are now getting daily reports of hostages murdered in captivity by Hamas.  Are they all dead and we are just waiting to hear the news day by day?  What about the tragic shooting of 3 escaped hostages by the IDF?  Are there more hostages that escaped?  What about the IDF soldiers who shot them – they were trying to keep safe and alive and now have to live with this for the rest of their lives. 

I think about those in Gaza who will remain after Hamas is removed.  How do we take care of them so that they believe in peace and in a future without violence, with prosperity and freedom?  How and who will rebuild Gaza?  I pray it will be the Abraham Accord countries who have the resources and can help put in a new government that will benefit the people of Gaza and give them a chance for a meaningful and fulfilling life that occurs peacefully next to their neighbor, Israel.  Is there hope?  Will we lose focus and leave them to be ‘saved’ by Iranian money once again? 

I think about all those calling for a “Ceasefire Now” because it sounds wonderful and their believe it will save lives, not understanding that Hamas has said they will commit the same atrocities or worse again and again and again.  Their leadership has said this publicly, on video, multiple times.  “Ceasefire now” means let Hamas regroup, rearm, and begin to murder Israelis once again, continuing the cycle of violence and ensuring more die.  How do we help them see that evil must be eradicated.  That there is no diplomacy with evil.  The only trust that exists with evil is that they aren’t trustworthly.

I think about the International Red Cross and how they haven’t seen a single hostage in captivity in Gaza.  Their only role has been to serve as a taxi service for those being released.  How they refuse to ensure needed medication gets to the hostages.  The abject failure of this organization haunts me and angers me. 

I think about UNRWA and how ineffective they are and how they are actively keeping Hamas going and harming the citizens of Gaza.   The Gazan people are rioting and stealing the aid from the warehouses because they know Hamas will steal it from UNRWA and they won’t get the food and medicine and water being supplied daily.  I think about the UNRWA employees who kept hostages in their homes.  About the doctor at a hospital who kept a hostage in his home.  These are the ‘innocent civilians’ we hear about and they are not innocent, they are complicit.

I think about being safe in the United States and around the world.  I haven’t felt safe in a year and have taken steps and continue to take steps to ensure my safety and the safety of my family.  I wait for the violence against Jewish people in the United States to increase significantly.  I wait for the first of what I fear will be many Jewish mass casualties in the United States.

I’m sorry this is so long but now you know why I have trouble sleeping since watching the video.  You know what I think about when I am awake and when I close my eyes. 

Watching the Hamas video from October 7, 2023

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

As a passionate Zionist who has been to Israel 20 times, October 7, 2023 impacted me greatly.  I have family and friends that live in Israel, some who live in the south.  Luckily, none of my friends who live in the south were attacked by the terrorists although family of friends were at K’far Aza, and I have since met somebody from Moshav Ein Habasor who was there on October 7th.  An Israeli friend from one of my Momentum trips lost his son on October 7th.  Another friend’s cousin and her 13-year-old daughter were hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza (both have since been released, although at separate times).  I have friends who are now on the front lines in Gaza and in the north.  I have friends whose children are currently serving in the IDF and fighting the war with Hamas.  I am in daily contact with friends and family in Israel, checking in on them and making sure they are ok.  Israel and October 7th is very personal for me.  So, when I heard that the Israel Consulate in Florida was hosting briefings and showing the 47-minute video of the Hamas atrocities around the State of Florida, I knew we had to do it in Central Florida.  I reached out to the consulate, and we scheduled it for Thursday December 14, 2023 at 9 am.

Our target was legislators, media, law enforcement, University Presidents, local Rabbis, and targeted community members.  Our local state representatives showed up, law enforcement showed, and the targeted community members showed.  We had some media but no University Presidents.  The nearly 40 people in attendance were a good cross section of our targeted audience.

I was apprehensive about watching the video.  I had read plenty about it and knew it was going to be awful.  A true representation of people’s inhumanity to people.  I also knew that for me, I had an obligation to bear witness to what Hamas terrorists did and owed it to the victims to watch.  As the video started, the room was eerily silent.  This silence continued through the entire video.

I don’t want to get into the details of the entire video.  Others have done that.  For me, there were a few things that struck me deep and will remain with me forever. 

I want to warn you that these are graphic descriptions.

