TYLER, Texas — East Texas Rabbi Neal Katz said himself, other Jewish people and those connected to Israel are "bracing for difficult times ahead" after Hamas' surprise attack and continued war has killed hundreds.
Israel has not seen this high of a death toll since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria. Nearly 1,600 people have died on both sides, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported Israel made a formal declaration of war on Sunday in response to the Hamas attack. Israel officials on Monday were still finding bodies from the terrorist attack into southern Israeli towns.
Katz, who leads Congregation Beth El in Tyler, on Monday said his 18-year-old daughter and another congregation member are in a four-month fall semester high school program based just outside of Tel Aviv, Israel. They just left in August and were supposed to come back in December.
Upon hearing the news, Katz said he was concerned as a rabbi, someone who loves Israel and a father. The first thing he and his family started doing was texting his daughter back and forth. Thankfully, they learned everyone in the program is safe.
"Turns out, she was actually in Jerusalem when it happened, even though the campus is in Tel Aviv. The group had gone out there for the Jewish holiday over this past weekend," Katz said. "They were celebrating the night before. And then the next morning, they went in and out of the bomb shelter seven times. And so that was new experience for the kids."
Later Saturday evening, the students rode a bus back to the campus, where they've been for the past couple days.
Katz said his daughter is very resilient and he knows that the program takes safety seriously. He added that on Monday he got several pictures of the students building care packages for people in need.
Because of the conflict, a lot of the program staff have been called out of reserve duty and hundreds of thousands of reserve forces are getting mobilized, Katz said.
"And so short staffed, they can't actually operate the program," Katz said. "But that also means putting her back into high school here, which she was supposed to be out for this semester."
Amid this difficult time for Israel and those who care for the country, Katz encouraged people to send kind messages to people they know in Israel as well as their Jewish friends.
"I've been getting notes throughout the day today, which have been very nice, I don't respond to every single one. The least you can do is just simply acknowledge that this is a difficult time. We are seeing now that the surprise attack by the terrorist group Hamas has killed as many Jews in one day as maybe since the Holocaust. And so trying to process this and also trying to forecast how it's going to be resolved in the future. And we all know that it's not going to be pretty."
He also warned people to be careful about believing misinformation and do their research to determine reputable sources.
"Just ask your local Jewish friends or your Israel connected friends for information. I personally use a site called Times of Israel. But I know that there are other reputable news agencies out there," he said.
Katz added now is the time to make sure that Israel's secure.
"The surprise attack that occurred is unprecedented and the response will be unprecedented, I'm sure," Katz said.