When Sandy Springs resident Cheri Levitan heard the sirens warning of the attacks by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, her mind went back 50 years to the Yom Kippur War.
She remembered being 12 and rushing into a bomb shelter away from her family, more concerned for them than she was for her own safety. She was unharmed then, to the relief of her parents. The recent attacks by Hamas, the armed Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip, were followed by Israeli air strikes, and Levitan realized she needed to leave as soon as possible.
Along with getting herself home, she helped a large group of American students return safely last week from Israel, all but one suitcase accounted for.
Deena Shiff, chief of staff at the Jewish National Fund, called the work of bringing the students studying abroad at the Alexander Muss High School in a suburb of Tel Aviv back home miraculous and a logistical behemoth.
“We couldn’t have done it without (Levitan),” Shiff said.
The chief executive of Israel-based travel company Kenes Tours, Levitan planned to be in the country for three weeks for a niece’s bat mitzvah and because of a high volume of tours scheduled in October. Her work suited her for the challenge of arranging travel amid the outbreak of war, despite many airlines canceling flights into the country, and Shiff knew she was the person to turn to for help.
Levitan shouldered the responsibility without hesitation. “Give me some time, and I’ll get this done,” she said.
Levitan downplays her efforts, joking that her only special skill was switching on her “Jewish mother” persistence. The work, she said, was mainly making calls and emails, but she knew exactly what to do to get everyone home and made it all happen over the course of three days.
Levitan knew to look for flights from Israeli airlines because they were least likely to cancel and because other airlines were avoiding flying into the country. She also knew it would be easier to fly into Europe and then get to the U.S. rather than trying to find a direct flight. Plus, she needed to arrange transport to and from airports, hotel accommodations and kosher meals between flights. Part of this work happened while she was traveling herself from Tel Aviv to London and then finally to Atlanta, using the in-flight Wi-Fi thousands of feet in the air.
Levitan coordinated a trip that kept all the students together and took them from Israel to Rome and then to Boston.
She also spent much of her time worrying, as adults with the students kept her apprised of their travel.
“When the kids got to the airport, there were sirens and the kids got into the bomb shelter at the airport,” Levitan said. “The kids were terrified, those of us behind the scenes were terrified. You’re holding your breath, thinking, ‘I want them out of here.’” Shiff said staff didn’t sleep for three days.
Lyla Caplan of Fayetteville was one of the students on the trip and described the outbreak of attacks to Channel 2 Action News as “People banging on our doors telling us to go to the bomb shelter and to just, like, run as fast as we could to get to safety.”
Shiff praised the students’ bravery and said they wanted to stay and help as they could. The students fundraised $135,000 and made care packages that will go to soldiers and civilians.
Levitan finally felt relief as well upon knowing her work with the students was done. But her attention has remained on Israel, where part of her family lives, including a nephew in the Israeli military.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,478 Palestinians have been killed and 12,000 wounded, according to The Associated Press. More people in Gaza are believed to be buried under rubble. The AP reports that more than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. Hundreds of people were reported killed in an explosion at a Gaza Strip hospital this week. There have been conflicting claims of who was responsible for the hospital blast, with Hamas and Israel blaming each other.
Levitan said she was glad to see President Joe Biden going to Israel, along with other world leaders. But she’s not expecting decades of conflict to end now if Hamas remains in control in Gaza.
“I really wish for everybody’s sake that a two-state solution could happen,” Levitan said. “I would love to think that we could finally reach a peace.”
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