The Hamas terrorist calling his parents to brag about having killed “10” or “at least 10” Jews.  The excitement in his voice was bone chilling.  Yet, for me, what was worse was listening to his mother’s response.  “Kill, Kill, Kill” is what she told him.  This was a recording made by Hamas to document the excitement of murdering Jews.

The Hamas terrorist, reporting to his superior, about the Jews that he had decapitated.  He brags about cutting off their heads and shooting them in the head.  And the Hamas supervisor telling him to bring the heads back to Gaza so they could ‘play with them’.  Another recording made by Hamas.

The dog at a Kibbutz – you see him in the distance barking and running towards the terrorists.  You know what is going to happen before it does.  And then it does – the terrorist shoots the dog three times, killing it. 

A father and his two sons racing through their house in their underwear to get to the safe room ahead of the terrorists.  They get there but the Hamas terrorists throw a grenade into the room before they can shut the door.  The father jumps on the grenade to save his sons, sacrificing himself in the process.  The children are taken by Hamas back to the kitchen where the Hamas terrorist opens the fridge, takes a drink, then grabs a bottle of Diet Coke and starts drinking it.  The boys are distraught.  One has lost the vision in one eye and as you look closely you can see it is clearly damaged.  They cry for their father who they know is dead.  And they wail, “why am I still alive?”.  They end up being left alone and run away.  Their sadness and cries are something I will never forget.

A dead Israeli lies on the floor while a Hamas terrorist take a hoe and tries to decapitate him.  His body bounces with each blow towards his neck.  The terrorist gives up as it’s not happening easily.  The hoe hitting his head and neck and his body bouncing is something I will always remember.

Watching a Hamas video as the terrorist takes a knife to the neck of a dead IDF soldier and begins to carve away, finally removing the soldier’s head from his body.  You see him slice through the neck.  You see the graphic detail of a beheading.  Then, holding it by the top of his helmet, he walks out of the room, leaving the headless body lying on the floor.

Hamas terrorists bringing dead Israeli bodies back to Gaza.  The Gazan people in the streets celebrating as the bodies are rolled into the street.  The people of Gaza kicking and punching the dead bodies of Israelis, spitting on them.  The cheers and joy in their faces as they assault the dead bodies of Israeli citizens.  The pure hatred coming from the people of Gaza, the ‘innocent civilians’, as they celebrate the murder of Israeli citizens. 

The Hamas terrorists capture a room full of women.  The video cuts to the women being led out of the room, clearly after a period of time.  As you watch their reactions, you can tell that they were abused.  Some can’t look up.  Some have blood on their pants in the crotch and their backside.  We were later told by the consulate that there are graphic rape scenes that out of respect for the women, are not shown or included in the video.  Hearing that made watching these women even more painful.

IDF soldiers going into a home in a Kibbutz.  As they enter, the floor is covered in blood.  The walls are splattered with blood.  The deeper they go into the house, the more blood that is on the floor.  It’s literally a red floor painted with blood.  Huge pools in some places.  The brutality that must have occurred for that much blood to be in the entire house.

A number of houses where the bodies were burned beyond recognition, some mainly being ash.  Some decapitated and then burned.  Some barely recognizable as human.  And the sheer number of them that were burned alive. 

The desperation in the voices of the responders to the music festival massacre as they arrive and try to see if anybody is alive there.  As they walk through, they call ‘is anybody there’ and get no reply.  They begin by counting the number of dead people and reporting it but they stop quickly as there simply are too many dead bodies.  “Everybody on the stage is dead” they report. “Everybody in the concessions is dead” they report.  The camera shows the massive number of dead bodies that were massacred by the Hamas terrorists while they were at a music festival.  I had seen the video before but never heard the desperation in the voices of those responding to the massacre. 

The faces of the terrorists after each person they murder.  The smiles.  The joy.  The happiness.  Once proclaims, “This is my first kill!” with such joy and excitement it burned inside me.  I’ll never forget the faces of the terrorists and the joy they had in murdering Jews.  The celebration.  The clear rush of adrenaline they had and their desire to kill more and more and more.  I don’t like to hate.  It’s a powerful and negative emotion that only causes harm, however with each of these faces I found myself hating them, wanting them to be hunted down like the animals they showed themselves to be.  It’s not who I am yet it is who they are.

The video was 47 minutes long and there were 35-40 people in the room.  It was completely silent for the entire 47 minutes.  Watching the footage was difficult and painful.  It tore at my insides.  I found myself clenching my teeth throughout much of it as the anger and sadness and pain overwhelmed me. 

