- Michael Markman
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia Board Chair

This week, Jewish Federation Board Chair Michael Markman shares a guest letter reflecting on his recent visit to Israel.

When I arrived in Israel last Monday, I immediately boarded a taxi to Hostage Square. What unfolded was a trip filled with heart-wrenching stories, profound resilience, and an unyielding spirit — confirmation of a country changed and a reminder of its enduring strength.

On the way to Hostage Square, my cab driver talked about how the country has changed and how most people are trying to understand the tragedy that befell them — something we will never understand. 

My cab driver, Sergei, an immigrant from Bulgaria, was recently called up for duty as military police in Ramallah. Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian Authority. He actively served to help protect and build a safer future for Israel. Still, he expressed disappointment that he was not deployed to Gaza, where he could help protect his country from Hamas. Sergei is an example of someone whose love and commitment to Israel make him want to do more. 

At Hostage Square, I joined Michael Balaban, Jewish Federation’s Director of  Israel and Global Operations Tali Lidar, and Past Board Chair Mimi Schneirov and her daughter Elizabeth, and together, we met with Mandi Damari, the mother of 28-year-old hostage Emily Tehila Damari. Her pain was palpable as she relayed the plight of the hostages and her daughter. Her story started in a familiar way for a parent. Her daughter had gone out drinking with her friends and did not want to disappoint her mother. Therefore, she slept at her friend’s place, which, unfortunately, was on the fence line of Kfar Aza. Mandi’s last communication with her daughter was when Emily apologized for drinking, and Mandi responded that she loved her even when she drank too much. This reminded me of normal interchanges between parents and their children, but most parents do not have to worry about their daughters being kidnapped and abused by brutal terrorists.

We then went south to the car graveyard at Moshav Tekuma, where 1,400 shot-up cars, remnants from the Nova Festival, are piled up as a reminder of the horrendous attack that brutalized the area. We met with Rafi, the chief security officer from the Jewish Federation’s partner region of Sdot Negev, who told us on the way there about how he evaded a group of terrorists while doing his patrol. While on duty, he encountered cars filled with individuals fleeing the Nova Festival and told them to follow him to safety. Half of the cars followed him, but the other half went in a different direction to meet a fatal end.

Unfortunately, we heard many stories of supposed friends calling Israelis to rejoice in the murder, rape and plunder that had been done. We learned about the Hamas coordinated effort to appoint individuals to cross the fence line and steal whatever they could from devastated Israeli towns. 

These individual and coordinated efforts were intended to break the spirit of Israel, but that spirit will not be broken. Throughout the trip, we continued to meet with courageous people, like Sergei, Mandi and Rafi, coping with traumatic experiences brought about by the terrorists but whose emblematic spirit of Israel would not break. 

The strength of this spirit could be seen yet again during a dinner I was honored to share with Gadi Algrabli, an injured Israeli who was shot eight times by Hamas on his Kibbutz and is currently being treated at Sheba Medical Center, a beneficiary of the Jewish Federation’s emergency campaign. He still had shrapnel in his arm and his head. He was at that dinner because he escaped the hospital in Ashkelon through sheer will and strength of spirit and wanted to offer his profound thanks for our support of Israel.

The strength of this spirit can be felt at the Ramat David Air Force base. I have been there several times before. The difference this time was a palpable tension bonding the soldiers with a sense of gravitas and purpose.

Many people we spoke to believe that the war with Hezbollah in the north is imminent and this will lead to further death and carnage. With 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel, we are left to ask ourselves how far can Hezbollah’s deadly arsenal reach? As it fights Iran and its various proxies, Israel is in an existential fight for its existence.

We met with many more people who were attacked, maimed, wounded and terrorized on Oct. 7, and I empathize with their tragic circumstances. Although I did not experience their darkest moments, I was shaken by their experiences. 

Now that we are home in our faraway world, I’m left with a purpose to do more through the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. We should all look inside ourselves to see what more we can do to help during these difficult times.

May we all pray that Oct. 7 is not a precursor to more death and destruction. May we pray for the people of Israel, for all of those trying to recover from Oct. 7, and for all of those affected by the hellish situation created by their enemies.  

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