Brothers and Sisters For Israel In Action

A letter from Lynn A, in Israel, to her American family and friends

October 25, 2023

For those of us whose loved ones were not hurt or killed (thank God), nor are waiting to hear about a close friend or family member being held hostage, day-to-day life has been eased a bit since Hamas initiated this war on October 7. 

Don't get me wrong - the reservists are all still drafted. Their absence is keenly felt across the board. Each activated reservist is missing from his or her job in an office, store, factory or farm. So many struggle with staffing. On the home front, more people dare to leave their front doors and drive to and fro, or walk outside, it is always with the scent of uncertainty in the air.  Schools are trying to resume at least part-time Instruction, subject to their buildings having safe rooms where children can be brought quickly in case of a siren wails.   Young parents struggle to watch their toddlers and keep up their working responsibilities.

So everyone pitches in. A spirit of national co-operation uplifts us. We are a nation with a common sense of purpose.

For us personally, while acting as grandparents trying to support younger parents with small children at home, parents who must get to work (most of our age group is heavily involved in that), we are also trying to volunteer to help others in the neighborhood and even beyond.    

One of the groups whose livelihood is especially threatened now - and where labor scarcity can result in shortages in retail markets - is the Israeli farming community.  Many of the field hands are Palestinians (none of whom come to work now) and foreigners from Thailand or Nepal (who have either hopped on planes to their homeland or just abandoned farms in the South to move to the center of the country). 

Thus, rows and fields of ripe produce would go to waste if volunteers like high schoolers and pensioners like my husband Jitzchak and me didn't come to help.   So, Jitzchak and I had the enormous pleasure of trying to keep up with the young folk, picking lettuce on our knees.  What you don't see is how my knees ache now!

We are also trying to help the farming community by supporting direct sales from the farmers to consumers.  For example, one of the local farmers here reached out to ask if anyone can help him to sell his lettuce, parsley, cilantro, etc. His usual clientele are cafes and restaurants, which are closed.  So the farmer opened an Excel spreadsheet with very low prices, with payment to his paybox account. He wrote up a list and brought all of the produce to our house.  We distributed the produce to neighbors in our city who had signed up prior, to help him out and to supply their kitchens.

But he came with extra- "just in case someone else wants, and if not, give it away."  I asked myself how I am going to handle that?  And then one of the local ladies, a stunning young mother (ex Chicagoan) of a two-year-old and a six-month-old, came to pick up her order, and said "please let me know if there's any extra, I will buy it all".  I asked her why?  She told me that she and a friend are cooking dinner, every day, for up to 25 families where the young husbands are drafted and the young wives are exhausted, juggling management of their homes and children by themselves.

She is handling two small babies and also cooking for 25 families. Similarly, she just received another appeal - to cook for some of the volunteers who are helping with body identification (a process that must be done with great care and so takes a lot of time and energy).  In other words, in Israel there are waves of volunteers helping other volunteers.

The folks from the southern kibbutzim and some from Ofakim (a city that was infiltrated by Hamas) are temporarily relocated in kibbutz hotels or hotels in the Dead Sea or Eilate.  The whole community chips in to try to address immediate needs - from professions such as psychologists, social workers to clothing makers, computer engineers, etc.  To share one tiny story I heard today:  one of the hardest hit communities is relocated in Shefaim - a large kibbutz hotel on the Mediterranean.   Every day someone - anonymously - drops off 100 boxes of fresh pizza in the lobby and leaves without anyone knowing who she or he is, and without receiving thanks. I guess they figure the kids there probably like pizza.  

Because this is a country at war, there are no recreational outings available - theatres and cafes are closed. Supermarkets open for limited hours. Yet, almost every famous entertainer, speaker, thinker, professor, etc is offering free Zoom meetings in the evenings to maintain contact and keep us knit together. This week I heard a great jazz concert, a famous economist's view, a newspaper man's analysis. The menu of offerings goes on and on.

To try to get my two predominant feelings across I would apply two metaphors:  one, is a slowly burning campfire. You had put out the fire but the ground is still very hot, a few coals still emit a dull, red light, and you know that any slight spark could reignite the whole thing in a second.  That's for the uncertainty I feel about what is going to happen tomorrow militarily and politically.  The other metaphor is a large, delicate but very strong spider web reflecting bright sunlight and sparkled by dew.  That is our community.  I feel that by our helping our neighbors and friends and the farmers and anyone else who is reaching out, each of us is a tiny piece of that web, and it grows daily and sustains us all.

About Lynn: In 1971, Lynn and BHC member Debbie S. were 13-year-old best friends in Queens, NY. Lynn married Israeli attorney Yitzchak, became a lawyer in Israel herself, raised four children in the country, kvelled over many grandchildren and stayed in close touch with Debbie.

Two years ago, Debbie and her husband, Jay, moved to the White Mountains and became members of Bethlehem Hebrew Congregation. Lynn and Yitzchak visited from Israel, and enthusiastically participated in the BHC book club, film festival, music series, and religious services.

Since the Hamas attacks on Israel, Lynn has been sending a weekly letter to American friends and family to provide her take on what’s happening. She has kindly allowed us to reprint her third letter here.