GROWING LOVE FOR ISRAEL

  Growing Love for Israel

 Empowering Our Children in the Face of a Hostile World

Sara-Ester Varnai 

“We’re in this together!” I announced enthusiastically as I squeezed myself into a small child-sized desk. “Yes! Your tefillos and Tehillim, together with our brave chayalim, are going to help us win this war!”

 I looked at all the sweet, innocent faces surrounding me. I caught my breath. What a challenge Hakadosh Baruch Hu was sending this young generation! And what was I, a good ol’ Bubby of 40 grandchildren and great-grandmother to several, planning to do about it? Sitting there, in a classroom full of six-year-olds, I was a Bubby with a mission: to empower these children to stand tall and proud as Jews, in the face of a world bent on destroying us. 

October 7, 2023 will forever be etched in our minds. It brought out the beast in humanity. But it also brought out the best in our Jewish world. The subsequent unity we experienced was a much-welcomed reprieve from the previous year’s horrific polarization and demonstrations. We now saw young men and women rushing to defend our homeland, volunteering before even being called up to serve in the IDF. I had the privilege to stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow Israeli citizens of every age and description in restaurants and warehouses, preparing sandwiches and snacks and packing meals and medical supplies for our amazing soldiers. In Betar Illit, a city in the Judean Hills where I live, we organized Shabbos meals for the soldiers stationed in the army base at the entrance to our city. We also made Shabbos meals for several families whose husbands were away, fighting on the frontlines. Caring for one another became a top priority. Everyone wanted to help out in whatever way they could. We did it with a happy heart, grateful for the opportunity to show our hakaras hatov, as well as to prove our achdus to Hashem. 

It was my forever dream to move to Israel ever since I first learned that there was one country in the world that was special for the Jewish people. As I told the young schoolchildren facing me now, some dreams may take a little longer than others to achieve. Mine took about 40 years, but finally, in 2000, my husband, I, and the seven youngest of our children made Aliyah. For the first time in my life, I felt I was truly home.

I told the young students about some of my incredible adventures (and misadventures!) living in Israel. I was so excited to find out everything I could about my new home that I took a college course in Jerusalem to learn to be a tour guide. The course was amazing, traveling the length and breadth of Israel and exploring ancient historical and archaeological sites. I wanted to share this awesomeness with Jewish children around the world who may not have had the opportunity to visit Israel and didn’t know much about their homeland. How could I reach out to them? Thus was born my children’s book series, Kids Discover Israel. 

Although I had mixed feelings about leaving Israel while our country was at war, when Pesach came around, my husband and I went on a three-month trip to visit our children and grandchildren in the States and Canada. I took the opportunity to visit several Jewish schools and gave Author Talks, promoting Israel via my books. The schoolchildren were so eager to hear positive words about Israel. They, too, had been negatively impacted by October 7 and the ensuing rise of anti-Zionism and antisemitism throughout the world. However, some young parents had cautioned me: “Remember, they’re only six or seven years old. Be careful what you tell them about the war – some don’t even know it is going on!” Well, parents, I hate to burst your bubble, but every student, from grade one to eight, knew about the war and even corrected me on some details! The children were so happy to have me in their classroom, to be able to share their feelings, and for me to be able to give them some chizuk.

I knew I had found my personal mission of promoting Israel when one of my young grandsons, a seven-year-old, hesitantly approached me and nervously asked, “When you and Zaidy go back to Israel, are you going to die in the war?” My heart wrenched when I heard those words, saddened that young children have this kind of stress in their lives. I assured him, as I did all the children in my Author Talks, that Hashem has a special relationship with the Jewish people and Israel: “The eyes of Hashem are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” (Devarim 11:12). Then I quoted the Lubavitcher Rebbe: “Israel is the safest place in the world.” During the Gulf War, the Rebbe encouraged people not only to visit Israel but also to let others know that they were going, in order to publicize the safety of Israel and Hashem’s blessings. 

