Tag: safe-rooms

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.

Iran, Israel, the US, the UK and a surprise from Jordan

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

I had a totally different topic for this blog post and was in the middle of writing it when the alerts came out that Iran had launched drones at Israel.  It quickly became 50+, 100+ and the final report is more than 300 drones. Iran launched cruise and ballistic missiles.  Yemen has launched drones.  Hezbollah launched drones and rockets.  The US came to the support of Israel.  American forces intercepted drones in the skies over Iraq and Syria.

This image, from the NY Post, shows where things came from yesterday.

Reports indicate that British fighter jets stationed in Cyprus will assist in intercepting the drones.  Jordan launched planes and shot down those that came through their airspace.  Egypt closed it’s airspace and said they would destroy anything that came through it. Iran has said they will attack US bases if there is any US offensive involvement.  There was no way I could finish the blog I intended to write with this going on.

So, I’m going to write about where we are.  These are my opinions.  They are my hopes, dreams, concerns, and fears.  I will be wrong about many of them, and we will find out in the coming days what I was right about, what I was wrong about, and what things are yet to be determined.  I’m going to write them now anyway, even as things are developing moment by moment and by the time this is published, some of what I write may be dated.

Most people expected an Iranian response after the bombing of the headquarters of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria.  The IRCG is a branch of the Iranian military that has been designated by the US as a terrorist organization.  The retaliation was expected to happen after Ramadan, so it’s not a surprise that Iran did something.  I’m not sure anybody expected that it would 300+ drones with bombs, cruise, and ballistic missiles, or that it would come from Iran, Yemen, and Hezbollah.  As I watched TV, last night, reading my WhatsApp updates from both the IDF and the Bernie News Network (an amazing way to get updates), I am filled with so many different emotions.

My first reaction was “this is what happens when you allow evil to remain.”  I have written at length about evil and how it needs to be destroyed.  The world’s inability to eradicate evil when we see it, leads to things like this.  Hamas is evil and must be removed.  There are no excuses to not remove them.  The leadership of Iran is evil.  As Iranian people.  I have friends both of Iranian decent and who live in Iran currently and they hate the government.  Hezbollah is evil.  The Houthis are evil.  As long as we are willing to allow evil to remain, to continue, for any reason, we put the world at risk.  Yesterday was a good example of why Israel must go into Rafa and eliminate Hamas.  It’s why we can’t continue to attempt diplomacy with Iran.  Their government is evil and cannot be trusted.  They only respond to strength.

My second reaction was to reach out to my family and friends in Israel to check on them.  With this many drones and missiles fired at Israel from multiple directions, the entire country is on lockdown.  Everybody is concerned.  My friends with young children were playing games with them to keep them calm as they were in their safe room.  Those with adult children serving in the IDF are concerned not only about their own safety but the safety of their children.  Those without children at home were trying to sleep but obviously couldn’t.  And my friends that are single were sharing their confidence in Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and the Arrow 3 Israel has in place.  I reached out to two friends in the IDF.  One responded that ‘it will be a long night’.  The other, a high-ranking officer, did not respond as I’m sure he was involved in high level, secret meetings about the response to Iran’s attack, when and how Israel will enter Rafa, or some other critical matter.  October 7th was personal for me and many diaspora Jews.  The attack today is another personal attack, a day I won’t forget. 

Drones and missles over Jerusalem being shot down by Iron Dome and David’s Sling.

As I watched the news, once again I was amazed as people blamed Israel for Iran’s attack.  People defending the Iranian government and this massive attack.  People trying to separate Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis from Iran.  I found myself getting very angry listening to them spin responsibility, saying Israel deserved to have 300+ suicide drones ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles fired at the entire country, targeting civilian and military targets.  The video of Iron Dome in effect over Temple Mount is a spectacular example of targeting non-military targets.

Drones flying over the Temple Mount. Thanks to Iron Dome, nothing was damaged and nobody injured.

I think about our US government and those who voted against funding Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and the Arrow 3 technology.  These are defensive technologies, designed only to save lives.  They have no purpose other than to save the lives of civilians from terrorists firing rockets, missiles, and drones at Israel.  The members of the US House and Senate who don’t support Iron Dome funding are even more clearly antisemitic.  The only reason to have them is to save the lives of all Israeli citizens and those who live in Israel.  When they vote against this funding, they are saying that Israeli lives don’t matter.  On a day like today, when hundreds of rockets and missiles are fired at Israel, the need for this technology is even clearer.  I’ve written about how October 7th has changed me.  The events of today have impacted me as well.  Those who won’t support Iron Dome and defensive technology designed to save lives are people who I view as wanting me and all Jews to be dead.  If they had their way, many Israelis would have been killed.  My friends and family.  If I happened to be there, me.  And they’d be happy if I was killed here.  That makes them people who shouldn’t be in office and who I feel an obligation to do what I can to have them lose their positions.  Today, and their actions, have made me an activist.

