On showing up

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At the beginning of my career, way back in the last century, I used to cover meetings. School board, town council, etc. And generally speaking, these public officials were playing to empty rooms. There were usually two or three residents who made a point of going to all the meetings, and a lot of empty chairs around them. Once a school board facing budget cuts suggested dropping, among other things, the late buses that help students get home from after-school activities. A roomful of families showed up at that meeting to tearfully beg them to keep those bus routes. The meeting after that? Empty room again.

It’s essentially the same situation now (with a particular exception; let’s come back to that). When I go to meetings—as a resident, these days, not as a reporter—there might be a few people there with questions for town officials, or people getting awards, or Boy Scouts fulfilling badge requirements. But at many meetings, there are plenty of empty seats.

I mention this because I was at a vigil for Nex Benedict over the weekend, and what the speakers kept saying, over and over, is that people say they’re LGBT allies, say they’re supportive, but don’t necessarily show up at the public meetings where rules or legislation affecting LGBT people are being determined, or where books featuring LGBT people are being banned.

That’s true. Who’s been showing up at public meetings over the past few years? Moms for Liberty, or groups that act like them. They tell school boards in towns they don’t necessarily live in to ban books they may or may not have read, and those books almost invariably feature LGBT characters (except when they feature Black characters dealing with racism, or Jewish characters dealing with antisemitism). And they harass librarians in order to get their way. I wrote about this a few months back. Banning books about LGBT people, or banning a Pride flag raising or “safe space” rainbow stickers in schools, are ways of telling LGBT people they aren’t welcome or they shouldn’t exist.

At that vigil for Nex Benedict, multiple trans or nonbinary speakers said they’d never expected to survive to their thirties, or forties, and they wanted trans and nonbinary kids to know they could make it to adulthood, too. They wanted kids to see there was a future ahead for them.

That’s so poignant, and so important.

People who show up at public meetings are more likely to get what they want from public officials. So attend your local meetings. Make sure you know what’s going on in your town. If you disagree with what public officials are saying or doing, make sure you tell them so. And if members of minority groups are being attacked, show up and show them they’re not alone.

Why I talk about antisemitism

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A few years ago—pre-pandemic—I attended a workshop on diversity in children’s literature. Before the workshop leader got started, she had us write down and then share the parts of our identities that made us “diverse,” I think to prove the point that we’re all more diverse than we realize. I hesitated before writing down Jewish. Did that count as diverse? I wasn’t sure. Judaism, or religious minorities generally, never seemed to be part of these discussions, and I hadn’t quite gotten to the point of writing Jewish characters in my fiction. But I shared it anyway.

I don’t remember much of the workshop, except that she said diversity was important, which seemed like a pretty basic thing to agree with. Afterward, I was handing in the post-workshop survey when the leader and I got to talking. She remembered I was Jewish. And she started complaining to me about the Hasidic Jews in Rockland County, NY. Oh, they’re so rude, oh they’re so pushy, oh they’re so etc.

I stood there in shock. What was I supposed to say? Was she telling me this because she expected me to agree with her, or to apologize to her on behalf of “my people”? And hadn’t she just run an entire workshop on the importance of diversity?

I got out of that conversation in a hurry. My only takeaway from that workshop is that I wasn’t supposed to be included in it.

Antisemitism can look a lot of ways, which is why it can be hard for people to recognize it when it’s staring them in the face. One way is to see a secular Jew, think “Hey, she’s one of the cool ones, I can say stuff to her,” and say mean things about more religious Jews. Yeah … please don’t do this. Hasidic Jews, or ultra-Orthodox Jews in general, lead very different lifestyles than I do, but they’re still my fellow Jews and I support them. Especially since they’re a much more visible target for harassment or abuse than someone like me.

Because antisemitism is hard to recognize, I think people don’t always realize how widespread it is. A few months ago, I was at an event chatting with someone who also happened to be Jewish. We started comparing notes on our childhoods, in completely different areas of New Jersey: Oh, you had pennies thrown at you? Me too. Yeah, the kids called me names too. The third person in our conversation, who wasn’t Jewish, listened with increasing astonishment. How did we have such similar experiences? She’d never heard of this sort of thing happening before. Why would children do this?

And because people don’t see this particular form of hatred, it festers and continues.

It’s a fraught time to have this conversation, given current events. But we always need to have this conversation. There will always be another reason, as Dara Horn says (read People Love Dead Jews if you haven’t already), that we need to justify our existence to people.

I started writing my middle grade manuscript—about golems, and magic, and a couple of neurodivergent kids dealing with antisemitism—around 2019. It’s been immensely frustrating watching the manuscript get more relevant every year. I would’ve preferred that it become outdated, and that my kids not have to deal with jokes about Hitler or overhear comments about how “Judaism isn’t a real religion!”

