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Temple Israel members Lynn Wallis, Adam Wallis, and Billy Rubenstein visited Israel from February 2 through February 11 on a private solidarity trip. Accompanied by Rabbi Nir Barkin of Congregation Yozma in Modi’in, Israel, they delivered packages to soldiers stationed on the northern border, met with a paratrooper battalion in the south, visited wounded soldiers recuperating in the hospital, and more. This letter was written by Lynn to the Yozma community following their trip. 

Yozma Family,

My recent trip to Israel was so different from the many trips that I have previously experienced when going to Eretz Yisrael.

Previously, I was a guest and tourist, enjoying a buffet breakfast at the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem or the Sheraton in Tel Aviv and then boarding a bus for an extensive tour to learn about Israel’s people and the historic sites that tie my Judaism to Israel.

This time, I came to support our Israeli community in the aftermath of the October 7th massacre and the ongoing war.

My family and I were helping in some small financial way to support the work that the Yozma community was doing to send packages to the soldiers. I’m grateful that we were able to support Israelis in that way, but a sadness and emptiness in my heart kept tugging at me and telling me that I needed to come. I told myself that I should only come to help, and not to try and satisfy some emotional feeling that I had or to make me feel better, but thanks to the Barkin and Sigal families, and the strong Israelis everywhere, my purpose was served.

Although I don’t know if the fog in the air when we landed at Ben Gurion was what I sensed or if it was emanating from the people we saw and met and from the emptiness of the airport, but even though it was still there 10 days later when we flew back to America, I knew that even though Israelis were beyond sad, but they were living and moving forward.

I was joined by my son Adam and my nephew Billy. Adam rented a car and became very good at driving almost as crazily as the Israelis, but it was wonderful that we could get around on our own. We began our time in Israel by attending Shabbat services at Yozma followed by a delicious dinner at the Barkin’s home. Since the next day was Shabbat, Omri Barkin led us on a three-hour walking tour in the rain around Tel Aviv followed by dinner in the city with the Barkin family and Karin Sigal.

The rest of the week was filled with visits north to deliver packages to armed-forces soldiers close to the Lebanon border and south to deliver clothing and other supplies to paratroopers to try and make their service a little more palatable. We picked grapefruit at an orchard, again in the rain, but it felt good to be able to do some physical labor to help in a tiny way.

Spending a day in Jerusalem and having the privilege to hear from experts and see some unbelievable artifacts and areas of the old city that are thousands and thousands of years old, reinforced what I learn each time I visit the land that this is our homeland and where we belong, and Israelis want to live here and raise their families in peace.

Everyone in Israel is affected by the war, but spending time with a wounded soldier who is a dear friend, hearing the story of an older couple from Nir Oz, who were in their sealed room for over 12 hours prior to climbing out a window as they were being rescued by the IDF, and giving hugs while shedding tears with the Glass family and friends who lost their daughter and sister, truly brought reality to what Israelis are experiencing.

Thank you to our dear friends, the Barkins, the Sigals, and the Yozma in Modi’in communities. We are here for you, and we want to do what we can to alleviate some of the hardship and to bring smiles to you and your loved ones.

Please keep dancing. We will always be on the dance floor to be your partner and to dance with you.

Am Yisrael Chai,
Lynn Wallis