(Editor’s note: This message from Todd Stettner, executive vice president & CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, first appeared on the agency’s website and email blast Friday, Nov. 16.)
Imagine that terrorists have taken over the Kansas City Airport and have set up and are firing SAJR rockets (made in Iran) at downtown K.C., Prairie Village and Overland Park. (Yes, these missiles have that kind of range.)
What do you think our military and police would do?
Now, imagine you are a mother, driving your young child, who is strapped into a car seat. You hear the air raid siren, giving you only 15 seconds to seek shelter. This is what mothers in the southern (and now other parts of Israel, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) are facing every day.
Sadly, Israel is at war again.
I was in Israel when the second Lebanese War started. I heard the boom of cannons and the roar of Israeli jets taking off from a nearby air base to attack Hezbollah. I saw children from the north sheltered in camps in Ramla to ensure their safety, and I met a doctor in Eilat who moved patients from a hospital in the Galilee so they would not be harmed by rockets. But this time things have changed: better, longer-range rockets have made the entire southern and central part of Israel unsafe and if, G-d forbid, Hezbollah joins this fight, all of Israel will be under attack.
As always in these times we are quick to react:
We have opened the Israel Terror Relief Fund locally.
$5 million dollars have been sent already by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) as an advance against community fundraising efforts.
The Reform and Conservative national movements have pledged to work with this campaign to raise as much money as needed. (Note: Orthodox and traditional congregations in Kansas City are also working with Jewish Federation to help.)
Most important, our partners, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) are already on the ground to help Israel’s beleaguered citizens.
JAFI is already moving more than 4,000 students, in grades one through 12, to safer, more secure locations. Special psychological counseling interventions for parents and children suffering from emotional trauma are being offered.
The JDC is preparing emergency kits for the elderly and the disabled, and is working with emergency case workers who provide psychological and physical support so that they can stay in their homes during the sirens (most Israeli homes in the area have a safe room).
The Israel Trauma Coalition is operating phone hot lines, workshops for children and parents and team training and support for emergency relief workers in the field in coordination with local community councils.
Ofer Lichtig, Kansas City’s representative in Israel, has informed me that all electioneering has stopped in Israel as all parties and candidates have united around the government to show support.
I’ll leave you with this thought: On my office window sill sits a stuffed dog doll with Velcro at the tips of his front paws and a sad look on his face. His name is Hibuki which means “huggy.” He is a therapy tool used with young Israeli children (typically victims of terror) to get them to talk about why they are sad. With the Velcro on his paws, Hibuki’s arms can be wrapped around a child and fastened to give them a hug. I acquired it after the last war with Lebanon, and I have used it over the years to bring smiles to young children who visit my office. I wish that it could be doing the same — bringing smiles to children in Israel right now — rather than be used for its intended therapeutic purpose.
I invite you to post your thoughts on my blog, keep checking our website (www.jewishkansascity.org), Facebook page, Twitter account, or Ophir Hacohen’s Israel Emissary Facebook page for updated information.
