By Lonny Moses, HDNA Boger, Community Organizer in Petach Tikvah
The first five days…
Saturday
I'm drinking coffee at my friends' house who have a nicer shelter than mine.
Edit: I wanted to assure my friends in the USA who haven't yet woken up that I'm ok. But actually as news is coming in about the scale of the invasion by Hamas, I am definitely not ok. I am safe physically, but my country and my people are undergoing a significant trauma right now. In the meantime all I can do is sit at home, read the news and try to comfort and be comforted.
Sunday
It's hard to go to sleep when you know that every hour brings more bad news. Somehow, hearing about the horrors a bit at a time seems more bearable than waking up to a tsunami of updates.
And yet, yesterday at midnight I finally fell asleep. And I woke up to the newest numbers... over 300 dead. 100 captured and taken to Gaza.
I cried as I read the updates, something I was only able to do yesterday when my parents woke up and called and I could finally tell them everything that had happened in the 7 hours they had been asleep.
Each individual event that happened here is terrifying, but each of the events together taken as a whole is simply overwhelming and horrifying.
Yesterday was about being shocked and scared. Today will be about asking the city how we can volunteer to help deal with the situation.
Monday
Today I brought a few young adults with me to do activities for kids with special needs and their families. When the siren went off we tried to keep everyone calm as we went down to the shelter.
In the WhatsApp group for volunteers I opened people found other volunteer opportunities.
I made a few calls to the elderly folks I meet with on a weekly basis in the shuk. One of them is watching tv at home. The other said he's been going to the shuk as normal (there's no shelter there). He said he's been dealing with this shit for 70 years and what will be will be.
Tonight I have a zoom with young adults in Petach Tikvah and then another for LGBTQ young adults.
I took a nap this afternoon so that I could watch the Phillies game tonight.
I'm doing all of this because it is necessary. I am also doing it to take my mind off of the fact that I am absolutely f*ing seething at this government.
Tuesday
I am doing everything I can to make use of my time volunteering, helping others find volunteer opportunities, running zoom calls for various groups, calling old folks, etc.
I'm able to do this, in part, because the movement I am a part of is a socialist movement, which distributes its money to the people and projects in the community who need it.
But also because we have an ethic of mission that says that in times of crisis we get to work and figure out the distribution of resources as we go.
We have a very small team that does fundraising throughout the year for our various projects, and as we redirect our energies to what is needed at this time, while many of our members have been called up to reserve duty, your donations help us keep going and know that we have the resources to keep doing as much as we can from day to day.
There are so many organizations helping out in Israel, and tons of individual initiatives. But if you're looking for a way to help someone you know doing something that you can hear about and feel connected to, I welcome you to donate to Dror Israel's war efforts.
https://www.drorisrael.org/emergency-response
Friday
This morning I helped lead a musical kabbalat shabbat for children of my kibbutz in Petach Tikvah in a local bomb shelter. It's important to lift spirits and support one another during times like this.
Seeing these kiddos sing and dance to music I was playing definitely lifted my spirits.
