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Marching for Jewish solidarity

Two women who recently returned from Israel will join others in a walk Sunday in Clearwater to show their support for the country.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published August 5, 2006

On an evening 24 days ago, when Bonnie Friedman's and Debbie Sokolov's plane landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, the first rockets had already been fired.

The women had no idea what was going on.

"We turned on our cell phones and they were ringing off the hook with relatives saying 'come home,' " Friedman said.

The war between Israel and Hezbollah had begun.

But the two women from the Jewish Federation of Pinellas County were not about to abandon their mission trip. They pushed on, hoping to help.

"Our first briefing was with Shimon Peres," Sokolov said of Israel's prime minister from 1984 to 1986.

The women also met with other Israeli officials who requested the group's help in moving children from the hard hit northern regions of the country. Most of them were living in bomb shelters.

"We said yes, we will give you a million dollars," Friedman said. "Luckily, we had a computer and sent the message back to our federation. The money was coming in before we left the country."

At some point during the humanitarian trip, Sokolov's husband, Dr. Mark Sokolov, joined her in Jerusalem.

One day, the couple paused at the Jaffa Gate, one of the entrances to the Old City, when a suicide bomber appeared out of nowhere. Military personnel captured him before the explosives were detonated.

The Sokolovs were shaken, but "our guide said it's just another day in Israel," Debbie Sokolov said.

Although Sokolov's parents were calling daily, begging her to return to the United States, she and her husband stood fast.

"They (the Israeli people) don't have the luxury of leaving," she said.

"If they can live there, we can stay a few extra days. We wanted to show our solidarity with them."

Both Sokolov and Friedman will attend a march and rally to promote solidarity on Sunday afternoon in Clearwater.

To Rabbi David Weizman, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Shalom, it was no surprise the Israeli-Hezbollah war continued through Tisha B'Av, which was celebrated Wednesday.

It's a Jewish holiday ancient religious leaders set aside for mourning.

"It marks the destruction of the temple," he said. "(And it commemorates) the exile of ourw people from the homeland."

Throughout history, tragic historical events have occurred on or near this date in the Jewish calender.

On this day in 1190, the Jews of York, England, were murdered; Arabs attacked the Jews of Palestine in 1929; and in 1942, the Nazis deported the Jews of Warsaw to Treblinka.

Of the latest conflict, Weizman admits he's concerned.

"It's weighing heavily on my mind and heart," he said.

"We really feel it's about the survival of Israel. We're worried about the future. We don't want to live from one cease-fire to the next."

Eileen Schulte can be reached at (727) 445-4153 or schulte@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 5, 2006, 07:42:39]