I’m still processing what I watched.  I’m still processing the horrors of the Hamas terrorists.  I know there is a sadness and hole inside me because of October 7th that after seeing it is bigger than it was before.  The urge to do something and make a difference is far greater than it was just 12 hours ago. 

Hamas is evil.  And we must fight evil with everything that we have.  If we allow evil to live, it only grows, it never dies of its own accord.  War is terrible and nobody wants it, however Hamas must be eliminated.  The evil that was done on October 7th is just the beginning if we don’t stop it now.  The leadership of Hamas have told us this directly.  Watching this video showed just how evil they are and that we need to believe them when they say they will do what they did on October 7th over and over and over and over again.  And that they will bring it to Europe, America, and Canada. 

The sacrifice of the father, the faces and cries of his sons, the faces of the women captured by Hamas, and the joy on the faces of these evil men will never leave me. 

Am Yisrael Chai

Ein Habesor and the impact of October 7

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Thursday morning, I went to an early breakfast with people from City Serve, an organization that is doing great work in Israel.  They are particularly focused on Ein Habesor, a Moshav near the Gaza border.  On October 7, 2023, the terrorists of Hamas attacked Ein Habesor and thanks to the bravery of some members of the Moshav, there were no casualties and no hostages taken from the Moshav.  However, nearly 60% of Israel’s produce comes from the area and the Thai workers returning to Thailand, many other workers being recalled to serve in the IDF during the war, and the members of the Moshav being relocated to the Dead Sea for safety, there aren’t enough workers to harvest the fields.  City Serve is working to help with getting the fields harvested and raising money to help take care of the needs of the members of the Moshav while they are living in hotel rooms at the Dead Sea.  These are all worthy and important causes, however that isn’t what I found most impactful from the conversation.

One of the people at breakfast was Dr. Yftach Gepner who lives on the Ein Habesor moshav.  On the morning of October 7, his brother, with one M-16, defended the moshav from the terrorists, getting the gates closed and keeping them from getting inside to murder, rape, and kidnap the Israelis who live and work there.  In the process of defending the moshav, he was shot in the shoulder and the bullet remained inside him.  As a physician, Dr Gepner knew he needed to get him to a hospital as the bullet could have gone anywhere and could have damaged internal organs.  You may have heard and read about the rest of the story.  Dr Gepner put his brother in the passenger seat of their Tesla, laid it flat, and began racing on back roads to get his brother to the hospital, which normally is 20 minutes away.  His Tesla was attacked by the terrorists and shot more than 100 times, yet he was able to keep driving, sometimes in reverse to get away from them.  It took him two hours to get to the hospital while escaping the hostages.  During the escape, his brother was shot again in the hip, breaking it.  He needed surgery and this hospital couldn’t provide it so Dr Gepner hot-wired an ambulance and stole it, giving his brother an IV to ensure his survival during the drive.  Not only did his brother get the surgery he needed, but merely weeks later he was back on the moshav, patrolling the grounds to keep it safe.  The story was inspiring on so many levels and made me want to go to Israel to volunteer even more – helping pick vegetables, cooking meals, or cleaning – doing anything that is needed from a 50+ year old.

Another of the people at the breakfast flew to Israel immediately after October 7 and was taken to Kibbutz Nir Oz.  As he spoke, his voice increased in volume, and you could feel his pain.  He shared that he had to step over dead bodies and personally saw decapitated babies, babies with limbs cut off, and true heinous crimes.  My heart broke listening to his personal experience of the horror of this Hamas attack.

City Serve is raising money to help the people of Ein Habesor.  If you are moved to give, 100% of your gift will go to the people, and there is a $150,000 match so every dollar becomes two.  You can give by clicking here.

In America, we often like to think that everybody is like us.  That everybody has the same values and morals that we do.  That it is common and normal to value human life and that we do anything to protect and safe it.  It is one of our most endearing qualities and one of our most dangerous, and many other cultures do NOT hold the same values and morals.  Their behavior shows us who they are and too often we refuse to believe them.  Hamas has shown true evil.  They have shown who they are and what they believe and value.  They do not value human life, shown through the use of human shields and turning schools, hospitals, private homes, and mosques into military bases.  They have shown they don’t value human life through the attacks on October 7th when they murdered, raped, kidnapped, and decapitated innocent civilians.  There is no moral equivalency and there is nothing to do but to eliminate them. 