I’d rather not talk about these things. But someone has to talk about these things. Naming problems is the only way to solve them.

Thanks for listening.

***

There are various groups trying to get aid to people in Gaza and in Israel; I don’t know how successful they are right now, but it’s worth helping them. Stay well and stay safe.

Project HOPE offers training and support to health care workers and health care services around the world; it’s helping coordinate delivery of needed equipment, supplies, and services to people in Israel and Gaza

The Alliance for Middle East Peace is a coalition that works to build trust between Israelis and Palestinians; it’s creating emergency shelters, collecting donations, and offering support in other ways

The UN’s World Food Programme supplies food and vouchers to people in Gaza and the West Bank

IsraAID is the largest humanitarian aid group in Israel, according to its site, and it responds to crises worldwide; it’s helping with humanitarian activities and mental health support for Israeli evacuees

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has been sending food, water, and medical supplies into Gaza

Sulala Animal Rescue is the only animal rescue shelter in Gaza; it’s raising funds through Animals Australia

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical and mental health needs in Israel and in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to advocate for hostages still being held in Gaza

About MdDS

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I’ve referenced this vestibular thing I have a couple times but never gone into detail, because 1. I have a pretty mild case and 2. I hate whining. But also I think it’s a good idea to explain the disorder a little more, since most people don’t know about it. (Doctors also. Many of them don’t know about it.)

Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS or MDD, depending on which source you’re using) or disembarkment syndrome is a vestibular disorder that’s usually triggered by a period of passive motion—meaning, riding on a boat, in a plane, in a car or train. You know that feeling when you’ve been on a boat for a while, and then you get to shore and you still feel like you’re rocking on the waves? You “still have your sea legs,” as they say? Right, so imagine feeling that way all the time. That’s MdDS. Your brain can’t readjust to being on land, so your sense of balance is off.

For me—again, I have a mild case, and it’s only recently come back after several years of remission—it feels like the world is occasionally rocking around me, as though I’m on a boat, and sometimes I get a little fogbrained and tired. It was more intense in 2020, the first time I got it, apparently triggered by a plane ride and an extra-long car ride on snowy roads. That time, I felt like walking was more difficult, and the symptoms were constant. I’ve had three rounds of this so far, and each time I’ve gone from regular symptoms to maybe-every-other-day symptoms to nothing. This usually takes about six months. Right now I’m in the intermittent phase, which is good because I got there quicker than usual.

People who have severe cases, say they’re at a 9 or a 10 on the symptom scale, can’t really function at all. Some people have symptoms for years, or forever. There isn’t a cure, but there is a disability code for it. Bonus: Many people have doctors telling them it’s all in their heads. (I’m in an online support group for this. The stories people tell are awful.)

You know it’s MdDS and not vertigo or a similar disorder if you feel fine while you’re in passive motion, meaning in a car, on a plane or train, etc., and the symptoms come back once you’re back on solid ground. You also probably won’t feel dizzy or nauseous; this isn’t motion sickness. It’s the earth in perpetual motion around you.

MdDS is an official rare disease, meaning that if you think you have it, you have to explain to your doctor what it is before they can recommend treatment. (Ask me how I know!) Treatment can involve medication, usually SSRIs, or vestibular rehabilitation therapy, which is offered at some physical therapy facilities. I did vestibular rehabilitation for a few weeks in 2020, right before the whole world shut down, and I still have my list of at-home exercises to do as needed. There are also ways to manage or lessen MdDS symptoms, say by using walking sticks or canes if walking is difficult. I wear EarPlanes during flights; they’re basically earplugs that you screw into your ears during takeoffs/landings to lessen the severity of the noise and air pressure. Yes they look ridiculous, no I don’t care.

If you’re interested in learning more about it, or if you think you or someone you know has this weird thing, the MdDS Foundation offers a useful website. It’s how I realized I had MdDS in the first place. And this year’s Rare Disease Day will be marked worldwide on Feb. 29, in case you want to get involved.

The way I figure, if it’s a rare disorder that doctors don’t always recognize, then there are people who have it and don’t know what’s wrong with them. Which is why I’m writing about it. Hoping this is helpful to someone out there.

An award, and validation

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I’d been starting to wonder if I should keep trying to write for children.

Kidlit can be a tricky industry to break into (along with publishing overall), and sending my work out was starting to feel like shouting into the void: no one was answering. Meanwhile, my short fiction for adults was getting published. Maybe I was shouting at the wrong place?

