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Terror at Hanukkah 2025

19 Dec

Today is the funeral of Matilda, the 10-year-old girl murdered by terrorists in Hanukkah Massacre on Bondi Beach.  I cannot stop thinking about her.

I woke up Sunday morning knowing that evening would be the first night of Hanukkah.  I went to Facebook to post a happy photo of my dreidel collection, something I do every year.  But instead, I saw the horror that was Bondi Beach in Australia. I was in no mood to post a happy Hanukkah photo.

What really distresses me are those who shout, ‘Globalize the intifada” or “From the River to the Sea.”  Especially when it is a Jewish person who has turned away from supporting the survival of Israel and instead seems to be supporting Hamas.  I really cannot stand their actions anymore.

With a child and her family living in Israel, when I see those words I think, “So you want my family killed.”  “So you want all Jews to be killed.”  Do you realize when you say “Globalize the intifada” that includes you.  Jihadists do not care if you are a Hamas supporting Jew or not.  They will just kill you. 

When people hear that 1250 Israelis were killed on October 7, they assume that they were all Jews.  Not true.  Hamas did not care who they killed or who were the 250 hostages they took. Because they hate.  Among the dead and hostages were other Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus.  But to the world it was Jews.  How ignorant.

When they say Israel was the occupier, they are deluded.  Israel withdrew all its people from Gaza in 2004.  It has stayed outside, just protecting its borders from the constant attacks from Gaza. The missiles and rockets came every year like clockwork on certain Israeli or Jewish holidays.  But the western media never reported on those attacks because Israel built thousands of bomb shelters to protect its people, so most attacks were futile.  The news only reports when people die. But that doesn’t mean the bombings didn’t happen.  The western media only reported when Israel fired back. And then it was Israel bombs Gaza, with no context.  To say the western media is anti-Israel and anti-Semitic is putting it mildly.

So now we have Jewish young adults who are so ignorant of Jewish and Israeli history they are siding with the terrorists.  I guess they think that makes them morally better because they stick up for the ‘underdog’. But honestly, since the global population of Muslims is 2 billion and the global population of Jews is less than 16 million, I think they have the underdog confused.  

Some also say, “I am not Anti-Semitic, I am anti-Zionist.” Is there a difference? NO! Every year we end the Passover seder with these words, “next year in Jerusalem.”  What do they think that means?  It is a prayer and wish for all Jews to return to Israel.  The return to Israel is what Zionism means, to return to the land of our ancestors.

Israel has fought for its survival.  Israel stands up to terror and hatred.  It is time that the world acknowledges the truth.  Hamas started the war; Hamas hid food from the people of Gaza, Hamas built tunnels to care for its terrorists and left the people of Gaza to suffer; Hamas murders innocent Gazans who disagree with their beliefs.  You are a fool if you believe the lies that the media repeats with information from Hamas.  Globalize the intifada means killing you as well.   Finally, some countries, like the United Kingdom are pushing back about this phrase and calling it what it is, a cry for violence.

Even Amnesty International with its pro-Hamas outlook finally had to release its report that acknowledges that what Hamas did was a war crime. They did not want to release it, because it shows their own moral crimes by not standing up for those murdered, raped and brutalized by Hamas on October 7 and after as hostages.  From their website: “Amnesty International research confirms that crimes committed by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups during their attacks on October 7, 2023, and against those they seized and held hostage were part of a systematic and widespread assault against the civilian population and amount to crimes against humanity.“

Gaza could have been a Mediterranean Sea paradise.  Instead, Hamas used the money given to them for the people of Gaza to use for their own interests.  They built tunnels, they purchased rockets, missiles and rocket launchers. They purchased guns and weapons. They did nothing for the people of Gaza. 

Israel provided the people water and electricity.  Gazans went into Israel to work.  They went into Israel for medical care.  In return the schoolbooks in Gaza painted Israelis and Jews as the villains and taught children to be martyrs only by killing Jews.  

Hamas attacked Israel with the intent of killing and destroying as many people and places as possible. They wanted to create fear. They took hostages and brutalized them.  The videoed the horror that they inflected on the those they killed and brutalized. They posted these videos online. They live-streamed.  Then they denied they did what the vidoes showed..  They thought the world would stop the Israelis from fighting back.  For the first time that did not happen. 

I feel for the people of Gaza, the women and children who have been used by Hamas for terror.  I feel for them now with no homes as the rainy season is here. 

Do I think all Muslims are terrorists? Of course not.  We see that with the brave shopkeeper in Australia who risked his life in an effort to stop the gunman.  We see the truth by the many Israeli Muslims who stand up for Israel, their homeland.  We see the truth in the Imams who said the terror attacks are not the true way of Islam.

Do I like Netanyahu or Ben Gvir. NO. I think both are bad for Israel in the long run. Should there be an inquiry as to what happened on the lead up to October 7.  Absolutely.  But on the other hand, should they have sat back and let Hamas kill more Jews. Never. Never.

It is time for the Western media, politicians and all Jews to face the reality of extremist jihadists.  To look at what is happening in Sudan, Nigeria, and other areas of the world where Jihadists are killing people and realize that this horror could come to all countries.  

Those who continue to support the violence and hate of Hamas and chant Globalize the intifada, you are just as evil as the ones who kill, murder, rape, brutalize all in the name of a false view of religion.

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Bomb Shelters In Day Care Centers Is Not Normal.

16 Nov

“The day care has added a new bomb shelter inside the infant room,” my daughter told me as she was describing the day care center she is planning to use for our Israeli grandchild.  I gagged when she told me.  She had a giant smile on her face, impressed that an outside donor made the effort to keep the up to 17 infants in this center safe.  Before this specific bomb shelter was built, she informed me that the day care providers would have to run and grab all the babies and get them to the shelter that was in the area near the toddlers. Now it will be so much easier to get the babies to safety! UGH.

