Coming just hours before the end of a whirlwind solidarity mission, last week’s deadly Jerusalem bombing left Ami Nahshon with a difficult task — how can you urge fellow Jews to journey to Israel when a terrorist strikes less than half a mile away from you?
But Nahshon, the longtime executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay, has an answer.
“Even during times of terrible terrorism in Israel, statistically, it’s a safe place to be,” he said. “It’s still safer than walking in any major metropolitan downtown.
“But that’s not to say these episodes aren’t frightening. They are,” he continued. “The area feels really isolated from the Jewish world today. It’s exceptionally important to touch base with our friends and partners. They were very much more appreciative of our visit than I ever experienced before.”
Added Marjorie Wolf, the federation’s president: “It was absolutely worth doing. I’d do it again in a minute. I’d encourage others to go. People there need to know they have moral support.”
At the time of the blast, which killed 15 people and injured 130, the federation group had been sitting in a Jerusalem boardroom, a five-minute walk down the road from the demolished Sbarro pizzeria. Len Rossen thought the loud noise he just heard emanated from the room’s adjoining kitchen — a waiter must have had an accident.
“To be candid, every one of us heard the explosion, but I kind of attributed it to the fact that it was a noisy building,” said the Moraga resident, one of a dozen locals on the trip. “There was a kitchen nearby and I thought somebody had dropped a tray.”
The deadly blast was a stark contrast to the tenor of the rest of the trip, which was spent touring some of the nation’s most progressive federation-funded projects.
“What left me with the most hope from this trip were some of the very exciting things going on in Israel in very positive ways,” said Wolf. “For the first time, I saw people being very concerned about the environment; dealing with erosion, water problems; keeping the antiquities in good shape. They’re doing all the kinds of stuff they knew they’d have to do eventually but didn’t have the time and energy to do.”
Heading to the East Bay Federation’s sister region of Kiryat Malachi, the visitors said that touring environmental projects was one of the trip’s highlights. Nahshon wasn’t the only one whose jaw hit the floor when the group was told pregnant women in the Tel Aviv region are strongly advised to avoid tap water because of toxicity concerns.
“That snippet really got everyone’s attention,” he said. “Usually, we think about water supply as the central issue in Israel, but water pollution is a very serious issue.”
The group also visited an organization setting up marathon study sessions for Ethiopian Kiryat Malachi teenagers about to take their matriculation exams, an Arab women’s entrepreneurial project, a joint MBA program for Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs, and a psychological outreach program assisting children traumatized by frequent mortar attacks.
They also stopped by a shelter for runaway teenage girls in Jerusalem.
“If they didn’t have this kind of place, the girls would be on the street or dead,” said Moraga’s Julie Ovadia, a former Israeli social worker. “We basically went to see all the agencies that we fund up close and personal. I was thrilled to see how well they’re doing.”
The trip’s participants received warm welcomes throughout the country. With tourism down anywhere from 70 to 90 percent, many Israelis were thrilled to see American Jews in their neighborhoods.
“We were in Ashkelon and a female judge and her husband opened her home to our busload of people,” said Livermore’s Sally Brown. “There was warmth and a general family feeling. It wasn’t like strangers politely welcomed in because it was the polite thing to do. It was like family — family that happened to live elsewhere — coming home. Only a temporary home, but home.”
After studying much of the good work being done in the fields of conservation, coexistence and pluralism throughout Israel, the trip’s participants said they felt the bombing came as something of a punch in the stomach.
“This event taking place just blocks away and within clear earshot was one of the most sobering things I have ever lived through in my entire life,” said Rossen. “All of the sudden it was as if each of us walked into the wall. Suddenly, the reality of what they face in Israel was just hammered right into us.”