I submitted my middle grade manuscript to the Association of Jewish Libraries’ Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award, figuring nothing would come of it, and I went about my day.

… and then I won.

I really wasn’t expecting to win. I’m still pinching myself. It feels amazing to know the committee liked my story, and that this award could help me someday get it into readers’ hands.

Also, I love golem stories! I’m mildly obsessed. See: my current writing notebook. (Not shown: golem pin, golem laptop sticker, golem desk figure, various golem books.) It’s especially great to be recognized for writing about something I love.

Even if it is frustrating to have watched the topic get timelier every year since I started writing the story. But that’s another post.

I thought I needed to stop writing middle grade, but it looks to me like I should keep going.

So if anyone needs me, I’ll be writing.

Reading, not writing

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I was off traveling for a few days, and while it’s annoying that my MdDS symptoms have kicked back up a bit and I’m waiting for the earth to settle, it was also good to get away from the desk and do fun things. I had every intention of writing on the plane, but I also had a copy of Every Heart a Doorway, and sometimes reading > writing. (It’s a gorgeously dark story, read it.)

I actually don’t think it’s bad at all to read instead of write sometimes. How else would we know what good writing looks like? And why would we even want to write our own stories if we hadn’t grown up loving other people’s stories? Every book offers a chance to learn more about the craft. Sure, it’s research. But it’s fun research.

As I traveled, every so often, I noticed someone else wearing a Star of David necklace or a hamsa. I might not have looked for those signs before—not because it wasn’t important, but because I’ve spent so much of my life being the only Jew in the room that I’m used to it. But seeing those little bits of jewelry, quiet acknowledgments that you are not the only one and you are not alone, it gave my heart a lift. I hope they saw my hamsa necklace, and it made them feel the same way.

Now that I’m post-holiday post-vacation, it’s back to writing. I revised my creepy horror-in-a-mall short story, and once that’s back out seeking a home, I can focus on the quirky MG cryptid novel I didn’t work on during my flight. In between finishing up interviews for a magazine article. Here’s to productive days ahead.

***

I can’t tell how much charitable organizations are able to help right now. Some of the groups below haven’t updated their websites since December, or even earlier. But I’m listing them anyway on the chance that they are still getting aid to people in Gaza and in Israel. Please help if you can. Stay well and stay safe.

Project HOPE offers training and support to health care workers and health care services around the world; it’s helping coordinate delivery of needed equipment, supplies, and services to people in Israel and Gaza

The Alliance for Middle East Peace is a coalition that works to build trust between Israelis and Palestinians; it’s creating emergency shelters, collecting donations, and offering support in other ways

The UN’s World Food Programme supplies food and vouchers to people in Gaza and the West Bank

IsraAID is the largest humanitarian aid group in Israel, according to its site, and it responds to crises worldwide; it’s helping with humanitarian activities and mental health support for Israeli evacuees

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has been sending food, water, and medical supplies into Gaza

Sulala Animal Rescue is the only animal rescue shelter in Gaza; it’s raising funds through Animals Australia

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

On writing short

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There are pros and cons to writing short. Pro: I write exactly what I need to write without excessive wordiness. Con: Sometimes I don’t write nearly long enough.

I had to skip out on two different calls for submissions this week because there was a requested minimum word count, and the stories I had in mind weren’t even close to that minimum. Adding a few hundred words, that I could’ve managed. Several thousand? I think I’d wreck the story.

It’s disappointing, but editors ask for specific word counts for a reason (whether or not they share that reason with us). I can gripe about missing out on a terrific-sounding call for submissions, or I can go find another market for my work. So far, I’ve had pretty good luck with the latter.

Regarding Israel-Gaza: I waited all week to see if the long-awaited hostage releases were about to begin, and seeing them underway lifts my spirits. I’m hoping very much that they will continue successfully.

Charitable organizations to donate to are below; new additions are at the top and this is not in any order of importance. Stay well, stay safe.

Project HOPE offers training and support to health care workers and health care services around the world; it’s helping coordinate delivery of needed equipment, supplies, and services to people in Israel and Gaza

The Alliance for Middle East Peace is a coalition that works to build trust between Israelis and Palestinians; it’s creating emergency shelters, collecting donations, and offering support in other ways

The UN’s World Food Programme supplies food and vouchers to people in Gaza and the West Bank

IsraAID is the largest humanitarian aid group in Israel, according to its site, and it responds to crises worldwide; it’s helping with humanitarian activities and mental health support for Israeli evacuees

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has been sending food, water, and medical supplies into Gaza

Journalist Sonia Weiser has launched a GoFundMe to start a Middle East Conflict Reporters Therapy Relief Fund to help journalists deal with the trauma of covering the Israel-Gaza war

Sulala Animal Rescue is the only animal rescue shelter in Gaza; it’s raising funds through Animals Australia

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

Letting a story steep

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I finally found my way to a completed draft of that short story this week, and then let it sit a couple days while I played around with another story. Stories definitely need to sit. To steep, like tea. You need to leave them long enough to forget what you wrote, so that when you go back and revise it’s like you’re looking at someone else’s work, and you can be more objective. You’re more likely to see what’s missing—the plotline dots left unconnected, the character you never bothered describing—so that you can deepen and complete the work. (Critique groups help too! They’ll always see things you didn’t.)