The Arrow 3 system defeating a ballistic missile in space. This video has gone viral on X with over 850k views since I posted it.

Here is the list of the 9 who voted against Iron Dome and the two who voted ‘present’ in case you want to be an activist as well.

From Top L-R Reps. Jesus Garcia, Raul Grijalva, Rashida Tlaib, Thomas Massie, Andre Carson, Marie Newman, Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Hank Johnson. (Composite/AP)

Israel isn’t alone.  Despite some of the challenges with the Biden Administration and the House and Senate, the United States joined with the UK and Saudi Arabia to deploy jets from Cyprus to defend Israel and shoot down drones and rockets before they arrived in Israel.  Jordan directly intercepted drones targeting Israel.  Egypt closed its airspace and activated its air defense systems.  Not too long ago that would have been an unthinkable thing to say.  A few days ago, it was Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iraq trying to talk Iran into not doing anything.  Another unthinkable statement just a few years ago.  Both Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are still on track to normalize relations with Israel in the future.  Despite the rise in antisemitism, despite the worldwide criticism of Israel in the war with Gaza, despite the negativity Israel faces in the media, Israel is not alone.  As Jews, we don’t have to be alone either.  We can build relationships with different groups to that we are there for them in their time of need and they will be there for us in our time of need.  Just like it took Israel a great deal of effort to make the Abraham Accords a reality and it’s taking hard work to get Saudi Arabia and Indonesia to normalize relations, it takes a lot of hard work to build those relationships.  So start now. 

A cruise missile shot down in Jordan. 8 months ago, the idea of Jordan helping defend Israel was unthinkable.

While the drones and missiles that Iran fired have largely been neutralized today with minimal damage and injuries, it is far from over.  Israel will retaliate.  Iran has threated the US directly and any other nation that gets involved to help Israel.  Will China and/or Russia get involved?  Is this the start of World War 3 or will it pass.  Nobody knows at this point but what we do know is that we must remove the evil for if we don’t, it will grow.  It will spread.  It will come to the United States, and we will face attacks on our own soil.  We will be in a far worse position for allowing it to remain than to do the hard work to eliminate it.  Eliminating evil isn’t easy.  It isn’t pretty.  It won’t come without criticism from those who don’t understand the power of evil and the cost of eliminating it.  We must do it anyway.  The cost of removing evil is less than the cost of letting it remain, grow, and flourish.

As we move into a new day, we have heard that the Biden administration has told Israel that while Israel will always have the support of the US in defending herself, the US will NOT be involved with any retaliation against Iran.  Once again, the infatuation of this administration with diplomatic attempts with the Iranian government, who doesn’t believe in diplomatic solutions and only strength, is astonishing.  They are correct that the incredible defense by Israel and her allies is a major win against Iran but without a response, Iran will only see weakness.  The message they receive is that this time it was stopped but we can do it again and again until it actually works.  There must be consequences.  The lack of consequences is why the government of Iran continues to terrorize and brutalize their citizens.  It’s why they ignore the nuclear sanctions and continue to develop a nuclear weapon.  The Iranian government lives by the words my father ingrained in my while I grew up, “Talk is cheap” and “Show me, don’t tell me.”  Iran needs to be shown there are consequences and a slap on the wrist or telling them they were bad doesn’t do it.  Israel will respond because they understand the need for strength.  They understand that without showing strength, you lose.  And losing for Israel means not existing.

I spoke to a friend of mine in Toronto late last night.  I didn’t realize that while I was captivated by the news and checking on my friends in Israel, in Toronto they were in the streets cheering Iran’s attack.  While the Israeli people were being terrorized by the sirens, hiding in safe rooms, listening to the explosions above their heads, Jews in Toronto were being terrorized by people in the streets.  This is another example of the power of weakness.  I was immensely sad chatting with my friend in Toronto.  She shouldn’t have to go through this.  Her husband and sons shouldn’t have to go through this.  The Jews of Toronto shouldn’t have to go through this.  Canadians will support the rights of anybody EXCEPT the Jews.  This is the world we live in today and unless we are willing to be activists, unless we are willing to stand up and speak out, unless we are willing to show strength and fight back, we will live in terror.  I refuse to live in terror or be a part of allow this to continue.  That’s my choice – you have to make your own and live with it. 

While Israel survived this first attack by Iran with minimal damage, it is only the beginning.  The world must face the fact that Iran is evil.  Their own people hate their government and have tried to resist while the world stood by and watched.  Now it is Israel who will fight back.  Who will escalate the situation.  The world can’t sit by quietly.  They must choose a side.  Let’s hope they choose good over evil.  Let’s hope they understand the fight they are in and that the price, while high, to eliminate evil is worth it. 

Am Yisrael Chai

PS:

Jews are used to being attacked and persecuted. As such we have developed a sense of humor that even in horrible times, we use to cope. Here are two items that in the midst of this horror, I found amusing and lightened my spirit just a little. I hope they do for you.