By Nick Buglione
Dov Shurin, a noted Jerusalem radio personality, was scheduled to hold a live telephone conversation with the congregation to update them on the violence in the region last Tuesday night, but was forced to bow out after being injured by the remnants of a suicide bombing.
Shurin had to receive medical treatment after he ripped his finger on a nail that got stuck in his door after a recent bombing, according to Rebbetsin Rivka Krasner of the center.
"Dov didn't expect to find a nail in the door when he opened it, that's how he was injured," she said, adding that he received emergency medical treatment and is expected to be all right. Krasner, who answered phones for Shurin's WNWK radio show in Manhattan during the 1980s, set up the interview with the now-renowned Israeli broadcaster.
News of Shurin's injury proved to be an unexpected and a bitterly ironic twist for some of the 30 members who turned out to hear his first-hand account of the violence. Most attendees, however, said they were not surprised it happened.
"It's not uncommon there, unfortunately," said Oscar Olem, a 37-year East Meadow resident. "It's not something that shocked me."
Emigrating from Israel about 30 years ago and making her home in East Meadow, Rachel Malkiel, 56, expressed similar sentiments. "I wasn't surprised, because this happens every day," she said. "I grew up like that too."
Yet, with five brothers and sisters still living in Israel, Malkiel did say she feared for her family's safety. "My heart is with them," she said. "I cry every day and I pray. It's very tough there, but they are so used to it. This is our country, and my family would never leave."
Though Shurin could not take part in the discussion, best friend and member of the Israeli Defense Force Avraham Levy took his place.
Krasner conducted the interview, with several pre-prepared questions. A speaker system hooked up to the phone allowed the audience to listen in on the conversation.
Whether the American media accurately depicted the scope of damage caused by the suicide bombings was among the more pressing questions asked.
"It's pretty dangerous," said Levy, who daily scours the streets of Ramallah, searching the suspicious and making arrests. "One suicide bomber has probably done a lot more damage than you're seeing on American television."
He added that it's difficult to pick potential suicide bombers from a crowd because they come from such varying backgrounds. Attackers can be male or female, young or old, and rich or poor, Levy said. Despite the violence, Levy encouraged Americans of 100 percent Jewish ancestry to come to Israel and make it their permanent home.
"This is the Jewish nation," he said. "This is the only chance we have."
The Suburban Park Jewish Center, at 400 Old Westbury Road, held the discussion to mark the 54th anniversary of Israel's birth.
"I think it's a very important event for the East Meadow Jewish community," said David Brill, synagogue president. "It's a very auspicious day, and it brings the community together."
Earlier that same day, Israeli Defense Force tanks had rolled into three Palestinian suburbs of Jerusalem and re-entered a West Bank city, after Ariel Sharon's promise on April 15 to begin withdrawing most soldiers from Palestinian areas.
"It's frightening because you wait for that phone call to say that your relative has been injured or killed," said East Meadow resident Steven Levine, 55, who has two cousins in the Israeli Defense Force. "You're sitting on pins and needles."
A prayer service and candle-lighting ceremony in honor of all Jews who have died preceded the live telephone conversation. The center also collected voluntary $2 donations, which will go toward providing Israeli Defense Force soldiers with a musical CD for spiritual strength.
Krasner said she hopes the center will reschedule a telephone conversation with Shurin.