I led the young students on a “trip” to Masada, the ancient fortress atop a steep mountain in the Judean Desert, where a thousand Jewish survivors lived, having escaped the destruction of the Second Beis Hamikdash, our Holy Temple. I pointed below to the fifteen thousand Roman legionnaires surrounding Masada and to their leader, General Silva, a wicked man who stood at the base of Masada every day and screamed loudly, “Surrender!” 

“Do you think we should surrender?” I asked the children. The answer was a forceful “No!”

“What do you think the children living on top of Masada might have answered those Romans?” I had the children stand up, and we faced the Judean mountains opposite us. “Let’s yell out the same words that we use in Israel these days!” Together, as one voice, we roared, “Am Yisrael Chai!” We could hear the echoes reverberating around the mountains throughout the Judean Desert. It was a powerful moment, one that was repeated in each classroom, inspiring each child with confidence and with love of Israel.

In Huntington Beach, California; in Vancouver, Canada; in Houston, Texas; in West Hartford, Connecticut; in Kingston, Pennsylvania; and in Brooklyn, New York, without a doubt, the children’s favorite story was the one I talked about that night in April when Iran attacked Israel with missiles, the night we saw open miracles. Even the children in grade one already knew exactly how many missiles there were – and that half of them were actually drones! An important detail that they didn’t know, though, and were so relieved to hear, was that not one Jew was hurt the entire night!

It was Friday afternoon, and the Israeli government informed all our citizens that Iran might attack over Shabbos. We prepared our maamad (the safe room) with water, food, and medical supplies. Right before candle lighting, one of my neighbors phoned. They didn’t have a maamad. If the siren went off, could they join us in our safe room? Of course! Well, we had a quiet Shabbos, baruch Hashem. Motzoei Shabbos was quiet too – at least until 1:30 A.M. I was fast asleep. Suddenly, in my dream, I heard a deep booming sound. I stirred a little, but I was sure it was just my upstairs neighbor’s teenage kids dancing around. As I drifted back to sleep, I told myself that when I wake up in the morning, I would have to call my neighbor and ask her to please tell her kids not to jump on my head in the middle of the night. A few minutes later I was awakened again by booming sounds. This time I was instantly alert. That was the sound of the Iron Dome in action!

I sprang out of bed and shouted to my husband. “We’re under attack!” He half-opened one eye, grunted, and fell back to sleep. 

I suddenly remembered my neighbor without a safe room. I ran to unlock the front door and opened it just as my neighbor raised her hand and was about to knock on my forehead! In she rushed with her husband, her son (carrying his army rifle), and a young couple. As we quickly ran to my maamad, it occurred to me that our safe room is my bedroom! And here I was in my nightgown, my husband was sound asleep, my neighbors were all in their nightclothes, it was the middle of the night, and we were about to have a pajama party! Yes, a sense of humor is an absolute must during wartime!

“The Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, all our former enemies have disappeared into the history books,” I told the children. “Our current enemies will too!” The children nodded their heads. I could see their bitachon in Hashem had been bolstered.

Many of the children knew the name of the evil leader of Hamas: Sinwar. I wanted the children to understand that they actually had the ability to weaken him and his fellow terrorists. They were astounded. Little kids have such power? Yes! Like the Jewish children in the Purim story, their learning and Tehillim helped save the Jewish people! Not only are our soldiers fighting a physical war, but all the Jewish nation, including the children – especially the children – are fighting a spiritual war. “The whole world is being divided so clearly into good and evil. Just look at the name Sinwar – we are fighting a war against sin! Hashem is on our side. You and I are soldiers in Hashem’s army.” You could see the children sitting taller in their seats, beaming with Jewish pride. 

As I concluded my Author Talk, I encouraged the children to fill their small corner of the world with mitzvos and smiles, caring for each other. That, along with their 3T’s—Torah learning, tefillah, and Tehillim—would make a tremendous impact on helping us win this war and bring Moshiach! As I left each classroom, I was grateful that I was able to contribute, in my own small way, to fighting the darkness that is out there.