I guess it is a matter of prospective.  The idea of a bomb shelter in the infant room is great if you are constantly under bombardment.  Thus, I agree having this room right near the infants is wonderful.  My gag was in response that my grandchild has to be in a day care center with bomb shelters.

 In fact, my gag went father then that.  When we finished our call, I ate six Oreo peanut butter chocolate cookies.  I have not eaten six cookies at once in over a decade or more.  But today in an moment of anxiety, I snarfed them down, not even realizing I ate so many till I looked at the new box of cookies and realized how many were gone.  It will take me a week to work off these six cookies.  But then it will take me forever to come to terms with my grandchild in a day care that has two bomb shelters.

It was bad enough that my daughter gave birth while the Houthis launched a ballistic missile to Israel. We had to take cover in the mamad, while my daughter labored in a birthing room that was also a bomb shelter. (See blog below.) They were safe, we were safe, but it really it was indicative of the Israeli lifestyle.  Just keep living around the sirens.  But is it really ok?  NO, I don’t think so.

I am so frustrated with the constant denial of what the Israelis have endured for the almost 80 years of the country’s existence.  Constant wars, attacks, barrages both military and in media.  I feel like I am living in a split world where reality doesn’t quite reach into the world of Israel. 

But then do the Israelis realized how much they should be suffering with all these attacks? Who knows?Israel still ranks in the top ten of happiest nations in a global survey. This past March it scored as the eighth happiest nation. (As per the World Happiness Report, see link below.)  Israel was fifth last year.

Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Netherlands, Costa Rica and Norway are the only countries that were happier.  And having been in Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands, I understand. When it is that cold, you just look at the world a different way.  As I learned in Denmark.  “There is not bad weather, there are only bad clothes.”

Perhaps in Israel it is “If you did not die, then it is okay!”   I am getting sick of living in the world expressed by comedian Alan King’s joke about Jewish holidays, “They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s Eat.”

I recently met with two Israeli women who are traveling in the US to raise funds for schools for Moslem and Jewish children.  We talked about the atmosphere in Israel.  I said I think everyone in Israel has PTSD.  The Moslem woman disagreed. She thinks everyone in Israel is still in the trauma stage. That they just are so used to being in this state that they don’t even realize it is not a normal way to live.

Israel has changed since October 7.  The atmosphere is better since the return of the last of the living hostages.  But the angst remains. How can it not.  So many young people have been murdered.  So many horrible stories of what happened. So many unable to bear the burden they have from surviving. Those that died by suicide are also victims of Hamas.

I was in Israel in November 2022. It was really a joyful place to be.  The horrors had not yet occurred. The economy was booming. Tourism, tech companies, industry, agriculture, construction, life was good.  I have been back twice this year. Tourism is down.  Agriculture and construction have fewer employees so buildings stand with quiet cranes and volunteers pick the crops.  But still there was always hope that the hostages would come home. 

I went in May just before the war with Iran.  I heard the bombers flying overhead.  I had four trips to the bomb shelter.

I went in July and August.  After the destruction of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran’s missiles and drones.  I only had one trip to the bomb shelter.  Those Houthis!

Now that the hostages are home, I want it to end.  I do not want my infant grandchild to have to be protected by a bomb shelter at day care.  I do not want any child to have to grow up in a world where they do not realize that having a safe room in their home is normal. No child anywhere should live this way. It is not normal.

https://data.worldhappiness.report/table
Air Raid Sirens Are Not the Music to Labor Through!

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ANU: The Story of My People

19 Oct

Visiting the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv

In August I visited ANU – The Museum of the Jewish People on the campus of Tel Aviv University.   There was much I saw at the museum that resonated in my heart. But honestly, I just could not write about my visit.  At that time, I was not in the right mind frame to discuss what we, the Jews, have been through in the past few years, as we were dealing with the worldwide Jew hatred and still praying for the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

But this week when the living hostages were finally released, and it felt possible that this seemingly endless war of survival is shifting, I revisited my time at ANU.  I remembered what stood in my mind then and still remains with me now.

I am a descendant of Jews who fled Spain and Portugal and ended up in Amsterdam before moving to Austria.   Although I know of one distant relative who was burned at the stake in Portugal for being a crypto Jew, most of my family kept their Judaism when they moved to the Netherlands.

I found out that the Jews of Spain and Portugal were not the only Jews who had to practice their religion in secret. At ANU I learned of the hidden Jews of Iran. In the 1800s the Jewish people of Mashhad, Iran, were forced to convert to Islam or be killed. For over 100 years the hidden Jew of Mashad were outwardly following Islam, but on Shabbat they celebrated their Judaism.  Forced to live in a ghetto area for these “new Muslims,” called Jadid al-Islam,” they married within their community.  Finally, in the 20th century they reclaimed their Jewish identity. About 10,000 Jews still live in Iran.

My family story mirrors stories retold at ANU.  My family, who had settled in Amsterdam, made a life changing decision in the late 1700/early 1800s.  A branch of my family settled in Galicia, Austria, in a small town called Mielec and my immediate family settled nearby in Trzciana.  For decades they lived peacefully with their neighbors.  But with the rise of the Nazis, everything changed.  Of the 5000 Jews who lived in Mielec area, only a little over 100 survived the extermination of the Jews.  Two of them were my relatives. Everyone else who stayed were murdered.

My grandfather came to the USA in 1920.  He did not suffer as most of his family did in the 1940s.  His suffering was the not knowing what happened to his loved ones. 

My family have lived the American dream which up in till the last decade or so has been wonderful.  Yes there was antisemitism, but it was kept quiet. Most people treated each other with civility.  However, in recent years that quietness faded and people felt empowered to spew Jew Hatred. Social media has been a major source of spreading all types of Hatred.  With October 7, a war that Hamas started not just to kill the Israelis but to cause a fire storm of hatred toward Israel, social media has become a cesspool of hate.   Using social media to life stream the attack on Israel and then to spread its hate has been an outrageous attack on Jewish people. And that fact that the news media does not vet its information makes matters worse.  Social media and some news media have been complicit in the spread of hate.

