Meirav and Amit Mayer immigrated to Georgia from Israel ten years ago, with their three young children in tow.
Their oldest daughter, Ronnie, turned 20 just two weeks ago. After graduating high school, she moved from her family’s North Fulton home back to Israel, where she enlisted in the military. Ronnie is now part of a budding war effort.
On Saturday, Oct. 7, thousands of rockets took aim at towns and cities across Israel. Gunmen from Hamas, the armed Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip, crossed the border into Israel and killed civilians in their homes, abducting scores of others.
Anguish over the deadliest assault on Israel in more than 50 years radiated out from the Middle Eastern nation to Jewish communities the world over, including Atlanta. On Tuesday, thousands rallied in Sandy Springs to seek solace and show support to Israel, a country many have intimate family connections to.
“We can’t help but think about the experiences that (Ronnie) goes through versus some of her best friends that are experiencing college life in Georgia. It’s really difficult to find yourself having conversations with your daughter where you need to strengthen (her) in a situation that’s life threatening,” Amit said. “Nothing prepares you for that as a parent.”
The Mayers said their lives have been “taken over” by the conflict in Israel. They said family members have been reporting frequent missile attacks. A family friend spent nearly 30 hours locked in a safe room with her three children while terrorists ransacked her home and tried to break in.
In all, more than 1,200 Israelis were killed over the course of Hamas’ deadly assault. In the Gaza Strip, retaliatory airstrikes have killed roughly 1,200 Palestinians, according to Gazan health officials, and Israel imposed blockades on all electricity, food, fuel and water as it prepares for a ground invasion.
Credit: Jenni Girtman for the AJC
Credit: Jenni Girtman for the AJC
“The trauma and the loss is really everywhere,” Meirav said.
As expatriates of a nation that is now at war, the Mayers are beset by conflicting emotions.
“At a time like this, the relief of being here and the pain of not being there, which seem opposite, both of (those emotions) become stronger. It’s really confusing,” Amit said. “As parents, obviously, we are relieved about being here and keeping our children safe. Especially when you see how brutally kids were executed. It makes you understand that no one is safe” in Israel.
Ariella Goldin, 26, is an Israeli teacher. Although she now gives English classes just south of Tel Aviv, she once taught Hebrew in metro Atlanta. In 2018, shortly after completing her military service, she spent roughly four months teaching at a Clayton County Jewish summer camp.
“It was one of the most special experiences I had in life,” she said.
Goldin’s 22-year-old cousin Karin Vernikov was near the border on Saturday, Oct. 7, when Hamas’ incursion took place. Her family hasn’t heard from her since.
“It’s terrible to say it, but at this point, we would rather her to be kidnapped by Hamas into Gaza, because at least we will know that she’s alive and that there is still hope,” Goldin said. “We’re so scared. We can’t sleep, we can’t eat. It’s complete chaos here.”
Goldin says she is holding onto memories of her cousin as a caring, and thoughtful soul. The pair were very close growing up.
“I love her so much,” she said. “She was very, very special and she did not deserve this.”
“She is [special],” Goldin added, quickly correcting herself. “Is.”
The pain is acute and stinging. It’s also widespread.
“Every person I know knows someone who is missing, kidnapped or dead,” Goldin said.
Credit: Courtesy of Ariella Goldin
Credit: Courtesy of Ariella Goldin
Another Israeli with Atlanta connections was Dekel Swissa.
In 2018, Swissa came to Atlanta as part of a gap year program many Israelis pursue after high school, and before entering the army. Over the weekend, he was killed while defending his post on the border with Gaza. According to several accounts, he died after saving the lives of many of his fellow soldiers. Swissa was a commander in the Israeli Defense Forces’ Golani Unit.
Marcy Kalnitz, an Atlanta resident, hosted Swissa during his time in Georgia. He fit right into their family from the start.
“He had a sweet smile that came from the depths of his heart.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
The family kept in touch with Swissa, and Kalnitz saw him just last week when she visited Israel.
“We were so happy to see him. And while we were worried about his army post, we had no way to know that a horrific war that would ultimately take his life would come just one week later.”
Back in Atlanta, the metro area’s rabbis have been working through their own traumas while also working to console distraught families in their congregations.
“It’s been challenging, I think, to be a rabbi or a spiritual leader this week,” said Rabbi Daniel Dorsch, of Congregation Etz Chaim in Cobb County and president of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association. “We’re all finding it challenging both to pastor to others in their time of crisis while we ourselves are internally struggling with this crisis.”
Rabbi Mark Zimmerman leads the Congregation Beth Shalom. He said consoling people in times of pain “comes with the territory, but this is on a whole other level.”
He added: “It’s scary. The community is definitely shaken. … I think we felt the barbarity of this.”
One of Rabbi Dorsch’s congregants is Norman Radow. Since Saturday’s attack, he has tried to be in frequent contact with his son and grandchildren, who live in Israel.
“Saturday morning, when I woke up to the news, I started calling and calling and calling and no one was answering,” Radow said. “Just imagine the feeling of stress.”
Radow was eventually able to get through to them. Later that night, he spoke on the phone with his five-year-old granddaughter while she was hiding with the rest of the family in a bomb shelter, hearing explosions overhead.
“She asked me on WhatsApp, ‘Grandpapa, why don’t people like us?’ And it would have broken my heart. But it was already shattered by the incredible savagery that we were watching on television. So, how do I answer my granddaughter?”
