Winnipegger in Israel remains worried  

As war wages on in Israel, Winnipeggers living in Israel and those with ties to the country are constantly worried as the situation continues to worsen.

Rabbi Yosef Benarroch lives in Israel with his family, but also is the Rabbi of Adas Yeshurun Herzlia Congregation in Winnipeg. He went to Israel for the holiday, Sukkot, but never would have imagined that a couple of weeks after arriving in his home country, he would’ve been in the middle of a war zone.

“This is not just a threat against, it’s a threat against the entire free world,” said Benarroch.

“Around 8:30 [on Saturday, Oct. 7] is when the first sirens sounded. At first, we thought it was a mistake, but when we started hearing explosions, we realized that it was very serious.”

Benarroch says he and his family have had some close calls over the past few days, including being within a kilometre of several explosions near their home on Saturday. Two of his sons have been called to the frontlines near Gaza, and his son-in-law has been stationed near the Israel-Lebanon border.

“To digest everything that has happened is almost unimaginable. The horrors of what happened on Saturday, continue to come out,” said Rabbie Benarroch.

Baillie is in Winnipeg right now, but lives in Israel. Her husband is currently fighting on the front lines. She says she is able to communicate with him, but it’s been difficult.

“It’s hard times for everyone, whether on the front lines or not. Anyone who has been enlisted into the reserves, it’s difficult, it’s stressful. Everyone knows somebody who has been killed,” Baillie explained.

Baillie says it’s hard to watch what is happening in her home country.

“You can’t justify this is any way. Innocent people like these two people were killed having fun for no other reason other than they were Jewish and Israeli, so stand with us. We need your support. We need it.”

Benji served in the IDF as a combat medic and was part of the operation in Gaza in 2012. He says the images coming out of Israel right now are bringing back memories of when he served.

“Everybody is feeling this pain. We feel alone and we just want people to understand that we just want to live, we just want to live in peace, and we need people to recognize that what happened is wrong,” said Benji.

Rabbi Benarroch says it’s important for the world to understand who Israel is dealing with. 

“We always knew who Hamas was and now the world knows.”