This web of hatred seems impossible to deal with at times. But the other important information I learned by visiting ANU, is that we survive. We have the will to survive. We are innovative and positive. We as a people make contributions in science, medicine, math, literature, agriculture, film and more. Our identity and culture keep us strong. I believe that inner strength will define us.

At ANU is the Sasson Codex, one of the oldest complete Hebrew Bible.  It is currently in a protected spot due to the missiles that have been launched toward Tel Aviv.  But a replica is on display. It is a treasure of Judaism.  And it is the Jewish Torah that has influenced the Western world, even though at times it seems they have forgotten the words that are at the heart of religious life: Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, visit the sick, etc. We are said to be the people of the Book, and that book is Torah.

At ANU miniatures of the famous synagogues of the world are on display, including the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam. A synagogue that has been present for 350 years, where my family might once had prayed. Throughout all the wars and waves of Jew Hatred this Synagogue has remained! It continues as a the place of prayer for the Jews of Amsterdam who survived the Shoah, while other synagogues now serve as museums.

At ANU, I saw highlighted quotes by famous people about the Jewish people.   This one by Jean-Paul Satre, felt right to me: “I cannot judge the Jewish people by the accepted rules of history, the Jewish people is something beyond time.”

Let it be so.  Am Israel Chai.  The people of Israel, the Jewish people. They lived; they live; they will live.  Now and beyond time.  Amen Selah.

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Air Raid Sirens Are Not the Music to Labor Through!

2 Aug

This week, I had an out of body experience.  My body was in Holon with my husband, as my daughter and son-in-law were at a hospital where my daughter was in active labor. But my heart was with them. We had been awaiting the arrival of our newest granddaughter with excited anticipation. 

As we waited for news, a different sound interrupted our reverie.  It was not the buzzing of a cell phone with information or pictures.  Instead, it was the sounds of sirens as the Houthis sent another ballistic missile towards Israel.

As we ran to the mamad, I panicked. I have lived through sirens in Israel before. But now my thoughts were on my daughter delivering a new life into the world.  Was the birthing room in a safe place? My son-in-law reassured me.  At the same time my cousins also starting texting to make sure we were okay.  They also let me know that the birthing rooms were safe from rockets.

My granddaughter was born later the night, in the early morning hours of the next day.

But her arrival being heralded by air raid sirens led my mind to wander.  What will it be like for her to grow up in a country where there are air raid sirens weekly?  Where you never know who will attack next. I honestly believe that all residents of Israel have a little PTSD.  And I m sad that my granddaughter will have to live with the sounds of sirens in her life.

But at the same time, I have to think pregnant mothers in other areas of the world that are not safe.  I cannot imagine how a pregnant mother feels who lives in Yemen, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, the Druze community of Syria, and Iran.

How do those women cope?

Here in Israel, there is the security that the sirens will alert us of a missile. That the mamad or bomb shelter will keep us safe. In these other places there are no shelters to protect them. There are not birthing rooms built to keep missiles out.  What goes through their minds when bombs fall?

The world is not a pretty place right now.  Jew Hatred has an intensity that has not been so bad since the Nazis. There is gun violence in the US. Hundreds of mass murders each year. There is conflict throughout the world. There are storms of unusual intensity. There are major earthquakes all around the Pacific rim. Today there are tsunami warnings in countries that border the Pacific. There is political unrest and uncertainty and regional and international tensions.

As a grandmother, I want that new generation to know a little of the peace that my children and I had. But with social media and the biased narratives of the news and bots that twist reality and challenge what is the truth, I am not sure the world will return to an equilibrium for decades.

What I believe is that women should not have to give birth in a bomb shelter. Sirens should not disturb the concentration and focus of labor. No woman should have to give birth in fear of war. You would think by now people would realize that we really are one world. And that major events that happen anywhere in the world impacts everyone. Just like the earthquake in Russia is impacting the world right now as countries sound their tsunami warnings and volcanoes erupt throughout the world.

I believe we are getting a message from nature.  We are one. We need to work together to give the next generation a safe place to live.

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Keep Reporting Online Hate Speech!

8 Jul

At times I think I have reached my limit dealing with online hatred, especially Jew Hatred.  I have viewed so many nasty comments under posts about Israel, especially posts about IDF soldiers who died, or under articles published in national news services, or articles about Jewish people in general, not even Israeli.

While the article itself might be positive, or perhaps sad about someone who died, the comments are often horrendous.  AI graphics showing Jews looking similar to propaganda from the Nazi era. Spewing hatred for the death of a Jew and wishing all Jews would die.  Spreading false information.  Calling for the mass murder of Jews throughout the world.

I report them all.  I take screen shots of those comments, and as I get messages from META, I checked to see what evilness they are still allowing to stay on Facebook or Instagram.  I honestly cannot believe the ones that they say do not go against their community standards!

After I sent an image to reviewed two times. This is what you see. So disappointing.

They ALMOST ALWAYS DENY any post I tag goes against the community standards the first time I report it, except for one that was so violent and horrific, it came down immediately. I was even thanked for helping them get it off social media, and if I ever saw anything like it again, I should immediately contact them.

Over my three years of reporting only eight posts I reported actually have been taken down, the one I mentioned and seven others, but those came after I sent it back for review.  Honestly, I send every single one I report back for review.  You can see in the above image that I actually got another horrible Jew Hating comment taken down in June. I put it here so you can see that it does happen!!! Sometimes the hate is so bad that they cannot leave it up.

An additional nine times I was told I can go to the oversight board.  I have attempted to do that several times.  In fact, I received one of these invitations last week.  I was trying to decide whether to take the time to do it, as sometimes I think it just goes into an abyss, since nothing seems to change.

The invitation to explain my belief to the Oversight Board.

