A Bomb Shelter to Run To
Yael Eckstein | September 2, 2020
In the Christian Post, Yael writes about an additional challenge Israelis face during this time of unprecedented global challenges:
Children in Israel, who are raised with daily or weekly code red sirens as part of their reality, bear the emotional scars. Tomer, a father of four who lives in an Israeli town just miles from Hamas-ruled Gaza, recently spoke with a staff member of the organization I lead, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship), about the impact on his own kids.
“We’ve all suffered mentally, but our 10-year-old daughter has really been the most affected,” he said. “It was hard for her to go to school, be with friends, and live a normal life due to the trauma of sirens and rocket fire.
“She even had trouble leaving the bomb shelter,” Tomer went on to tell us. “We would drag mattresses back and forth from the house to be with her when she refused to leave the shelter at night. Thank God, a psychologist is helping her cope with the trauma. She has shown great bravery for her age, but it’s something no child should have to go through.”