Parashat Ki Tavo Deuteronomy 26:1 - 29:8 This weeks Devar Torah was written by Wayne Keil, Beth Torah COO Azaka Sderot. Azaka Tel Aviv. Azaka Moatza Ezorit Shaar Hanegev. Azaka Ezorit Sdot Negev.Azaka Moatza Ezorit Eshkol. Azaka Moatza Ashkelon. Azaka Ashdod. Or perhaps to give you a better understanding... Azaka North Miami Beach. Azaka Aventura. Azaka Hollywood. Azaka Sunny Isles. Azaka Coral Gables. Thats what it sounded like every time I got into the car in Israel. Each time I go to Israel is a different experience and each time I visit I try to learn more Hebrew. The first word I learned this year was azaka. I learned it at the Hertz rental desk. The young woman at the desk told me if I heard an azakah while driving I needed to pull off to the side of the road as quickly as possible, exit the car, and lie down on the ground with my hands covering my head until the azaka stopped. Then I needed to wait a few minutes for the pieces of the rocket to fall to the ground. I was not to stay in the car because the glass exploding from the windows would kill me. A voice comes over the radio, which you keep on in your car at all times, to let you know where there is an azaka. Its not always easy to hear them when you are driving and the windows are up and the music is on. So in the middle of a song a deep voice will come on and say Azaka Sderot or some other place. He will say it calmly just like I did. Azaka means alarm, or siren, if you have not guessed by now, and when you hear one, it definitely gets your attention. Welcome to Israel in the summer of 2014. Where the site of an empty airport and a lack of traffic driving on the Ayalon through Tel Aviv was the norm when I was there and probably again for the moment. When we arrived in Herzliyah Pituach at Cinthyas parents home, I learned my second new word. Meeklat. The discussion was about always knowing where one was and how to get to it. They had one in their house but the entire house is built like a bunker and they had not gone into it. A meeklat is obviously a shelter. Of course, geographically speaking, they were north of Tel Aviv, and had not heard many sirens. We chatted about the situation, laughed a lot, and then did what Israelis do. We had an amazing lunch, the highlight of which for me was the 9% cottage cheese. And then after lunch, people started to arrive in time for the pool party to welcome us prior to having a Peruvian feast for dinner. Life goes on. Israel goes on. People work. People play. And if a siren blares, you take cover for tha tmoment, and then continue with your day. I had known prior to my leaving that this would not be an ordinary vacation to Israel. I only had a week, not the usual two, and I had to make the most of that week. I wanted to do something special and represent our synagogue as our Chief Operating Officer. This did not seem like the time to go and do nothing but vacation. So on the second day of my trip I was able to touch base with Rabbi Kieffer and Lior Zagury. They had created a way to donate to the wounded soldiers and with Rabbi Farbers help not only was I able to work with them, we have been able to raise $4800to date mostly from our BOD and leadership, half of which was raised by the time I landed. The Kieffers and Lior were going from hospital to hospital visiting wounded soldiers and bringing them gifts. Mostly wonderful bags filled with some snacks. Some bisili, perhaps some pesiksman chocolate (YUM), things like that. Lior invited me to join him and a friend the next morning at Belinson hospital in the Petah Tikvah area of Tel Aviv where many soldiers were being treated. So the next morning, Cinthya and I woke up at around 7 am and made our way to the hospital. As with all places in Israel, it is never easy to find. Jabotinsky street??? Are you kidding me!? For those of you who have not been to Israel or had the wonderful experience of driving there, let me assure you that every street in every city has the same names. Its very confusing. But we finally made it there and met up with Lior. He was standing there waiting for us with an Israeli flag draped over his shoulder. We chatted as we walked through the halls on our way to the orthopedic floor. Lior was well connected with a number of military divisions. I knew instantly that Lior had been Modiin. Modiin is the intelligence division and Lior is their prototype. A good speaker, confident of himself, not at all shy, and aware of everything. When we got to the floor, it was early and some soldier were still resting, but some were moving about. But the first thing I noticed was not the soldiers, it was the walls and doors. They were completely covered in childrens paintings and drawings. These were drawings from school children across the country that were being sent to hospitals every single day. I did not know it at the time, but Lior had about 50 with him that he was going to give out to different soldiers. When we found an open door, Lior went in first to make sure it was ok with the soldier if we came in. He motioned for us to come into the room. What I saw hit me hard. No, it wasnt that the solder had pins throughout his left lower leg and into his foot to immobilize it. He had been shot in the foot and the bullet had ripped through and done a lot of damage. Hamas bullets are designed to