Since the Jew Hatred is so filled of vitriol these days, I decided I had to send a report to the oversight board. I let them know exactly what I believed about their continuing to let Jew Hatred be present on META social media platforms. I wrote that Facebook was created for people to keep in touch with friends, not to be overwhelmed by hatred. That this was morally and ethically wrong, and that it needed to end. That hate speech was not free speech when it led to violence. And that the many, many instances of online Jew Hatred was leading to violence.

I tell everyone I know to keep reporting.  I was recently at an event for older retired Jewish women, where a speaker spoke about online Jew Hatred and how she works to get these horrible posts offline. I then reminded them that we as Jews are small in number, just 16 million worldwide.  If we want to make an impact, we all must work together.  I told them how to report a comment or image, by clinking on the three little dots on the right of a comment.  That they must use them to report!  Click on the 3 dots; then click the part that says report this comment, this photo, etc.; then go ahead and report it as spreading violence or hate!!!

There are several groups on social media working to stop online Jew hatred.  Some are asking us to report the Jew Hatred.  There are two that I know of: CyberWell and Digital Dome. Also Combat Anti-Semitism works to stop this hatred. It doesn’t hurt to report what you are seeing. And it might help.  This is a job that every Jewish person who is online should be doing.

If we do not speak up and work against Jew Hatred we are part of the problem. In the 1930s many were afraid to say anything, while others did stand up to hate. We have learned our lessons.  Never stay silent when hate is around.

At the same time, META must realize that leaving these expressions of Jew Hatred online opens the door to all others hate speech directed at other racial groups and, as we have seen, the LGBTQ and immigrant communities.  No hate speech should be tolerated online. These are private companies, they have the right to eliminate anything they don’t think is right. And they promise to provide a safe place for users!

I have read that some consider the Jew Hatred like the canary in the mine.  When the bird dies, you know that is bad air.  When online Jew Hatred gets this bad, perhaps it is the end of social media and a wake up call to all other groups to stop it.

Dante wrote in The Inferno: “The darkest place in Hell is reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis”

Don’t stay silent.  Speak out against online hate speech of any kind.

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Honoring Those Who Do Good In Times Of Crisis

28 Jun

The Lowell Milken Center For Unsung Heroes has exhibits that all children and adults 12 and older should experience. A friend and I went there specifically to see the Anne Frank Exhibit, “Anne Frank: A History for Today,” which is now completed. But that was just a minor part of this learning experience. Since that special exhibit is over, this blog will focus on the usual museum sights.

First Panel of Anne Frank Exhibit

Located just two short blocks from the Ft. Scott National Historic Site, the Lowell Milken Center, is a wonderful place to learn about people who stand up and do good in times of crisis.  The centerpiece of the museum is “Irena Sendler: Life In A Jar,” the story of Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker, who saved over 2500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto during World War Two. She had a group of about 20 people who helped her. But it was Sendler who organized the group and saved the names of the children who were rescued.

Irena herself was rescued from obscurity by a group of high school children from a small town in Kansas. Their discovery led them to find out Irena was alive. They had the chance to meet her and wrote a play about her that has been shown hundreds of times, which led to Irena being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Unfortunately, she passed away before she could be recognized as the prize cannot be awarded to someone who is deceased.  Her story and the story of the girls who brought her story to life is the centerpiece of the Center.

However, it is not just about Irena’s story.  There are many unsung heroes whose stories are on display at the Center. Each story was discovered by students and then written about for display at the Center. Student can enter their research into the Discovery Award competition which recognizes outstanding Unsung Heroes projects by students in grades 4-12.

In these times of increased online hatred and the rise of anti-immigration, ICE raids, and Jew Hatred, the Lowell Milken Center is an oasis of goodness.  Each panel tells the story of someone who stood up to be counted in times of peril, helping those in need. These people, of all religions, follow the Jewish value of doing good, repairing the world , “or “Tikun Olam.”

While we were there, we met briefly with a group of international teachers who had come to the Center to learn about the programs and how to bring it to their schools. The two people leading the discussions were part of the original Irena Sendler discovery: the high school history teacher and one of the students.  That student, Meagan, now works at the Lowell Milken Center. 

This brought me joy, as I saw the original play when the girls were in high school and they presented in Kansas City.  Then a few years later, I saw the expanded play as well.  My friend had seen it with me. We were pleasantly surprised to meet her.  She told the international teachers that we had seen the play!  Smiles all around. It was so wonderful to see that she continues to dedicate her life to teaching others to do good!

I have written about Ft Scott before. (See blog below.). So I will tell you that an excellent summer field trip day with your middle school and older children would be to visit Ft. Scott in the morning. There is a Park Ranger to help as you walk around the site, clean bathrooms and a store. Have lunch at one of Ft. Scott’s restaurants. 

Then during the heat of the day, go to the Lowell Milken Center to  immerse yourself and your children in goodness and kindness.  Your heart will be filled with the knowledge that there are truly good people in the world.

https://www.lowellmilkencenter.org/
https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/sendler.html?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=45989503&gbraid=0AAAAAD1IFGM_bfUQWakp_GCm1-mc__KhT&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlP22woCVjgMVZzbUAR3XcDlQEAAYASAAEgKelPD_BwE
A Day’s Escape to Ft. Scott
https://www.nps.gov/fosc/planyourvisit/index.htm

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Zissel and Shalom: Survivors and Heroes

11 Jun

This is the most important blog I will write about my distant cousins Shalom Hollander and  (Lieb) Zissel Feuer.  They are true Jewish heroes. They did not give up. They lived through the Shoah and they helped those who also survived.  And I feel so honored to know that I am part of their family. I know that I just wrote about my renewed contact with their family, but I believe I need to just put it all in one place!

I have mentioned in other blogs that I met Zissel and Shalom when I was 19//20 years old studying at Hebrew University in 1974-75.  When I met them, I knew about the Shoah, but I also knew it was not something you asked about. If someone told you something you listened, but you did not interrupt.  You kept quiet.  The 1970s they were only just beginning to open up about what happened to them.