Yesterday, listening to Dr Gepner describe October 7 at Ein Habesor and hearing the other person speak about what they saw at Nir Oz, was powerful and painful.  As a proud Zionist and Jew, it strengthened my resolve to continue advocating for Israel and to embrace and express Judaism.  October 7 was a wakeup call not just to Israel but to all Jews around the world.  Hiding doesn’t get us anywhere.  Rallying as a community, like they have done in Israel, is the answer.

Robert Frost’s poetry and antisemitism

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Since October 7th, I have found myself thinking very differently about life in general, the world we live in, values, morals, and ethics.  I no longer wonder how the Holocaust/Shoah could have happened, how people could stay quiet, turn a blind eye, or even defend what the Nazis were doing.  I see it daily.

I have been reading things that before October 7 I didn’t.  I have been exploring different writers and topics to broaden my mind and to keep my heart open in a time when it is broken daily. I was struck by this line of poetry from Robert Frost’s, “After Apple-Picking”.

I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.

With the rise of antisemitism over the past decade and what we have seen in the past two months, I have found myself exhausted dealing with all the hate.  My family is scared of being publicly Jewish and won’t let me put out an Israeli flag, inflatable Hanukkah decorations, and don’t like me wearing my Israel or IDF hoodie or my new Israeli soccer jersey.  I want to go to Israel to volunteer in the fields or at a hospital and they don’t want me to do that either.  So, I think of Robert Frost’s words above. 

What a great harvest we have had as American Jews over the past 75 years.  We wanted to be accepted and we were.  We wanted to be publicly Jewish, and we were able to be publicly Jewish.  Mezuzahs on our doors with no fear of reprisal.  Hanukkiahs in our windows with no fear of vandalism.  Wearing our Chai’s or Magen David’s around our necks, outside our shirts, proclaiming our Judaism.  Wearing IDF t-shirts or hoodies in public, flying Israeli flags from our flagpoles, big signs identifying our Jewish organizations and synagogues.  What a great harvest.  Everything we could have desired.

And I am overtired of what it is like today.  The growing public hate.  The nastiness, antisemitism and Jew hatred on social media.  The threat of physical violence because we are Jewish.  The fear of having public statements of being on Jewish on our homes or outside our homes or in our windows.  Feeling the need to hide a necklace in public with a Jewish symbol.  Wondering if it’s safe to wear a hoodie supporting Israel or a t-shirt that says Israel on it. 

Throughout history, the Jewish people have lived mostly in exile and have become part of the societies in which we lived.  And yet we had pogroms.  We had the Shoah.  And we have this growing antisemitism and Jew hate in America and around the world. The Presidents of MIT, Harvard, and The University of Pennsylvania could not state, in front of Congress, that threatening a genocide of Jews on campus would violate their policies. 

In today’s world, it’s critical that we do two things.  First, invest in our Jewish community.  This means our time, talent, and treasure.  It’s how we have survived for thousands of years.  This is not a time to abandon being Jewish, but rather to invest in being Jewish.   Secondly, we much reach out to our non-Jewish friends and colleagues and ensure we have their support.  The growing hate is not limited to Jew hatred and together we can stand up to hate. 

As Robert Frost so eloquently stated,

I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.

I desire something different today.  I desire the end of hatred.  I desire the support of my Jewish community.  I desire the support of my non-Jewish friends.  Of those things, I will not be overtired and will be energetic and passionate.  And it’s a far greater harvest.

The effect of October 7, 2023

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

October 7, 2023, changed my life.  I remember when President Reagan was shot, where I was, and how I felt.  Even today, when I stay at the Washington Hilton, I walk the path he did and remember how I felt.  I remember 9/11 and watching the towers being hit and then collapsing.  I visited Ground Zero that December and will always remember the heat that still emanated from the area, the smell, and the sadness that permeated the air.  Neither of these prepared me for October 7, 2023, and the ensuing time afterwards.