break apart and burn inside of you when you are shot. But that wasnt what hit me. What really touched me was the realization that he was really just a kid. His girlfriend was sharing the room with him and would not leave his side. She had been one of his instructors in the army. He was only 19 and I believe she was 20 or 21 and other than their demeanor, you would have recognized them to be just out of High School. The girl reminded me of Cinthyas middle child, Danielle. A strong character and confident. Always smiling with a big heart. The same long dark hair. And my heart just stopped for a second. What helped me get through the moment was when I looked down. There were literally 50 or more bags on the floor filled with gifts. Gifts from strangers just like us who had come to visit. Among the bags was a brand new pair of Solo boots. The young girl must have seen us looking at them and that spurred the story of how he had been shot. It turned out to be a wonderfully funny story, if you can make fighting for your life a wonderful story. This young man had been in one of the battles that we had all heard about on the news. I remembered he name of the city in Gaza instantly. Some Hamas gunmen had suddenly come out of hiding on their position. A couple of his friends were killed during the fighting, which was close fighting. With shots being fired all around him, he saw quickly that a terrorist was no more than 6 feet away from him, aiming at him. Before the terrorist could shoot him, he was able to kill the terrorist. He told us he could still see the face of the man he had killed. And then our soldier and his girlfriend did a funny thing. They started to smile. It seemed he had been shot after all but didnt notice it during the firefight. After all of the Hamas gunmen had been killed, he noticed he was having a hard time walking and realized he had been shot in the foot. Thats when he got angry. He realized two things. The first thing he realized was that the war for him was over. He was furious that only two days into the ground operation he would not be able to help any longer. But what REALLY added insult to injury was his brand new Solo boots had been ruined! So he had his girlfriend go out and get him a new pair of boots when she got to the hospital. The boots that she was now proudly displaying ,eliciting a huge smile from the young man. He was happy to be alive, happy to be with his girlfriend, and happy to have a new set of boots. At 19, I guess thats pretty much all you need. We had access to all kinds of news channels. There were of course all of the Israeli channels, and Fox news, Sky News, France24, Al Jazeera, CNN, and a few others. Being in Israel and seeing what news outside the country says is happening is really incredible. It is frustrating to watch because you know that what they are saying is simply not true or so out of context that it bears no resemblance to the real truth. One of the first stories I saw when I returned was a Newsweek article telling its readers that the Israeli public was angry with Netanyahu over the Gaza Operation. I almost fell over. I spoke with lots of people who didnt like Netanyahu, but in all the people I spoke with, and they represented a vast cross section of every type of political party, I never met a person who did not agree with the operation. Israelis were united behind this operation like I had never experienced them to be united. The support for the IDF in Israel is always high, but it was through the roof. Everything I have read or seen on TV here since I returned bears no resemblance to the reality of the Israel that I experienced. It is upsetting to see. I will share that Israelis, it seemed, were extremely upset about the Pro-Hamas rallies across the world that were clearly anti-Semitic. There was a feeling of stunned surprise that the world, in general, could not understand WHO Hamas was. And although Israelis have always known they were isolated, the level of venom in some of the rallies was extremely upsetting. It also had the opposite effect that the rallies may have partly intended. If anything, it served to unite the country across political parties. Considering there are 38 political parties, thats a pretty big achievement. Another thing: Israeli radio is a funny thing. When we visit, Cinthya always makes me drive. She claims this is because she wants me to be comfortable driving there but the real reason is because she hates to drive anywhere, especially in a country where drivers think a stop sign means to slow down and turn signals might as well not be installed. But back to the radio. None of us listen to radio in our homes any more. Only in the car. Israeli radio channels dont play the same type of music all day. Its kind of a pot luck kind of thing. Every couple of hours, the type of music changes, making it impossible to find a station that you can listen to all day. Except on Shabbat. The radio is always playing classic Zionist songs. I learned that during a military operation it is Shabbat every day on the radio. The entire time I was there, the radio blared patriotic songs in support of the soldiers and of course supporting Israel in general. The melodies are dramatic and somber, as are some of the words. There is a nickname for this type of music that I learned. They