To me Zissel was someone my grandparents wanted me to meet.  Grandma had known him in 1931/32 when she took my mother and uncle to Europe.  Zissel stole a pearl necklace from her. And now over 40 years later, he wanted to make amends.  I was sent to collect the money and to listen to his story.  I liked Zissel. He reminded me of my grandfather. He worked in a bakery, my grandfather owned a bakery.  So from that point forward whenever I went to Tel Aviv, I visited Zissel.    I did not ask questions about his past.

Shalom I only met once. When my grandmother and I traveled to Israel in January 1976, we met up with Shalom in Haifa.  He and grandmother spent two hours speaking in Yiddish about what had happened in the war. About everyone who died.  

Ziseel and Shalom had been married to sisters, my grandfather’s first cousins. They and all the rest of the family was murdered. (Except one of the sisters’ brothers and those who had already left .) Some were buried in mass graves; some died in concentration camps; some died in a ghetto; some died in the death camp Belzec.  Shalom was saved by Schindler.  Zissel survived hiding in the forest nearby as part of the Amsterdam group, a partisan group all members of my family who hoped to survive in the forest.

After the war they both returned to Mielec to find other survivors.  They lived together in a house in town.  Thanks to Izabela Sekulska of Mayn Shtetele Mielec,  I now know what they did there.  They saved lives.  They testified against evil.  They worked to keep the memory of the dead alive.

First they saved lives.  Izabella told me that people were angry at Zissel. They said he lied and took money.  Well maybe he did. I have a different view.  The land of the Jews was now empty. The Jews were not coming back, or very few. Out of 5000 about 200 returned.  Zissel became the head of the Jewish community of Mielec.  Shalom was his deputy.  They did not just let the Poles take the land that had belong to the Jews. They told them that the survivors who came back, those who had lived through hell, had owned those lands. And they made the Polish people who wanted the lands to pay the Jews.  It makes sense to me.  They had nothing. No Home. No clothes. No family. NOTHING.  At least they could get some money to start a new life.  And they did.

Second thing they did. They testified.  They testified FOR the people who had helped the Jews. But they also Testified AGAINST many who had murdered the Jews. Including my great grandmother, who was also their aunt by marriage.  They wrote out testimonies and they signed their names to them.

Third thing they did. They protected the site of a mass burial. The spot where the Germans killed 800 Jews on March 9, 1942, Shalom purchased the land and put up a monument to his parents who are among those who are buried there, probably along with my great aunts and uncle.  They also built a wall around the Jewish cemetery.

Fourth, they helped an orphan Jewish girl who had been hidden and kept by a Polish woman during the war.  Shalom remarried after the war to another survivor of the Shoah. They adopted the girl and brought her to Israel with them when they left Poland. They went on to have three more children.

Fifth.  Shalom wrote testimonies for almost 40 people to be kept at Yad vShem, including for my great grandparents and my great uncle.  As well as his wife, children, parents, in laws, and Zissel’s wife.

Sixth.  Zissel came to America to see his brother in the early 1950s.  He visited my grandparents and told my grandfather how his family died.  My grandmother called him the Angel of Death, because he brought this horrific news into our family.

Seventh.  They survived.  They helped to settle the new Israel.  They worked. They remained close.  Shalom had a new family, new wife, children and grandchildren.  Zissel never remarried, but he also had a life and a relationship with Shalom’s children.

I am honored that I knew them.  I wish I had been braver and asked questions.  I wish had written down what they did tell me.  I wish I was not so timid then. But I am glad that I can close my eyes and still see them. Especially Zissel, who I spent so much time with 50 years ago.

I hope to keep their names and memories a blessing for my family.

There are many blogs about both Zissel and Shalom. You can find them on my blog site.

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Am Yisroel Chai. My Shabbat Speech

2 Jun

I was asked by my Rabbi to talk to my congregation about my trip to Israel. Here is a slightly edited version of that Shabbat speech, which I delivered on May 30.

Shabbat Shalom.

 I recently spent two weeks in Israel.  I did not visit tourist sites or go to a meeting.  I spent my time with my daughter and her husband and visits with friends and relatives who live in Israel.  What I did see was the resilience of the people of Israel.

On Sunday, 36 hours after I arrived in Israel, just as I went to take a walk, the siren sounded.  I went to the Mamad, the safe room.  A Houthi missile landed in Ben Gurion Airport.  This bombing partially cut Israel off from the rest of the world as airlines cancelled flights. Obviously, what the Houthis and terrorists want to do.

I also learned that when a siren for a rocket or missile attack goes off, take shelter wherever you can.  Just follow the crowd and they will let you in and show you what to do. When a siren sounds Israelis are one, helping each other to shelter.

On Monday, day 4, I took a bus with my daughter to Tel Aviv to meet with Ilana, who used to live in Overland Park and taught at the Hebrew Academy. She took me to Hostage Square, walking me from my daughter’s office to the site next to the Tel Aviv Art Museum.  Although I was there in the middle of the day, not when the protests usually happen, I was able to see the monuments and messages posted in honor and in memory of the hostages and those who died.   Ilana and I discussed the political situations in both the USA and Israel. How the hostage families want the war to end. Is what Trump is doing good for the Jewish people and Israel or not. What about Netanyahu?  What was going to happen.

Later we met my daughter for lunch at a restaurant in Sarona. We joined many others enjoying the lovely weather and eating outside.  We even ran into a group from Kansas City, including one of my daughter’s Hebrew Academy classmates. Life continues in Isarel. People enjoy luncheon dates. Tourist run into people they know. I have to believe, Am Yisroel Chai.

 On Thursday, Day 7,my daughter and I took the train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In the morning, the train was empty and quiet.  I was a little nervous about what to do if there are sirens during the trip.  But a large part of this journey is underground, through tunnels in the mountains around Jerusalem. This new train route is direct from Tel Aviv with just one stop at Ben Gurion Airport before going on to Jerusalem. It’s a great way to travel.

