I know we all have been devastated by the reports of the horrific terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel. As President Biden said, “there are moments in this life when pure, unadulterated evil is unleashed on this world.” That is what we witnessed over the weekend, pure evil. Words cannot adequately express our anger at the murderous acts and torture , our sorrow for the victims, and our worry about the fate of those taken hostage. Coming after the close of a joyous Jewish holiday, the scenes are particularly painful. Many who only a few days earlier were celebrating one of life’s greatest joys, that of being together in moments of celebration, had their lives ended in an instant.
As we work through our own emotions, I know many of us want to take some action to each other and our community. In this time of tragedy, we must support each other. Many of our staff, board members, clients, and volunteers have family and friends in Israel. We can help by checking in with them and asking if there is anything we can do.
Our Jewish Programs division has contacted our synagogue partners and let them know we were available to conduct programs for their members dealing with the emotional trauma of the attack and to help individual congregants who are struggling. We have already been contacted by many and our WJCS staff will continue to provide comfort to people throughout Westchester.
We have to remember with the prevalence of social media, our children are seeing awful images. There are also reports that Hamas will shortly be sending out even more horrendous videos shortly. We will be conducting a community-wide event next week to help parents speak to their children about these events. If you have children please do your best at these moments to monitor their social media use. These are horrific images no one should see.
Finally, remember at this difficult time to practice self-care. The terrible news is all around us but you need to take a break from it. Turn off the television or stop checking your phone and give yourself a break. As much as we want to help, you cannot do that if you are not giving yourself some chance to recover and heal, slow as that may be.
At times of tragedy we need each other more than ever. If you need assistance at this difficult time, please write Gillian Rittmaster at [email protected] or call her at 914-761-0600 x2142. Let us find strength as a community and stand together in hope for a better world.
