By Jeff Lipton
Winnig's 16-year-old son, Shai Knight-Winnig, was enjoying an educational and travel experience in Israel with Camp Eisner of the National Federation of Temple Youth, part of the youth movement of reform congregations. The trip involved exploration as well as archaeological digs with a group of about 500 teenagers who traveled to Israel by ship. Shai, who waited nine years for the chance to go on the trip, left July 2 and is due back Aug. 6.
Graber's 18-year-old son, Daniel, was involved with the United Synagogue Youth Etgar group, which tours Israel doing community-service projects in underprivileged areas. He left for the Middle East earlier this month and is scheduled to return July 31.
Both teenagers are currently in Jerusalem, out of harm's way, and their parents have no intentions of ordering them to come home, even though the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to be intensifying. "I'm not particularly worried," said Winnig. "[When the conflict started] my son called me and wanted to know why I didn't call him like all the other parents who were panicking.
"Whatever I feel for my son being there now, he's going to come home to a secure location," she said. "It's the kids who live in Israel that I worry about. There are thousands of children whose daily lives are affected by this."
Winnig tries not to listen to the news reports from the Middle East because, she explained, "I find that the ways things are presented are very upsetting. They have to make small things into big things." Even though she said the situation seems "scary and dangerous right now," she added, "I trust the Israeli government to protect my child."
Winnig said the parents of children on the trip were assured that if things got out of hand, the commercial airlines in Israel were prepared to bring the children home.
She said she is not worried as much about her son's physical safety as she is about his emotional well-being. "I just want him to get a good summer experience on this trip," Winnig said.
Graber said that even though the number of victims killed so far during the conflict is "far too high," it looks a lot worse on TV. The amount of damage in Israel is "not that great," he said.
"Of course, I'm concerned for my son's welfare, but I believe all is being done to keep him perfectly safe," Graber said. "I am concerned, but not to the point that I will tell him to come home. I'm concerned for all the people in Israel."
Many local religious leaders are in Israel, including Rabbi Kenneth Hain, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence, and Rabbi Bruce Ginsburg, spiritual leader of Sons of Israel in Woodmere. It is not clear whether they left before or after the conflict started.
Temple Israel of Lawrence held a service last Friday in which congregants prayed for an end to the violence and for peace and security in Israel. Another service is planned for this Friday at 8 p.m. The temple's spiritual leader, Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, said he spoke on Saturday night with the parents of a young woman who is in Israel, and they said she is determined to stay put and not let the violence drive her out of the country.
Rosenbaum said he would traveling to Venice on Monday and would stay until Thursday to meet with members of the Jewish community and church officials in an effort to show solidarity with the Jewish state.
With Israel and Hezbollah exchanging missile attacks in a conflict that flared up suddenly, and with neither side showing signs of backing down as the Herald went to press, religious leaders in the Five Towns expressed grave concerns that the intense fighting could lead to a regionwide conflict. "The fears always exist that the conflict could grow larger," said Graber. "The issue is not an Israeli issue. It's a much larger issue: It's a clash of two cultures, Islam and western civilization."
Hundreds of civilians in Israel and Lebanon have died in the conflict, during which Israel has bombed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and Hezbollah rockets have struck Haifa, the third largest city in Israel. Israel warned of a massive retaliation after the Haifa attack, accusing Iran and Syria of supplying the weapons used. As of early this week, Israel was moving ground troops into Lebanon.
"With missiles flowing [from Hezbollah], this is one of the most heinous acts of destruction brought upon Israel since its founding," said Rosenbaum.
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