I am a proud American, a proud Jew, and a proud Zionist.  I have defended America to friends in England while studying abroad for a month in high school in 1984.  I have had deep conversations about Judaism with people who are not Jewish about Judaism and what it means and what we stand for.  And Zionism, not a 4-letter word, means that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination in our ancient homeland.  I have had many, many conversations with people of all backgrounds and faiths about Israel and Zionism, what it really means, and what misinformation is put out about Israel and Zionism.  I have spoken out against inequality against the African American community, the LGBTQ+ community, the Muslim community, against sexual predators and rapists, and hate in general.  As antisemitism began to increase over the past two years, I was the point person for the news in Central Florida and spoke passionately about hate, the need to stand up to ALL hate, and how if we don’t, the hatred merely moves from one community to the other.  So, on October 7th, I hoped that all minority groups would stand up against the terrorist organization Hamas and Jew hatred and state inequivalently that it was not acceptable and would not be tolerated.  My hopes were quickly dashed.

On October 8th, I began noticing a trend.  Israel and the Jewish people were blamed for the attack.  We were responsible for savage terrorists raping, murdering, and kidnapping innocent civilians.  The more details came out, the more horrified I was with what Hamas had done, the more people around the world blamed Jews.  I have been speaking out against the rise of antisemitism, Jew hatred, for the past decade.  It seems that this very public attack against the Jewish state and its citizens, regardless of their religion, unleashed the floodgates of Jew hatred.

We have seen this outpouring of Jew hatred on college campuses, amongst celebrities, and on social media.  Perhaps the most frightening thing for me has been the complete lack of understanding by people who spew Jew hatred about Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, the State of Israel, the Jewish people, and Cease Fire Now.  And their lack of interest in learning or understanding what’s really going on.

For the last 10 years I have been speaking out about the growth of Jew hatred.  Jews in America and the diaspora are far too similar to the Jews in Germany before Hitler.  We think we are the same as every other citizen.  We think we may be ‘white’ and ‘American’ but in reality, we are Jews.  That’s how we will always be seen regardless of how much we want to integrate into society.  And the world hates Jews. 

As the head of Hamas continues to say publicly that October 7 was merely the beginning and it will happen again and again and be worse each time, as the temporary cease-fire prepares to end, as Hezbollah in the north increases their attacks, as the Houthis in Yemen stop ships and fire rockets, we are in for a rough ride in the near future.  It’s why we need to come together as a community.  Because if we aren’t for ourselves, nobody else will be.

Hostage return – personal connection

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Being Jewish is being part of a huge extended family.  That never hit home as strongly as on October 7th when Hamas brutally attacked Israel, raping, murdering, beheading, and kidnapping innocent civilians.  With so many friends and family in Israel, I found myself using WhatsApp to reach out to them and see how they were doing while frantic that some of them may have been murdered or kidnapped. 

Since October 7th, it’s only been more intense. 

I have a friend from K’far Aza whose parents were luckily not there on October 7th.  Her brother and sister-in-law and their children were there and hid in their safe room where they luckily were not found.  

I have friends in the IDF reserves who have been called up and are on the front lines in Gaza and in the north.  I have friends who have children in the IDF or in the reserves who have been called up.  Every day I check the list of those injured or killed to make sure none of them are my friends or my friends’ children.  So far, there has only been one that lost their life fighting the Hamas terrorists.

Yesterday I learned that two of the hostages taken are the cousins of friends of mine.  13-year-old Hila Rotem-Shoshani was returned home on Sunday after 50 days of captivity.  Her mother Raaya was not returned and is still a hostage in Gaza.  Hamas is claiming they don’t even know where she is.  And yesterday, Monday November 27th, was Hila’s 13th birthday. 

As part of our Jewish family, I’m working with my friend Samantha Lerman, Hila’s cousin, to get her the birthday presents she wants.  It’s important to send Hila the message that she isn’t alone and has an entire Jewish family around the world who loves her and cares for her.  Will you help provide her with this message?  

The Talmud teaches us Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh La Zeh, that all of Israel is responsible for one another.  This has never been more clear than since October 7th. Let’s all get together and show Hila how much she is loved by her global Jewish family.  Let’s show her that while her mother is still in captivity, there is an entire worldwide Jewish family that loves her and wants to celebrate her birthday.  It’s our chance to make a big difference in a little way. 

Here is an Amazon link for her wish list.  There are other items she has asked for that aren’t on the wish list.  If you are inclined to donate towards those, you can send your donation to Samantha’s Venmo at @samantha-lerman.  Let’s help Hila’s worst birthday become better as she feels the love from her worldwide family.