call it Tishbaav music. The biggest national hero is not even a person. The Iron Dome is the biggest national hero. Really. Its like the thing is a real person. There are billboards up and down the highways and main roads praising it. Its really incredible. I have been asked if I heard it going off. The answer is yes. On the beach in Tel Aviv meeting with friends we heard the booms of the rockets being intercepted in the distance. On the way past Tel Aviv, I had to pull of to the side of the road. In truth I did not hear the Azaka at first and was not paying attention to the radio, but then I heard the siren going off and saw the cars pulling off of the highway. After first pulling off on the wrong side of the road, we made it to the other side and were getting out of the car to go into a ditch when we heard a HUGE WHOOOOSH right over our heads. We looked up to see the Iron Dome missile heading over Tel Aviv. About 8 seconds later we heard a huge explosion as the rocket was intercepted. It was both nerve wracking and exciting at the same time. A few days later, we had a siren in Herzliya Pituach. It must have awoken me, because a few seconds after I had awoken, there were three huge booms heard. Shabbat started early that morning. Last observation, which I found to be the most interesting. Everyone knows someone in the army. In a family like Cinthyas where there are two reservists, and many connections to friends currently serving, the news comes quick and often. More often than you would think, the people know whats happening before it even gets on TV. And MUCH earlier than the international news. For instance, we knew through the IDF channel tha tHadar Goldin was dead. We also had a very good idea of how he had died. This kind of real time information can be helpful. And it was helpful when figuring out what to spend the monies Beth Torah had raised. So, back to that $4800 that we raised. I never told you how we used it. So here is what we did with it. I received a call on Thursday morning, the day after Hamas had broken yet another ceasefire. Lior had made contact with a reserve unit of the Tzanhanim. These are Israelis Special Forces. These guys are the real deal and often the first ones to go into battle. We had originally thought we would drive down to the South to purchase and deliver directly, but the day before about 9 rockets and mortars had landed in Beersheba. The police and Army had started to close the roads. So Lior conferenced me to a distributor of military equipment. What our synagogue purchased was 50 laser pointers that you attach to rifles to aim. You know, those little red dots that if they land on you, you know you have about two seconds to live. We also purchased sets of head lamps for medics to use in the field. The person on the phone kept thanking me and couldnt believe that a synagogue in the United States was doing this. The woman taking the order was in tears. It was at that moment that I knew that Thursday night was going to be a very bloody night in Gaza for Hamas. And when we awoke on Friday morning, it had indeed been a bloody night for them. Shortly after I returned I received this incredible Thank You letter from the unit. What can I tell you that Israelis feel about the future? As I mentioned they are united despite political differences. They might disagree on the method, but they seem to want Hamas gone for good. They are grateful for our support as American Jews. They know that America is still the best ally they have despite what may appear to be hiccups along the way. After all, even best friends argue about things from time to time. I learned in politics that is sometimes extremely important to not pay attention to who was talking, but to who was NOT talking. It became obvious around the third day of the trip that Saudi Arabia was very quiet. United Arab Emirates was very quiet. Egypt was not only quiet but they were supporting us militarily in Southern Gaza. Despite the world outrage, the countries that were usually the first to condemn us were oddly silent. The people of Israel noticed and it gave them a level of hope and optimism that when this finishes, a true peace process will unfold. And finally, I learned to put things in perspective and see in life whats really important. When you sit with a 19 year old who has had his foot shredded and will require stem cell treatment to walk again, when you see another soldiers thigh missing a 7 inch chunk from his wound, when you see mothers crying outside of the ICU, things like It feels a little warm in here, or the roof is leaking over there, or the light bulbs are out, or why cant I have a clicker for the small parking lot in front, well, those things get put into perspective. For sure they are worth noting, and for certain some might need to be addressed, but the level of importance that we assign them, well, perhaps I needed to see what I saw to allow me to understand that those things are the smallest of things and are easily fixed. Not so for the families across Israel who will care for their wounded sons for years, or mourn for them and wish G-d would give them the opportunity for one more hug, and one more kiss. Shabbat Shalom
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 21:56:09 +0000
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