The Feelings of an American Jew Watching Her Israeli Brothers and Sisters Under Attack

(Please RSVP for Tomorrow's Book Club)

Quote of the Week:

“If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more ‎violence. If the Jews put ‎down their weapons ‎today, there would be no ‎more Israel.” — Benjamin Netanyahu

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The Truth About What’s Happening In Israel

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If you want to stay informed about what’s happening in Israel, I highly recommend following Stand With Us on Instagram. They are giving up to date information about everything going on.

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Welcome to Classically Abby! 

I'm a wife, mama, opera singer, entrepreneur, YouTuber, and your guide to becoming the classic woman you've always wanted to be! Follow me on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter to see how! And together, let's be classic. 

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The Feelings of an American Jew Watching Her Israeli Brothers and Sisters Under Attack

Photo by Taylor Brandon on Unsplash

Over the weekend, Israel was mercilessly and horrifically terrorized by Hamas in what people are calling “Israel’s 9/11.” 700 Israelis have been killed, 2100 have been injured, and 150 hostages have been taken into Gaza by terrorists. This includes women, children, and elderly. The videos circulating from the terrorists of murdering, raping, and kidnapping innocents are so horrifying, they should be required viewing for anyone who questions who is on the side of evil here. But my goal isn’t to explain the history of this conflict nor to report the news as it happens. If you want more information about that, I recommend following Stand With Us on Instagram and reading this article in The Free Press.

Today, I just want to share with you what it feels like as an American Jew to watch my Israeli brothers and sisters under attack.

The attacks began over the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret. That means we couldn’t look at our phones or computers or TVs. We were off our electronics. We didn’t know anything was wrong until we got to synagogue and heard from others who had heard from their non-Jewish friends that something was going in Israel. All of a sudden, a day of celebration, a day of community, a day of rest became a day of horror. Who in our families or communities was still in Israel? Who had family there? Who do I know that could be in danger? And even those I don’t know - what will happen to the innocent civilians of Israel, my Jewish family, who were unprepared for this mass invasion of terrorists into our homeland?

We spent the next two days getting bits and pieces of information, hearing of indescribable horrors to small children, to babies, to mothers and wives and families who were unarmed and unable to protect themselves. We heard of the deaths of hundreds of people and the critical injuries of many more. We heard there were hostages being taken across the border. And all this while we tried to celebrate our Torah, our people.

It’s an odd thing to celebrate a once-a-year festival with your community while crying for your nation. We show that the Jewish people survive and thrive through any tragedy, any destruction, by holding one another close and celebrating the things that make us who we are. We stand hand in hand, side by side, singing our insistence that We. Are. Still. Here. And praying, endless praying, that our nation will stay safe halfway across the world.

As the second part of our holiday, Simchat Torah, drew to a close, we pulled out our phones and began to the see the news ourselves. Bombarded with videos, with newsflashes, with Twitter threads, with articles. We see stories of Hamas parading a dead, naked Israeli woman around the streets of Gaza, spitting on her body; pictures of a mother holding her two red-headed children as she is shepherded away by terrorists; stories of families with young children murdered.

And I see, for the first time, a video of toddlers in cages, held hostage by Hamas in their absolute utter hatred of Jews. We don’t know what will happen to them, but we know what we can fear will happen.

That’s when I broke down, crying and shaking. Because my son sleeps safely in his bed only because I’m here and not there, because I didn’t happen to be in Ashkelon or Sderot when the terrorists crossed the Israeli border. And these babies are separated from their mothers, caged like animals, scared and helpless and alone.

All because Hamas hates my people for existing at all. All because Jew-hatred is condoned by enough people in the world that Hamas isn’t even afraid to commit these heinous acts because they will still be given moral equivalence.

Even though I feel helpless, I know I’m not. We can donate. We can pray. We can call our friends and offer our support. We can protest. We can fight the disgusting lies that condone the conduct of barbarians who would do this to innocent civilians.

I want to share a few places you can donate and I hope you’ll pray for Israel.

Friends of the IDF

The Jewish Agency For Israel

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Mark Your Calendar: Book Club Is TOMORROW

Join us tomorrow (10/10/2023) for a Google Meet book club discussion on “Take Back Your Family.” I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

I’m so excited to see you all and chat with you LIVE. To join tomorrow’s book club, you must RSVP by 3 PM EST on 10/10/2023 to get access to the exclusive link! (Once you respond, the form will admit you. If you need to find the link again, you may have to “edit your response” - just input the same RSVP info and you’ll get access to the link again.) If you’re having trouble getting into the meeting, leave a comment on this post - I’ll have it open during the call so that I can see your messages if there’s a problem. Can’t wait to see you there!

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