When sirens sound, Israelis show true solidarity and compassion
"It might sound like something small and insignificant, but amidst the chaos, and the terribleness of what is going on, it meant something."
Israelis across the country are finding ways to keep their heads held high amidst chaos. After stressful alerts were issued in the early hours of Friday morning, Israelis remained on high alert, knowing that their lives could change on a moments notice.
In the central city of Tel Aviv, as the threat continued to rise and people gathered near shelters ahead of pending alerts, people found common ground and restored each others faith in humanity as people bonded through the smallest of things — that would seldom be found outside of Israel, as many Israelis believe.
Naomi, a married mother of two who is religious, told The Jerusalem Post that she was supported by neighbors from the moment an alert was issued. “Our neighbors came Friday night to let us know that there would be sirens soon because they knew we keep Shabbat,” Naomi said. “When we were in the miklat (shelter) for the 9pm siren Friday night, it was so hot, there was no air, felt like a sauna, everyone was sweating. I was in nice Shabbat clothes with a heavy wig on and my neighbor brought down a tiny fan and put it in front of me,” she said.
“I tried to tell her that she should use her own fan but she said, ‘No. I’m wearing shorts and a T-shirt and my own hair. You need it more than me.’ That meant so much!”
Across town the next night, sisters Stefanie and Melanie Amini were waiting at the Habima Square parking structure, whether they were taking shelter. Stefanie told the Post that upon arrival, they saw an older woman who wanted to make sure she was going the right way. “There was still time to go [before the sirens began], so we went up [out of the shelter] and waited. She looked and acted nervous so me and my sister decided we would engage her in heavy conversation so take her mind of it all,” she added.
A small world after all
As it turned out, Lenny Oren, the women they were seated with, would prove just how small the world is.“She quickly said, ‘oh my son says he knows you. Your name is Melanie and you are Persian from London!’ We said yes, that’s us! It turned out that he worked with my sister years ago. What a small world!”
The Amini sisters told the Post that they saw an instant change in her comfort; she became instantly relaxed, calm, and even happy.
“Her sons [felt] the same. They knew their 80 year old mother was in safe hands.”
In Jerusalem, S told the Post that while feeling down in the days up to Iran's attacks, he was feeling that he was not himself, feeling down. "I started to think about how much I missed Snickers bars, and that I could really go for one now," S said. The next day, after receiving warnings to be in the vicinity of a safe space, I started heading to the shelter and interacted with an elderly woman also on her way.
"She indicted that she needed a moment and was going inside to grab her jacket. She stood at the top of the stairs, hesitating, and I reached out my arm to help her down the stairs. Sirens then started blaring, and she's clearly scared. Still, we can't move faster because she can't, and I am reassuring her that we will get there," S said.
"We get to the shelter, and I get her a chair to sit down in. Time passes and we get the all-clear to leave the shelter, and we make our way back up the stairs, with me behind her just in case. We get to her door and she asks me to wait. She went inside -- and she came out with a Snickers bar!"
S said that though it was such a small gesture, it meant the world to him, especially because he had just been talking about the specific snack. "I realized later just how much that Snickers bar solidified this connection. It was something that I had been missing, and she was able to give this to me. It might sound like something small and insignificant, but amidst the chaos, and the terribleness of what is going on, it meant something."
