Jonathan Feldstein: My October 8 Epiphany and Israel’s Future
A year ago, I had no idea how bad things were, or were going to be immediately after the Hamas massacre. I had no idea my son was in one of the communities along the Gaza border, fighting terrorists who were still trying to kill Israelis. Later he described that as being more frightening than fighting in Gaza itself.
A year ago, I continued with a previously scheduled meeting with friends from a major ministry in Jerusalem. I invited them to my home as if business as usual, even though we knew it was not. We were going to discuss collaborating on projects to bless Israel anyway. Our lives had changed, Israel had changed, though we had no idea how much so.
Maybe it was providential. As a result of our meeting, the Israel Emergency Campaign was born. We established the pillars of where our efforts would go: civilian security, soldiers’ social welfare, evacuating civilians in danger, and supporting at-risk youth in the Gaza border. The last of these was, and remains, one of the most important, and hardest. These children witnessed horrors nobody should ever have to see, much less in their young lives, and certainly for those coming from broken homes whose parents couldn’t help them the way they deserved and needed.
It was the hardest to advocate for because it was the least tangible, and hardest to quantify, measure, or see (and feel) immediate results. Because of that, it’s one of the most important, because it requires a long-term investment, the results of which may not be fully realized for a decade.
We are committed to raising funds and investing in these children’s future, empowering them, and strengthening them. Partnering with the largest social service agency in the Gaza border working among this at-risk population, we committed to providing therapies and skills needed to overcome everything that they were going through. At the time, all the families had to be evacuated for months, so initial services were provided in hotels and cities to which they had been relocated.
It was hard to “sell” this, and still is, because there were, and still are, many more urgent needs: things that are visible, tangible, and immediately compelling. And things the immediacy of which that are hard to say no to. The Israel Emergency Campaign has done so much to respond to all these needs. And we still are doing that.
But a year ago, we realized that if we didn’t step up for these at-risk, broken children, perhaps nobody might. And we needed to invest for their future because their future is a key to the foundation of a strong future for all of Israel. It means that they will be able to overcome their challenges, not be defined by them, and become productive members of society rather than perpetual victims. They will be able to become loving parents themselves, giving their children more than they have. That’s priceless.
Our partners understand that together, we can change the term “at-risk youth” to “children of promise.”
Vast resources are needed for programs including counseling and all kinds of therapies, as well as resilience training for adults to be able to provide for the children, even while in the midst of trauma themselves. No parent, even the best parent, comes equipped with skills to cope with these levels of trauma themselves and protect their kids at the same time, keeping them safe, especially with rockets flying and terrorists roaming the streets.
There are also needs to fund the new resilience center, something that is more urgent than ever, to keep the children safe physically, while nurtured emotionally and spiritually. During the war, the new building took a direct hit by a Hamas rocket. Thank God nobody was hurt. But to keep all the children safe, under this specially designed roof that can resist a direct hit from a rocket, we need to provide all the furnishings. These include appliances in which the children’s one hot meal of the day is lovingly cooked, furniture, computer stations to do homework, counseling rooms, and even bomb shelters.
The beautiful thing about this endeavor is that it is a collective where everyone and anyone can play an invaluable part. Every church, every synagogue, every individual can commit to something small, and together we can do something massive. It’s literally making the biggest impact with the greatest integrity. Together, we will invest in the future for those children whose parents can’t help them, or who are orphans, one that will give them the foundation to build a bright future for themselves, and one day, for their own children.
Seeing the dividends of this investment is a generation away. It’s not the same as providing thousands of warm winter jackets and hand warmers to reservist soldiers, something that will be needed again as winter arrives. It’s not met with the immediate gratification of scores of Israeli families among the tens of thousands who are still evacuated from their communities, and the smiles of happy children, and respite for their parents. But it’s no less critical, maybe even more so.
Part of my epiphany is the miraculousness of this very project. A year ago, Israel experienced the most severe attack and largest number of people killed on one day, ever, in all of its wars. Israelis are still in the midst of the loss and grief, experiencing trauma, and displaying the consequences of this. But this very campaign is an expression of the resilience that Israel is known for. From terrorist attacks and massacres in the 1920s, through the brutal wars in which Israel has lost more than 30,000, Israel has always built back, grown, and invested for the long term. That’s part of the miracle of Israel now, and the imperative to invest in these, the weakest among Israelis unable to do for themselves: the least of these, our brothers.
From day one, a year ago, we knew this was urgent and critical. It’s part of the history of Israel, and its future. Please join us today to make all the tomorrows a blessing.