It ends at a new train station with easy access to the Central Bus Station and where you can catch the light rail station right in front.  We just had a five-minute walk through lots of construction to meet our family, two of my husband’s first cousins (who grew up in Wichita) and their spouses.   One couple lives in Shiloh on the West Bank.  Right after October 7, three of their sons and one so- in-law were called up. Two went to Gaza.  Now after a break, two have been called up again. In fact, that week 60,000 young men and women were called back to active duty for a new ground assault of Gaza.

 The other couple live in Sderot Boker. On October 7, the wife’s sister- in-law was among those murdered.  Her daughter is teamed with a search and rescue dog. They spent days after October 7 searching for the living and finding the dead.  We did not discuss October 7, our main topic of conversation was that Jay’s 82-year-old cousin finally had a bar mitzvah at the Kotel that morning, and the antisemitism in the USA, especially on college campuses.  Think of that, sons called up to Gaza; sister-in-law murdered on Oct 7; and we discussed the Jew Hatred in the United States.   They will persevere. Am Yisroel Chai.

The train ride back to Tel Aviv was packed.  Soldiers and students returning home with their laundry for the weekend. It made me smile.  Sixty thousand called up.  Airlines cancel flights.  Worldwide antisemitism.  And in Israel teens and soldiers are bringing their laundry home to their mothers.  As it should be. Mothers rule!!!

On Friday, Day 8, Zak’s parents, who live in Tekoa, in the West Bank,  and his brother and girlfriend, from Modiim, came for lunch.  We took pictures. We celebrated being together. We spoke about family and the future. We talked about the house they are renovating in Zichron Yaacov.  We did not discuss the war or politics. We discussed the future for our children. And we do see a future. Am Yisorel Chai.

For Shabbat . Day 9, we visited my cousins.  My mother’s first cousin is my age.  Her parents, my great uncle and aunt, survived the Shoah.  She was born when they finally felt safe.  Her daughter is an excellent chef and made us a wonderful meal. Three of her grandchildren were there as well. The oldest is in the army. She does intake for those who work in the Kiryia.  Her biggest complaint are the parents who call because their children did not make it into this elite group.  Parents are the same everywhere.  The next oldest, a boy, has one more year before the army, but already had his first meeting.  And the youngest is just 14. But he knows what’s in his future.  Families in Israel. Descendants of survivors,  still sending their precious children to fight for survival.  Am Yisroel chai.

On Monday, Day 11,  I took the bus once again to Tel Aviv.  On the way home my daughter pointed out a different bus line with the driver who poked the package.  To understand that you need to know that several months ago a few buses had explosives that blew up, luckily, when the buses were empty in Holon and Bat Yam.  A couple of days later, my daughter had to take a different bus than usual that went through Bat Yam then to Holon.  She was the last one on the bus and noticed an unattended.  She walked up to the bus driver to tell him.  He stopped the bus and looked at it and poked it. And said it was safe.  She was horrified. They had a short conversation with him ending it by saying “I don’t know why anyone would ride a bus!”  She was a bit shocked and said to him, You drive them!””  In any case he was our driver on Monday. Should I say Am Yisroel Chai?  Israeli bus drivers are tough! But it does make you think.

Later that day Edan Alexander was released by the Hamas and returned to Israel.  I did not realize how much this would touch my heart.  An American from New Jersey, Edan is from the same city where my sister and her family lived.  I have been at the high school and the Jewish Community Center.  I have walked those streets.  He survived over 500 days in hell.

Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” 

Our returned hostages have an entire country supporting them. People lined the streets to the hospital to welcome him home.  Hostage Square was packed that evening. Am Yisroel Chai.

Tuesday, Day 12, my daughter and I go to the large outdoor mall in Tel Aviv to meet her friend with her 2-month-old daughter and her father.  Her friend’s first cousin, Maya, was slaughtered at the Nova concert.  I planted a tree for her and said Kaddish on October 7, 2024. We had lunch together, in a restaurant where we were served by both Jewish and Moslem wait staff. My daughter and her friend spent two hours in SheLev baby store going through everything Lara would need.  While her Dad walked the baby, I stayed mostly with the girls. They suffered a horrible loss on October 7, but now it was all about the Babies.  And there are lots of babies in Israel. They are having a baby boom!  The people of Israel will continue to live.  Am Yisroel Chai.                 

Later that day, my daughter drove me. to a kfar near Natanya, where I have distant relatives. The descendants of survivors, whom I met when I lived in Israel in 1974 and 1975. The families had lost touch over the past 35 years, when my grandfather and the survivors passed away.  But now we were reunited and could share our family stories. My distant cousin, whose father lost his entire first family in the Shoah, his wife and four children, as well as his parents and all his siblings, was the oldest son of the second marriage. The marriage of two survivors.  My cousin and his wife have 7 children, 40 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren so far. I do not know how many children his siblings have, but I know there are many. The people of Israel will continue to live. Am Yisroel Chai vChayon.

At this point, I will add that our current president’s trip to the middle East was about to begin.  There was consternation in Israel because neither he nor anyone else from the government was coming to Israel. There was some anxiety in the air, but at the same time not. Israel was already isolated. 

My final trip to Tel Aviv was on Wednesday, Day 13. I met with a childhood friend who moved to Israel 30 years ago. We had lunch at the Azrielli Mall in Tel Aviv.  Her daughter has finished her military service and now will be an English teacher.  Her son will go into the army later this year.  Her husband works at Ben Gurion Airport to screen those coming into and out of the country. We also discussed the Jew Hatred in the USA and around the world.   And keeping safe. Am Yisroel Chai.

After I walked her to the train station, I walked back to Serona, where I did my one tourist activity, I took a tour of Serona.  It was a welcome moment of just enjoying seeing something of Israel I hadn’t seen before, as docent took us into buildings that are usually locked and told us the story of Serona. Originally settled in the late 1800s by the German Templars, Serona was the site of the first government of Israel, the first Bank of Israel, the first military base. It was the Kiryia.  Having this place as the first seat of government enabled Israel to govern from a safe spot.  Now, of course, the main seat of government is in Jerusalem.  Whereas there is a new Kiryia is in Tel Aviv.

