A Tale of Mutual Responsibility

On Thursday evening, 13 July 2006, while I was getting my kids ready for bed, my wife and I heard a rather loud explosion. In the preceding days there had been numerous rocket attacks on towns and communities near the border and although rockets had never before landed in Haifa, we were not particularly surprised.

We immediately decided to make our way southwards in order to spare our children the dangers and unpleasantness of the situation. Shower and sleep plans were instantly transformed into “a trip to visit aunty” (I needed a logical explanation for our two-and-a-half year-old), and 90 minutes later we found ourselves in the center of Tel Aviv.

Several days later, while trying to maintain a semblance of routine in our “new” home, we decided to move further south – both to avoid becoming a burden on our hosts and also due to Hizbollah’s threats to target Tel Aviv too. We intended renting a small apartment or a B&B for two weeks to a month so as to maintain a regular work routine together with a sense of security.

That morning we piled our kids (we also have a 10-month old daughter) and stuff into the car and headed southwards towards Moshav Ben Shemen, near Lod.

We arrived at the offices of the moshav, where we were warmly welcomed. The secretary called around to see if there were any homes available for rent on that or any of the neighboring moshavim. Apparently we were not the only ones who had come to this area, and there was no chance of finding anything to rent. After about an hour, the secretary informed us that a woman living in a neighboring moshav was interested in hosting a family from the north in her home. Lacking in too many options, we decided to check it out. Fifteen minutes later we arrived at Chanah’s home in Beit Nechemia.

We were welcomed by an amazing woman who, from the very beginning, made it clear that we would be living together (not as hostess and guests) “until the end of the war”. Within a short time she had established a fantastic rapport with us and especially with the kids. She told us she had cancelled a trip abroad as she felt she couldn’t travel while the country was at war.

Chanah’s house is surrounded by fruit trees and a magnificent lawn and her son and grandchildren live opposite her, so for the kids this was absolute paradise. During the two weeks we were there, we became part of the regular household. We did shopping and prepared meals together, and not for a moment did we feel like guests. For our kids, especially the older one, this was a period of growing up, learning and a lot of fun. A very special and loving relationship developed between him and Chanah.

After two weeks we decided to give her a break and returned to Tel Aviv.

It’s important to note that throughout this period we received a stream of phone calls from people interested in hosting families from the north and wanting to contribute something during this difficult period. For instance, we received a call from a man from Modiin who had distributed questionnaires to a large number of Modiin residents asking whether they were willing to host families from the north, how many people they could accommodate, their preference for religious or secular families, etc. In this way he gathered a group of 40 families who were willing to open their doors for this purpose.

Despite the arguments and enormous cynicism that tends to be part and parcel of our everyday lives in ordinary times, it was very heartwarming to see that when the country is in a state of crisis, mutual responsibility and shared fate are not simply empty slogans, but are still relevant values being practiced by many among us.

For images of what happened in Haifa during the war, see: Images of War