Rabbi Gropper Reports On the State of Israel

“Post-Traumaic Stress” or just “Trauma” in Hebrew is the word that best describes the mood in Israel now. That was the word from Community Synagogue's Rabbi Daniel Gropper to his congregation after a recent visit to Israel. In mid-October, Gropper, joined a five-day mission of U.S. rabbis visiting Israel to show their support for Israelis following the recent war in Lebanon with Hezbolah.

Gropper visited a number of communities in northern Israel that suffered hits from Katusha rockets fired from Lebanon. He was struck by the extent to which the country now felt “squeezed” by those rockets and the less sophisticated ones still coming from Hamas in Gaza. According to Gropper, Israelis, especially now that Iran is aiming to become a nuclear state, feel a “threat to their very existence.”

The rabbi observed more property damage than press reports here had indicated but said there had been good progress in making repairs. However, he is still concerned with the high level of psychological damage and the number of individuals, including children, who are now undergoing counseling because of the after-effects from the stress of hostilities.

Israelis, Rabbi Gropper said, did what the best they could to deal with the crisis. He gave examples of experiences that were not reported widely:

- There was a 680-bed hospital six miles from Lebanon that had underground facilities for 400 beds. At the start of the war, many patients were discharged and the remaining moved underground. The hospital later suffered a direct hit but it continued to operate 24/7 underground, including its operating room.

- A support center for religious women in Israel committed themselves to provided post-traumatic stress counseling services to every single child in northern Israel.

- The Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa used an underground parking garage to house a day camp for children to provide some relief for them and their parents.

Rabbi Gropper urged his congregation to support the Israeli people in any way they could.

– Arthur Stampleman