North Jersey Jews, in Israel for holiday, horrified after attacks
For Jews like Teaneck Councilman Mark Schwartz, it was supposed to be the most joyous day of the year.
But as worshippers gathered at synagogue services Saturday — whether in Israel, where Schwartz was visiting for a holiday celebration, or back home in New Jersey — the day turned somber as news spread that Israel had experienced the bloodiest day in its 75-year history.
The surprise attack by Hamas left at least 700 Israelis dead and dozens more presumed captured. The Israeli military called up more than 300,000 reservists in response, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his country to brace for a long war after the most shocking infiltration of the Jewish state in a half-century.
"This is surreal," Schwartz said Monday in a phone interview from Israel, where he had been for three weeks.
"Nobody is used to this," said the councilman, who's also a volunteer firefighter and ambulance driver in Teaneck. "The Israelis don't even know this playbook. The sirens keep going off, and everyone has to run to a shelter, which is dark and not well stocked because nobody prepared for this.”
In the religious community of Ma'ale Adumim, a West Bank settlement outside of Jerusalem, former Teaneck resident Joan Weiner Levin realized something was wrong as she strolled to synagogue. The streets would usually be empty on a Saturday for the Sabbath. But on this weekend, she told a reporter, "There was a steady stream of cars, all headed the same direction — up the hill, out of the neighborhood. Young men and women were leaving shul [synagogue], going home to change and head to their base.
"By the end of the day it was starting to be clear that this wasn't a regular skirmish. Something much bigger was happening," she said.
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On Monday, Hamas and other groups claimed to hold more than 100 people kidnapped in the attacks. Israeli authorities and social media accounts said the captives included grandmothers, teenagers and young children.
Palestinian officials estimated 500 deaths in Gaza after Israel launched airstrikes there.
"People have been comparing this to 9/11, and to some extent that is true," added Weiner Levin. To her, the attacks also recalled storms that she's experienced back home in New Jersey that blew down trees and power lines: "You go from a normal life with a busy schedule, where the basic needs of everyday life like food and milk and gas and electricity are always available. And suddenly you are knocked down to just the basics of life."
Scrambling to get home
The terrorist breach came as Jews around the nation were on the verge of celebrating Simchat Torah, a holiday marking the beginning of the annual cycle of reading the biblical scrolls of the Torah. The event is usually observed with prayer, joyous singing, dancing with the scrolls and festive meals.
In New Jersey and beyond, rabbis canceled Simchat Torah celebrations in favor of more subdued ceremonies, in which they recited psalms for those who had been killed or captured. Others insisted that in spite of the horrors, the holiday celebration must go on as a sign of faith.
Schwartz and friends who traveled to Israel for the holiday were scrambling to return home, but the violence had canceled many flights out of the country. Many bought tickets to Europe on El Al, the Israeli airline, and hoped to get home from there, he said. "I got a flight to Bulgaria and will somehow get to New Jersey," Schwartz said.
“Everyone is in a mournful mood," he added.
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Dena Levie, an artist also from Teaneck, has traveled to Israel many times, but this was the first year she visited for the holiday. She said she was excited to sing and dance in the streets of Jerusalem with her children. Instead, she found herself seeking shelter in stairwells and basements as sirens blared almost a dozen times on Saturday. She watched a synagogue empty out as reservists were called up by the Israeli military.
"As I walked home, I wished a woman 'Chag Seamach,'" Levie said, using the Hebrew greeting for "happy holiday."
"She said, 'It's not a happy holiday.' So I wished her a Shabbat Shalom, a peaceful Sabbath, because it was also the Sabbath," Levie said. "And she said, `There's no peace. We pray this will end quickly with no more killing. Too many have been murdered.'"
Levie's nephews and cousins were all called up to the army, and her sister's neighbor was killed in one of the attacks. The victim's parents were unable to hold a public funeral because a crowd would have nowhere to shelter in case of a rocket attack, she said.
'I have never seen anything like this in my life'
"My 20-year-old son is trying to leave the country because he has school tomorrow," Levie added. "He's at the airport now and a siren just went off, and he was told to leave his bags and run for the safe room with hundreds of other people. I have been to Israel so many times, but I have never seen anything like this in my life."Another Teaneck official, Deputy Mayor Elie Katz, was also in Israel, hosting a holiday program for an American tour company. After two weeks of keeping everyone entertained, his focus changed Saturday morning when he woke to the sound of sirens. Now his job would be to keep his guests safe.
"Everyone had to go to the shelters, and we weren't permitted to gather in large groups because of the threat of rockets. Israel hasn't seen something like this since 1973. Rogue attackers came and took hostages of all ages," he said. "A worker in the kitchen who was making the cakes was crying and told me her best friend is still missing, and she asked me to have the group pray for her, and we did. A lot of our staff members had to leave the program to serve in the army. Many of us in the group are volunteering to help. We are sending supplies to soldiers and donating blood to victims of terrorist attacks.”
Katz said he found out through the Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical service, that an ambulance his family donated last year to Israel in honor of his parents and grandparents was hit by bullets and damaged during the incursion outside Gaza. Aharon Chaimov, who was driving the ambulance to a call in the southern city of Ofakim, was shot and killed by terrorists, Katz was told.
"Israel has several thousand ambulances. What is the statistical probability that ours would be struck in an attack?" Katz said. "Now we are committed to raising money for another ambulance, but it will be dedicated to the memory of the driver."
Vigils scheduled in the tri-state area
Several synagogues and other Jewish organizations in North Jersey scheduled vigils and rallies for Tuesday:
AZM and the New York Jewish community will host a New York Stands With Israel vigil and rally in Manhattan at Dag-Hammarskjold Plaza. Enter at Second Avenue and 47th Street. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m., and the program begins at 5 p.m.
An America Stands With Israel event will be held at 5 p.m. at the Bergen County Courthouse, near the monument, at 10 Main St. in Hackensack. Organizers said participants should bring a candle.
The Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey Israel American Council and the Kaplen JCC will host a rally in solidarity with Israel at 6:30 p.m. at Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, at 411 E. Clinton Ave. in Tenafly.
A vigil will take place on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Pier A, north of Hoboken Terminal, to honor victims of the attacks.
Bris Avrohom of Fair Lawn will hold a prayer vigil at 8:30 pm at 30-02 Fair Lawn Ave. in Fair Lawn.
How to help victims in Israel
Magen David Adom. Supports paramedics, EMTs, first responders and first air providers in Israel.
Israel Emergency Fund of the UJA-Federation: The umbrella organization of Jewish federations across the country has organized an Israel fund to support victims of terror and address the trauma caused by this attack.
Hadassah Hospital. A nonprofit hospital in Jerusalem that treats victims of attacks.
Congregation Brothers of Israel. The Jersey Shore synagogue is raising money to help supply lifesaving gear to Israel Defense Force soldiers.
The Jewish Agency for Israel's Fund for Victims of Terror, an emergency aid to help survivors after a tragedy.
This article includes information from news services.
Deena Yellin covers religion for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering how the spiritual intersects with our daily lives, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: yellin@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Jews in Israel for holiday horrified after Hamas attacks