Hila and her mom Raaya

Keith in Israel: November 13, 2022

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

The trip ended on Sunday.  The entire day was focused on how to end and wrap up this experience while ensuring the journey continues.  And it was AWESOME.  There was a great session in which the funding for Momentum was explained and one of the men on the trip offered a $100,000 match if we combined to give that much.  We exceeded the match.  If you aren’t aware, your favorite nonprofits can only do the work they do, can only provide the services they provide, with philanthropic support.  So just like we supported Momentum because of the impact of the trip, I urge you to support the nonprofits whose work you value and appreciate.

Keith on the beach in Ir Yamim.

One of the highlights for me today was in the afternoon when most of our group went shopping on Ben Yehuda Street and then went for a late lunch to CRAVE in Machane Yehuda.  This Kosher burger place offers amazing food including bacon (from lamb) cheeseburgers (vegan cheese) and the most amazing brisket bites I have ever had.  We hung out, ate, laughed, and enjoyed being together in the shuk and in Israel.  It really shows how much we have bonded this week and how much we enjoy each other’s company.

The closing banquet had outstanding food (I was too full from lunch to eat) and a great program.  We ended with a rousing singing of Am Yisrael Chai. 

If you’ve never heard over 160 men screaming “Am Yisrael Chai’ at the top of their lungs, let me tell you, it’s amazing.  It’s inspiring.  And it’s exciting.  It’s also incredibly meaningful. 

We said our goodbyes, gave lots of hugs to people from Orlando that we’ll see soon and people from around the country and in Israel that we won’t, and boarded buses for either the airport or Tel Aviv.  I extended my trip by an additional day and headed to Ir Yamim with my friend Remo to stay at his parents house.  We got there and crashed, exhausted from the week.

In the morning, we sat on the balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, enjoying the beauty.  We went for coffee and breakfast at a local café and walked the beach.  We sat and had another coffee at a café on the beach.  And we continued walking the beach back to the condo.  It was an incredible start to the day.  We too his parents car to Netanya just up the road and walked around exploring, got Boba Tea, and headed off to our real plan for the day – horseback riding on the beach.

At the ranch in Netanya.

We were heading to a ranch just north of Netanya.  It was off some serious back roads and when we got there, I was stunned at the beauty of the ranch and just how many horses were there.  They prepped us for our ride, got us our horses, and off we went with our guide.  For the next 90 minutes we rode all over the beach, back roads, and even got to have the horses run a little bit.  We talked to our guide, Shiloh, and learned that he was born in Jerusalem and was Haredi (very observant) growing up but left that life for the connection he felt with the horses.  It was exhilarating and fun.  I could have kept riding for another 90 minutes.  I have been to Israel 20 times and I have never gone horseback riding on the beach before.  I can promise you this won’t be the last time.

Enjoying the ride with Remo Eyal on the beach in Netanya.

We left the ranch and headed to a restaurant on the beach where we had amazing hummus and eggplant.  The fish for dinner was excellent and the view of the sea was exquisite.  The cool weather, wind, and sunset filled my heart with joy and love for this country.  A perfect ending to the day and this visit.  Because Remo had a business call on the drive home, I got to drive.  While I have been here many times, I have never driven in Israel before so I got another new experience.  Luckily traffic was light and the other drivers weren’t too bad and we arrived safely in time to get a quick rest before heading to the airport and my 1 am flight home.

This has been a truly exceptional trip and I will share my overall thoughts in one last post but not here.  Momentum provides a great way to visit Israel and to explore yourself.  Israel is an amazing country that can nourish your soul.  I haven’t even left for the airport yet and I’m already exciting and thinking about my next trip in 2023.  I hope you come with me on that trip and we can explore Israel together.

Keith in Israel: November 11 and 12, 2022

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

Shabbat.  What a great concept that seems so difficult to take advantage of.  25 hours of complete disconnect, rest, and enjoyment.  For some reason, we struggle with it.  Yet in Israel, it becomes second nature.

We began Friday by walking to the Great Synagogue.  It’s a building I fell in love with the first time I saw it and last year I even went to services there to experience it.  We began with a great session led by Harry Rothenberg.  Harry is the best Jewish Educator I have ever experienced and it’s not even close.  He makes it accessible, relevant and interesting.  You could hear the buzz and the back and forth.  The hour flew by.  And the best part is that Harry’s day job is as an attorney!   He’s going to come back to Orlando and when he does, don’t miss the chance to experience him.

