As a Ziegler rabbinical student who just finished her third year, I was presented with the opportunity to study the summer semester in Israel for eight weeks. With the encouragement of my husband, and in hopes of seeing my daughter and her family who just made Aliyah, I seized the chance and came to Jerusalem in early June. The program consists of traveling (South the first weeks and North the last weeks), giving us a chance to learn about Israeli life close up. We are to study Torah and other Jewish texts, Zionism, Israeli history and society and Modern Hebrew.
After having toured the South, specifically the Nova Site, Kibbutz Kfar Aza and Sderot, as well as visited with Ethiopians and Bedouins, I felt that I received a perspective more detailed than during my trip to Israel with the Sinai Temple Israel Center Mission in January 2024. We received detailed accounting of Kibbutz Kfar Aza residents, who live a mile from Gaza. We could hear the fear and anxiety they lived through.
We returned to Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon in time to prepare for Shabbat. We all settled into our Airbnb rentals. Having familiarized myself with my Machaneh Yehuda neighborhood, I enjoyed seeing the hustle and bustle of religious families preparing for Shabbat. That night, in the middle of the night, the first siren sounded. We learned that Israel had attacked Iran. I was confused and helpless at first, as I had not been instructed what to do. Shuki Zehavi, the rabbi of the Fuchsberg Center was, however, in touch with us. After contacting my neighbor, she walked me to the closest shelter four minutes away, and we remained until all was clear. While I had some anxiety about not knowing what to do, I quickly adapted and learned to pack a bag with food, water and a book.
On Shabbat, I had two amazing experiences, albeit both related to sirens. As the first warning came up on the Home Command app, I walked to the shelter, ready to enter it when the sirens sounded. The sirens never came but I witnessed the joy and kavanah as a group of Yeshiva boys chanted Kabbalat Shabbat outside the shelter with much vigor. It lifted my heart. At the sound of a later siren, I set off to the shelter again but a kind neighbor invited me to their private safe room, which is 30 seconds from my apartment. They then invited me to their Shabbat table, and I experienced their joy in singing Moroccan z’mirot. I was in heaven. There was so much love and inclusiveness. This Mizrachi Chabad family has adopted me with love and without judgement.
Is there a drawback to being in Jerusalem right now? I had to arrange a great deal to be here, leaving family and work. Thus, I am very sad that I cannot go visit my daughter, who lives in the North right now, as we have to stay close to home. There is some disappointment that our classes are on Zoom, but I am grateful to be learning and busy. Sirens are mostly at night, preventing us from getting a good night’s sleep. I sleep in my clothes, anticipating sirens. Yesterday, however, we had sirens during the day as well, heightening our awareness. My family is in constant contact with me, and it seems that they are anxious while I am not. Nevertheless, no one is asking me to return home when possible and for this I am grateful as well.
Yes, it is difficult living here. Yet is my immense privilege to share in the hardship of our fellow Jews in Israel and to feel deeply a solidarity with them, even though this war is more pronounced than others. I am weirdly comforted in being here. As with everything in life, I chose to learn from it and look at the positive. May Israel prevail over the evil Iranian regime for the sake of our survival and to the benefit of the world.
Angela Maddahi is a 4th year rabbinical student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinical Studies
