Israeli families are coming to Greater Boston in search of some sense of normalcy for their children, but it means leaving their home without any idea of when it will be safe enough to go back.
When Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attack, a bomb landed less than 300 yards from Tali Gassner and her husband's house. They spent the entire day in and out of a bomb shelter with their three children near their home in Rehovot, which is less than 25 miles from Gaza.
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“My husband and I just looked at each other and said, you know, this is beyond anything that we imagined would happen. And it's just not safe. We have to get out of here," Tali said. "It was so extreme, so violent. It was obvious that it was something much bigger than anything we've seen before."
They booked the first flight they could get out of Israel the next day, which took them to Cyprus, with the intention of making their way back to Boston. They began reaching out to Jewish day schools in the Greater Boston area and looking for an affordable place to live while still paying for their home in Israel.
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“It's it's a cognitive dissonance, basically," Gassner said. “It was such a scary moment where, you know, it's just like, stop everything and you don't know where you're going, but you know you have to go."
About an hour and a half north, Rebecca and Rafi Spiewak were learning about the atrocities in real-time in their village near Yokne'am, which is in the Megiddo area. They stayed with their three children for about two weeks, reaching out to the Jewish community in Rebecca’s hometown of Swampscott and beyond, raising $10,000 dollars to get basic needs like food, bottled water and other essentials to Israeli soldiers.
“Never in my mind did I think I could raise over $10,000," Rebecca told NBC10 Tuesday. "It’s because people here -- they want to support us. And they really saved me because I needed to do something and they allowed me to do it.”
More on the Israel-Hamas war
Rebecca works as a cross-community coordinator for the Yokne'am Megido-Atlanta St. Louis Partnership, an American charity that supports The Jewish Agency for Israel. Despite their love for their work and their home in Israel, the couple decided to leave, at least for a short time, to provide their children with a sense of normalcy.
“It came down to the kids. We wanted to make sure, for them, they could have as much of a normal child as possible," Rafi said. "As hard as it is to have done that, and we do feel we have left our home, it’s what’s best for them. And so it was an easy choice in that sense of what needed to be done.”
They're staying with Rebecca's parents in Swampscott and enrolled their children in preschool with the help of the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore. Jewish organizations across the region say they’re helping numerous families like the Spiewaks and the Gassners, who are taking shelter in the Greater Boston area.
“I don’t think Israelis are going to decide at this moment, well we’re going to relocate. I think when they enroll their kids in school they don’t know and they’re fearful," JCCNS Executive Director Marty Schneer said. "They just want to live in peace and they’re forced into defending themselves and their homes over and over again."
Meredith Joy, Director of the Center for Basic Assistance with Jewish Family and Children’s Services, said she has spoken to about a dozen Israeli families that are here or are coming.
"Each person’s needs are different," Joy said during a phone conversation. "A lot of organizations within the community are rising to the occasion coordinating and working together."
The organization is launching an Israel help phone line and email address in order to be present and available during this time. Anyone looking for information on how to help or how to connect with resources can call the hot line at 781-693-1234 or email Israelhelp@jfcsboston.org.
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