In the Great Synagogue.

After Harry finished, we had a break for coffee, tea and snacks.  One thing about Israel – you eat nonstop!   Ari Shabat then talked to us about Shabbat, the opportunity it is, and shared a bit about his family history.  It was a great hour session as well.  And then, around noon, we were free the rest of the day until it was time to head to the Old City for Shabbat.

We took off walking to Machane Yehuda, the shuk in Jerusalem.  On Fridays it is jammed packed as people get the rest of the things they need for Shabbat.  It was no different.  The aisles were packed, you had to push to get through, and the energy was incredible.  I made sure to get to Gluless for my Gluten Free Challahs (they are delicious), get some dates (they are amazing here) and a few other items.  Then it was time to head back to my hotel for a little nap before we left for the old city.

As I was getting ready to walk to the old city, dear friends who were here from Miami for the Alyn Children’s Hospital bike ride messaged me.  They were in the old city so we made arrangements to meet at the Jaffa Gate.  It was so great to see them and hang out for a little bit to catch up.  As I have said before, one of the best things about Israel is who I get to see because they happen to be here.

Meeting with friends Brad and Lauren Sokol.

Then it was off to Aish HaTorah for our Shabbat prep.  We had a chance for a nosh (it’s Israel so you eat before you eat) and be prepared for the experience by Charlie Harary.  We walked to the Kotel, gathered together, and began services.  Having 160 men plus staff there was incredible.  We made a huge circle around Charlie and we prayed, sang, and danced.  The energy level was unbelievable.  People around us began staring and videoing us.  A group of Israeli soldiers joined us with the singing and dancing.  A few Hassidic men joined us as well.  It was infectious.  I never felt like I was being observed before until I looked up at all the people videoing us!!  I saw one of the guys on our bus get a video so I asked him to send it to me.

After being exhausted from praying, singing and dancing, we went back to Aish for dinner.  It was a great festive dinner with too much food and lots of fun, culminating with dessert on the roof of Aish, one of the great views in the world.  It’s truly inspiring to be that high up – to see what would have been the Temple Mount and to imagine what it looked like 2000 years ago.   We walked home and I crashed hard.  I have the beginning of a little head cold and really felt it.

On Shabbat morning, the head cold had gotten worse so I stayed in bed instead of hearing the two speakers.  I’ve heard them before and they are both amazing but I had to get a little better.  I walked to Shabbat lunch and joined the group where we had a great time.  On the way back we stopped at First Station for coffee and the hang out and talk.  The weather was amazing, there was live music playing, and we had a great time.  I think one of my favorite things about this trip is the deep conversations we have naturally.

It was time to head back and get ready for Havdallah in the Old City at the home of Aba and Pamela Clayman.  It is a truly spectacular home overlooking both the Temple Mount and the plaza of the old city.  We had snacks while they talked to us about the work they do to help IDF soldiers and had a chance to hear from 4 different soldiers about what they do to keep us and the State of Israel safe.  Although I heard about this organization last year, I was inspired once again.  Then we headed to their roof for Havdallah.  Incredible views.  Lots of singing and dancing.  A true celebration.

The view from the Claymans roof.

But the day isn’t over!!  We headed to the Mamila Mall leaving through the Jaffa Gate.  Mamila is a rebuilt property that has the ancient feel of Jerusalem with modern stores.  We sat and had coffee and talked until it was time for dinner.  We went to a dairy restaurant in Mamila that was incredible.  Once again the conversation was outstanding and we had a great time.

We left dinner and headed back towards our hotel.  As we walked, what did we see?  A Hassid playing the guitar.  Instead of Israeli or Jewish music, he was playing Hotel California.  We got behind him in a semi-circle and began to sing with him.  It was a blast and we laughed, sang, and then tipped him nicely.  Only in Israel!!

Singing Hotel California with a Hassid in Jerusalem. What an amazing experience

On the way back we stopped at the windmill for some views of Jerusalem at night.  It was beautiful and a great chance to enjoy the weather and the company.

Shabbat was an incredible day filled with fun and meaning.  Tomorrow is the last day of the trip which is sad.  I am staying an extra day which will help a little bit with the depression that always comes when I leave Israel.

This country is filled with so much.  If you haven’t been or haven’t been in a while, I urge you to come or come back.  It will change your life.