Voice of the Jewish News: Wolf family had a miraculous escape

The rocket travelled 75 miles before it struck Robert Wolf’s house near Tel Aviv, injuring seven members of his family and embedding shrapnel in his five-month-old granddaughter’s head.

As our interview with him this week shows, nothing divides people like war, but on a quiet Monday, going about their business in their home, Wolf’s family could be forgiven for not knowing that Israel was at war with Gaza-based terrorists.

After all, the border has been relatively quiet, there has been no massive uptick in violence in recent days, the TV news has been all about the elections. The rocket, literally and metaphorically, came out of nowhere.

Israel hit back hard, of course – the IDF strategy of deterrence in action – but Hamas said it wasn’t them.

Perhaps it wasn’t. Right now Gaza’s barbarous rulers have every incentive not to start another war and zero incentive to do so.

So, a lone ranger fires a lone rocket which triggers massive Israeli retaliation which triggers Hamas retaliation in turn. It’s the familiar story we’ve heard many times before, and will hear many more times yet.

But as the news rolls on, amid the smouldering wrecks and ceasefire talk, three generations of a Jewish family lie dazed and damaged.

They need to repair their bodies and their house, both having been smashed to pieces by the indiscriminate nature of hate.

Generosity of spirit

Jewish families have raised thousands of pounds for the family of Sri Lankan shopkeeper, knifed to death in Pinner on Sunday. The fact that the man was not Jewish could not have mattered less. He died senselessly and his family needs help.

Over at World Jewish Relief, British Jews are busy raising tens of thousands of pounds for Mozambique to help its people deal with a devastating cyclone. This comes shortly after raising £200,000 for Indonesia in the aftermath of an enormous earthquake and tsunami.

This is nothing new. Just four months ago, the community got behind a mother from Whetstone to set up the Adult Cerebral Palsy Hub, despite it being not just for Jews, while in Borehamwood Jewish schoolchildren donated their shoes for Syrian refugee children through the charity Goods for Good, despite most Syrians being Muslim.

When needs must, our community answers the call.