My daughter’s’s office is in one of the skyscrapers that now surround Serona. On the three days I took the bus into Tel Aviv with her, I got to see where she worked and meet with her colleagues.  The CyberWell office is dedicated to searching for and helping to eliminate Jew hatred on social media platforms.  They see so much hatred online that part of their workload includes monthly meetings with a wellness team to ease their stress. The efforts to stop the hate is ongoing and not easy as social media platforms track it mainly in English, and the hate comes in all languages.  But they have the technology and the people who will work to stop it. The Jewish people find ways to survive, we are resilient. Am Yisroel Chai.

On a daily basis, I walked the streets of Holon and Tel Aviv feeling safe.  Some days after work and dinner, when it was dark and cooler, my daughter and I walked around Holon for a mile or so.  We passed the many playgrounds with their bomb shelters, we passed stores, some that are open all night.  We passed my favorite bakery. The bread in Israel is so delicious, so we often stopped there to buy challah rolls or bagelas or pastry.  One side of the bakery was all pareve.  I was in bakery heaven.

My last night, we had one last siren before my trip ended.  In all I experienced four sirens and four trips to the Mamad.  By the end, I no longer felt anxious when the sirens went off.  I knew the military was doing its best to keep us all safe with its defenses and its alerts to the people. I knew that the people of Israel were strong, as was I, and this too shall pass, and we will remain as always.   Am Yisroel Chai v Chaiyon.

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Renewing A Family Connection: My Mother’s Day Gift

21 May

While in Isarel, I finally renewed a family connection which started 50 years ago. When I was 20, I met two survivors of the Shoah. They were married to sisters before the war. The sisters perished in the Shoah, but the two men remained connected for the rest of their lives.

I have written about both of these men before, (Lieb) Zissel Feuer and Shalom Hollander.  Both were distant cousins of my grandfather. But their wives were his first cousins.   I wrote about meeting Zissel and Shalom and what happened to them during and after the war, and a bit about my contact with them in Israel between 1974-76. (See blogs below.). Over the years my perception of the two changed, as I learned more about their lives.

Now I have a different story to share, because I have met Shalom’s oldest son Chaim, as well as the great nephew of his first wife, who is also my third cousin, Jeff, and his daughter.

For me it was a meeting that completed a story.  For them, I hope I was able to fill in stories about the family and answer question about the family before the war.  As we shared our stories, I could see where my knowledge and theirs combined and differed.  I spoke about meeting Zissel at the bakery in Tel Aviv across from the Shuk HaCarmel.   Chaim smiled while I told my stories about meeting Zissel there each time I came to Tel Aviv.  Chaim, of course, knew the bakery and even Zissel’s address.  Although I had been at his apartment several times, I did not remember the address.  But we had other shared memories. 

I think when I talked about the bakery, Chaim knew then that I was really a relative.  I really had met Zissel. I don’t think he thought I was lying , but he had never heard of me, yet there I was a family member from the USA, unknown to him. Also when I told him about meeting his father, how elegant he seemed.  And Chaim agreed, his dad had that old world charm.

Chaim actually made me feel better about Zissel. I knew he did not have a family.  Shalom was not related to him at all, once their wives died.  Shalom. remarried.  Zissel never did.  But Chaim told me that Zissel was always part of Shalom’s family. He came to be with them for all the haggim, the holidays.  That eased my heart.  Really, I am tearing up even now.  For me Zissel was such a sad soul. So to know he was not alone, helped.

We talked about the importance of what Ziseel and Shalom did after the war to help others from Mielec who survived and to keep the memory of those who were murdered. Shalom purchased the land where a mass burial of 800 Jews were buried and put up a fence and a marker.  Both men also testified against those who were the murderers, as Zissel had done for the murderer of my great grandmother, his aunt by marriage.  Our discussion filled in so many blanks for me.

Chaim and his wife gave me memoirs written by both Shaom and his second wife, Ita, about what happened during the war.

I in turn could tell them about those who made it to the United States before the war.

How Julius/Judah/Yidel Amsterdam, my grandfather’s uncle, came first.  As other relatives came to the New York/New Jersey area, he gave them a choice. You can be a butcher or a baker.  There was a cousin who was a butcher, and Uncle Yidel was a baker.  My grandfather chose to be a baker.  Chiam laughed as I told the story, because his uncle who went to the states became a butcher.  I said he was probably helped by my great uncle Yidel as well.

With Jeff, I could talk about his great uncle Morris, who lived in Helena, Montana.  My grandfather always stayed in touch with his first cousin.  I knew one of this sons because when I moved to Kansas, they gave me Jack’s phone number. He lived in Denver.  To my grandfather and his cousin Morris, this was close enough. We never actually met, but we spoke several times.

For me I have a feeling of completion.  When I found out about these relatives, through the research of Izabela S.  I knew I had to see them when I was in Israel visiting my daughter.  They lived quite a distance.  But my daughter said that this was my Mother’s Day gift.  It was the one thing I really wanted to do.  So we took the long drive from Holon to a small Kfar near Netanya.

Over the years of my research I have found out how the members of my family were murdered during the Shoah.  I know how a small numbered survived.  I know that they are not forgotten.  I am not the only who keeps their memory alive within the family.  And there are people like Izabela in Poland, who also work to keep the memory of the  Jewish population alive.

I never thought I would ever want to go to Trzciana or Mielec.  My grandfather never wanted to go back there after his family was murdered.  But now I do want to go. I what to see where they lived. Where Shalom and Zissel created a Jewish community after the war. Where the Amsterdam group hid in the nearby forest. The town where my great grandmother was murdered. The mass grave where my great aunts are probably buried.

