War between Israel, Hamas reaches Southwest Florida as some leave to fight, others pray

Around 9 a.m. on Sunday, just as Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz was finishing meditation, one of his congregants walked into the room in the Fort Myers-based temple. He was holding his tefillin in his hands, leather wraps inscribed with verses of the Torah.

“I’m going,” said Logan.

He was leaving for Israel, to join in the fight against militant group Hamas after more than 1,200 were killed and roughly 100 taken captive over the weekend in a surprise attack on Israel.

Logan had come to the temple to pray one last time, and to tell Minkowicz what he had decided, after wrestling with this since the attack on Saturday. Stay in Fort Myers with his wife, Sarah, and their four-year-old daughter? Or heed the call he’d gotten over the weekend that asked him to come back to Israel, to fight for his country in a third war?

His flight left at 1 p.m.

Minkowicz, who leads Chabad Lubavitch SWFL, has been working to counsel those distraught by the attack. Many in his congregation have lived in Israel or have family there, sheltering in bunkers or joining the army. A number of them feel adrift, terrified for their loved ones abroad, he said.

The sudden attack by Hamas against Israel over the weekend stunned the Jewish community in Southwest Florida. Some, like Logan, have left to join the fight. Others wish they could, to help protect their country and their families. The fact that they can’t is a constant source of pain and anger.

Still more wish this had never come to pass.

The News-Press / Naples Daily News is withholding Logan’s last name at his request due to safety concerns.

Even as Logan FaceTimed Minkowicz for a press event Tuesday morning, gunfire could be heard in the background.

“The situation is very bad,” Logan said via FaceTime. “We’re working very hard. We’re training, we’re doing everything we can. It changes every second.”

According to Minkowicz, at least one person in Southwest Florida has lost family members to the bombings in Israel.

'He didn't have a choice'

Logan, who holds dual citizenship with the U.S. and Israel, is one of roughly 360,000 reservists Israel has mobilized, and could soon be deployed on a ground offensive into Gaza.

The violence began Saturday, when the first of thousands of rockets fired from Gaza pounded parts of southern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Hamas militants infiltrated Israeli areas near the Gaza border, killing and wounding civilians and Israeli security forces and taking hostages, prompting the Israel military to strike back.

Tel Aviv's overwhelming response to the brutal attack by Hamas left Gaza neighborhoods destroyed, homes dark and hospitals low on desperately needed medical supplies. Palestinian officials say more than 1,000 militants and citizens have been killed and more than 5,000 wounded.

The war comes from a dispute rooted in pre-biblical times. Though its borders have shifted over the years, Palestinian territories used to be what is now Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank.

Both Israeli Jews' and Palestinian Arabs’ history, culture, and identity are linked to the Palestinian territories and to the ancient city of Jerusalem, “one of the most bitterly contested cities on earth,” according to The Associated Press.

Since September 2000, the overwhelming majority of people killed in the conflict were Palestinian, Israeli human rights group B’Tselem found.

The recent attack on Israel, and the country’s response hit the Jewish community of Southwest Florida in a variety of ways.

Sarah, Logan’s wife, a teacher in Southwest Florida, said she’s been crying for days, up and down on an emotional rollercoaster.

She’s afraid for Logan, mad that he left, and mad that her family had to choose between staying together, staying safe, and seeing her husband do what he felt was right – putting him in jeopardy.

Logan, Sarah said, felt he had a duty to fulfill and couldn’t not go. “I obviously could have tried to tell him no, but that would have … just made it a more difficult situation.” But, she said, it wasn’t her decision alone.

Logan’s already served in two wars for Israel, Sarah said, and served in the Israeli army from 2006-2010. Once he got the call, she said, it was clearly heavily weighing on him that the situation was so bad in Israel.

Three of Logan’s friends from his former unit were killed in the bombings. One of their funerals was bombed, as well.

“I think he felt he didn’t have a choice,” she said. “I just pray that he comes home soon and this is all over soon.”

In Cape Coral, Estelle Oren wishes she could return to Israel and pick up a gun to defend her country and her family, or help in the hospitals, but she knows they wouldn’t have her.

She’s 75, for one, and for another, recently herniated two disks in her back in a car accident. She can’t stand or sit for long, and the inability to do anything other than pray, read Psalms and light candles is wearing on her.

She has good reason to be worried.

Her two children live in Israel with their families; her son and daughter-in-law have been sitting in their bunker for days waiting for the bombs to stop. Her two grandsons, both of whom had just completed their mandatory military service in Israel, have joined back up, and her 14-year-old granddaughter has been diagnosed with PTSD from the bombings.

Oren began crying as she spoke.  “I can't begin to tell you…” she trailed off. “This has just been awful.”

Oren, originally from South Africa, moved to the U.S. after she lost much of her hearing in a bombing in Israel and her husband died from cancer. “I love America,” she said, but she can’t help but want to be back in Israel right now.

“I feel like I’m falling sometimes,” she said. “I just feel as though I’m going to fall down any minute, collapse out of worry. I don’t know what to do.”

Local action

For those left behind, unable to bear witness to the war other than through the television, it can be a paralyzing experience. But by participating in their community, Minkowicz said, people can take back a little control over their lives.

“Everyone wants to do something,” said Minkowicz.

For those unable to fight, he has been recommending they donate to the troops in Israel, put on the tefillin in honor of those fighting, pray, read psalms 20 and 122, and that women and girls light candles for Israel. These actions create community, he said, and if you can’t physically join in the fight, through these you can still support Israel.

“We’re missing a lot of gear,” Logan said. Those on the front lines got the first pick of gear to protect them, and what was left over, he said, was not sufficient. He asked the community in Southwest Florida to donate to help them purchase what they need, including helmets and protective vests.

“We need help,” Logan said. He said his unit Is dealing with rocket attacks and sleeping very little, going out at night on missions.

“Logan,” Minkowicz said, “You’re a hero for our community, and you’re sending a most powerful message.”

Those interested in making local donations can donate to Chabad Lubavitch at https://www.chabadswf.org/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/253283/jewish/Donate.htm

USA TODAY reporters John Bacon, George Petras and Janet Loehrke contributed to this article. 

Kate Cimini is the Florida Investigative Reporter for The News-Press / Naples Daily News and the USA TODAY Network-Florida. You can reach her at 239-207-9369 or kcimini@news-press.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: War in Israel reaches Southwest Florida as some join the fight