Summer with a Dash of War
What makes this summer different from all the others we’ve experienced?
Usually, the months of June through August are reserved for relaxation and a general vacation from stress of any kind, but this year, our worries remained. While the Israel-Hamas war has indescribably impacted the Jewish people worldwide for months, the summer of 2024 was undoubtedly shadowed by a new, ever-present threat of a possible Iranian attack.
Despite the war and additional safety concerns Israel had to offer this summer, YU students traveled and participated in the same Israel summer programs they have in the past. 2024 was no exception, although the war did present a new kind of experience: “We didn’t hear sirens in any of the locations we visited but we heard many firsthand accounts of how the horrors of the early days of the war impacted families and communities,” said Naomi Klinghoffer (SCW ‘25). Klinghoffer was a participant on Counterpoint Israel, a program that in past years focused on YU students “running an English summer camp for Israeli teens that provides them with a safe, and healthy atmosphere and an educational framework by providing workshops in the arts, sports, and English language.” However, this summer the group mainly volunteered on farms, painted houses and murals and cleaned out apartments and community spaces. They also “visited different kibbutzim and moshavim that were impacted by Oct. 7 and the following months of war, and did our [their] best to help the members of those communities.”
The effects of the war varied for each program and individual. For Gali Zidele (SCW ‘26) who attended SIJ@Harova and worked at a Hebrew University lab, “things haven’t really felt different than normal, however if you look closer, you can feel the difference in the country.” She felt that difference on her daily commute to work as she looked out the window and saw the “endless posters of hostages and chayalim.” Zidele emphasized how the war was interwoven with everyday life. “I spent Shabbat by a woman in Netanya with my friends, and one of the first things we talked about when we arrived was where the bomb shelter was and what the protocol would be in such a case that it was necessary to use,” shared Zidele. Around the time of Tisha B’Av, about fifteen people left her program early due to the concern of an imminent Iranian attack.
With regards to a typical summer experience, Zidele explained that “our daily lives were usually pretty normal in Jerusalem.” However, there was not a day that went by without hearing some sort of mention about the war, or “the situation” as Israelis call it. Klinghoffer explained, “Although you can’t escape the fact that you’re in a war-torn and traumatized country, Israelis are incredibly resilient and do their best to live their day to day lives as if everything is normal, and that feeling makes it seem less like we were in the middle of a war zone.”
On a similar note, Sarah Grunseid (SCW ‘25) who attended YU’s Bar-Ilan research program said, “We were definitely able to have a fun summer, but I think it was mainly because we were able to compartmentalize very well.” Grunseid credits her enjoyable experience to the group’s ability to be present in the moment, feeling whatever emotion came with it — from visiting the Nova Festival site and Sderot, to having a fun night activity or learning Torah. “We were 100% in whatever we did,” said Grunseid.
Tehila Bitton (SCW ‘24), the madricha on SIJ@Harova, also felt that she was able to have a positive summer experience filled with, “finding new, amazing things and meeting new, amazing people.” Even if it wasn’t exactly normal: “People were more on edge and didn’t really know what to do. Lots of confusion, lots of stress,” Bitton said. Overall, Bitton thinks that she “got a little taste of what the Israelis have been living through the past months.” Similar to the other students, Bitton is describing “a new normal,” a kind of life that feels familiar, yet strange at the same time.
Although the effects of war live in the air, Israel remains Israel. “If you put your phone away and just walk in Yerushalayim, everything is so beyond normal, and people are happy, vibrant, singing, dancing and praying,” shared Bitton. “But things are definitely different — it's a different Israel than the one I experienced before the war; it's better in some ways and it's harder in others, but this is home.”
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Photo Credit: Feivel Segelov
Photo Caption: Students on the BIU-YU 2024 summer research program