But most of all I am so glad that I found out what that Zissel and Shalom did after the war.  I, as a young woman, saw both Zissel and Shalom as such sad people talking about Death.  I did not hear the stories about what they did to give people a reason to LIVE after the war. And to create a place of memory for those murdered.

I now know that Shalom and his wife, who was also a survivor from Mielec, had four children, a girl who survived whom they adopted and three sons.  Chaim and his wife have seven children, 40 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren so far. 

I know that Zissel was not alone.  That Zissel and Shalom stayed connected throughout their lives.  I also know that Zissel died in Holon.  I think he might be buried there. So next time I am in Israel, I hope to find his grave and put place a rock of remembrance on his matzevot.

The Trial For the Murder of Chava “Gimplowa” Feuer
An Unexpected Email Reveals Family Shoah History
The Years of The Shoah: Lieb Sussel Feuer/Zissel Feuer And Schulim/Shalom Hollander

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Bomb Shelters Versus Tornado Shelters

7 May

Since my experience with the air raid sirens going off my second day in Israel, I have a new Israeli obsession: Bomb Shelters.

It really is an easy obsession for me to have because living in the Midwest has lead me to a minor obsession with tornado shelters. Each time we have purchased a house, I have looked carefully through the basement looking for the ideal storm shelter. Lowest level, center of house or totally underground, no windows, close to a staircase (staircases are built extra strong) and nothing heavy overhead. For example, you do not want to be sitting in a tornado shelter under a baby grand piano or a refrigerator.

I can almost hear my favorite weather man, Gary, go through his tornado ‘rant’: children who are home alone, do not worry, just go to the lowest level, small, center most room in the house, no windows. This might not be his exact words, but they echo in my mind.

So it is easy for me to transfer my intense concern about tornado shelters to the essential concern for a bomb shelter.

In Israel most people live in apartment buildings. The old ones were not built with bomb shelters. Instead when the sirens go off, the people sit in their staircases…center most area of the house, no windows, reinforced concrete. A relative safe place to sit through a barrage of rockets or bombs, I guess. As I wrote in an earlier blog, my daughter’s apartment has a Momad, a room in her apartment built of extra thick walls, reinforced concrete, special window which has a thick metal plate that sides out and a thick metal door. It is easy to get to and somewhat safer than the rest of the rooms.

But what do you do when you are outside and you need to take shelter. Well there is a system. My daughter took me on a walk to explain sheltering when out side. First she suggested that I hide under an apartment building. In Israel most apartment buildings have car parking underneath and the first apartments are on the ‘second floor.’

She said, “Go to the North or West side of the house and take cover there. Those sides are safer.” She also told me to try the door. If it was unlocked just go in. “What! to a building where I don’t know anyone?” “Of course,” she responded. “During a siren of course they want you to come in.” Or if I am near a store, just go in.

I have to admit that for a tornado siren, we go to the north and east side of the basement. The storms usually come from the southwest, so I do have to change that orientation. And although I would not run into a stranger’s house during a tornado, I definitely have been known to enter a store I was near by when the tornado sirens went off.

But the best is to be near a bomb shelter and go into it. In Israel, the government takes bomb shelters seriously! And there are many community bomb shelters throughout the country. This is definitely why, even thought tens of thousands of rockets, drones, bombs, and missiles, have been launched towards Israel, tens of thousands of people have not been killed. Instead they had the ability to take shelter from the attacks and be somewhat safe.

Just as we in the Midwest know that in many public buildings there are signs to lead us to the tornado shelter, and so even though we have many horrendous tornados, the death toll has gone down over the years.

After my daughter pointed out where to hide under a building, we walked the two blocks to the little strip shopping area near her apartment. In the back was the entrance to the shelter. It is near a staircase, in the center of the building. Gary the weatherman would be so happy. Bomb shelters are like tornado shelters in many ways!!

Tesla Playground and shelter.

As we continued on our walk along the streets and alleys of Holon, we walked through many small parks. Within a one mile radius of my daughter’s apartment building are dozens of small parks, day care centers and schools. Located in the center of many of them are bomb shelters. Which makes sense, because children cannot run as quickly as adults. So best to have the shelter close at hand. What I really liked about the shelters is that the outsides are colorfully decorated to make them look cheerful and part of the fun of the park. In Holon, I think the same artist decorated most of them.

Another playground and shelter

I thought about how difficult it would be for children to stop playing to run into the shelter, hide for ten minutes or so before coming out. And then I thought back to when my children were young. They NEVER argued when there was a tornado warning. When the sirens sounded, we all immediately went downstairs to the shelter. Sometimes they grabbed a cat if they could. But there was NEVER an argument. Never a discussion. Never rebellion. Taking shelter was the immediate goal. And then when the danger was over, we left the shelter. Sometimes it was 15 to 20 minutes. And sometimes we were down there for an hour or more. But when it was over, life just resumed. So I have to assume that children in Israel have the same response to a siren for a bomb attack as my children had for a tornado warning. Don’t argue, take shelter.

I do have to admit one caveat to taking shelter: Dads and husbands.. When my husband was home during a storm and tornado warning, sometimes he would stand outside for a while and watch the weather. This to me was not the brightest thing to do. But as many know, you a watch lots of videos of tornados heading towards someone’s home, and then finally someone yells, “We need to go inside now.” In Israel the same type of poeple stand outside and take videos of the Iron Dome rockets intercepting the missiles or bombs sent into Israel. I don’t quite understand this desire to watch in real time. But I do admit watching these videos myself.

But there is a major difference between a tornado siren and an air raid sirens. The intent. For a tornado you have to watch out for the debris. For a rocket/missile you have to watch out for the shrapnel. Similar but not exactly the same. Nature doesn’t take aim at your home because it hates you, it just is. While bombs falling around you are sent purposefully to kill you. That does change the dynamic of sheltering.

Although tornado shelters are here to stay, people should not have to have bomb shelters in their homes or their play grounds. Humans cannot stop tornados, but they can stop bombing each other with intent to kill. It is time for it to end.

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