Since I’m one of those throwback types who writes longhand first drafts (pretty notebooks are essential, Parker makes the best pens), typing the story into a Word doc also serves as my revision process; what I originally wrote changes as I type it. Your process may vary.

I’m trying to balance doomscrolling the news with staying productive. We’ll see how this week goes.

The weekly roundup, plus a few additional items of note:

Several organizations have teamed up to launch a site where college students, families, or staff members can report antisemitic incidents. And a group of Harvard students are collaborating on a text hotline in which Jews, Muslims, Palestinians, Christians, Israelis, and Americans are answering people’s questions about Israel-Gaza. It’s Harvard-only right now, but I’m including it because they’re hoping to take it nationwide.

Organizations to donate to are below; new additions are at the top and this is not in any order of importance. Stay well, stay safe.

IsraAID is the largest humanitarian aid group in Israel, according to its site, and it responds to crises worldwide; it’s helping with humanitarian activities and mental health support for Israeli evacuees

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has been sending food, water, and medical supplies into Gaza

Erika Dreifus runs the terrific The Practicing Writer e-newsletter for poets and authors; she posted a list of organizations to help. Her post is well worth reading.

Journalist Sonia Weiser has launched a GoFundMe to start a Middle East Conflict Reporters Therapy Relief Fund to help journalists deal with the trauma of covering the Israel-Gaza war (speaking from experience, journalists are frequently underpaid and do not always have great health insurance)

Sulala Animal Rescue is the only animal rescue shelter in Gaza; it’s raising funds through Animals Australia

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

The Forward has a longer list of organizations that need help, and so does NPR. And CNN has set up a fund that allows you to donate to multiple organizations at once, including several listed above.

On staying creative

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How do you stay creative during awful times?

I’ll be honest: Sometimes, you don’t.

I’ve been perpetually reading the news (and largely *not* reading social media) for weeks, feeling alternately horrified, furious, and despondent about the future. Feeling nervous about wearing a Star of David in public and then stubbornly doing it anyway. Feeling guilty about being able to do something normal like celebrate Halloween, and then stubbornly doing *that* anyway because the people who hate you don’t want you to be happy. And then watching bad horror movies at night to give my brain a rest. Where am I writing in all this? Not much. Writing generally doesn’t look like “work”; it looks like the writer is zoning out in front of a screen or a notebook. But at some point the writer will tap the keyboard, or grab the pen, and create words. I keep getting stuck in the zoning-out phase, too snarled up for words.

Anyway. I’m not a fan of those writing “rules” in the first place: *You need to write every day or you’re not a real writer, you need to write 5,000 words a day or you’re not a real writer.* That’s nonsense. People have jobs, families, they have to do laundry, they have to feed the cat, they have to go vote, they have to get the car fixed. You write what you can, when you can, and you learn what you can from the writing. I’m not working on much right now, and the short story that would normally take me a few days is taking weeks. So be it. The story will wait for me. It will be there when I’m ready to finish it. So will all the other stories.

How do you stay creative during the awful times? Get through the awful times first. Then focus on being creative.

My updated list of organizations to donate to is below; new additions are at the top and this is not in any order of importance. Stay well, stay safe.

Erika Dreifus runs the terrific The Practicing Writer e-newsletter for poets and authors; she posted a list of organizations to help. Her post is well worth reading.

Journalist Sonia Weiser has launched a GoFundMe to start a Middle East Conflict Reporters Therapy Relief Fund to help journalists deal with the trauma of covering the Israel-Gaza war (speaking from experience, journalists are frequently underpaid and do not always have great health insurance)

Sulala Animal Rescue is the only animal rescue shelter in Gaza; it’s raising funds through Animals Australia

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

The Forward has a longer list of organizations that need help. And CNN has set up a fund that allows you to donate to multiple organizations at once, including several listed above.

News and updates

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I’ve had the pleasure of being published twice this month, both horror stories. My creepy gardening story “Good Neighbors” is in issue 17 of Dark Matter Magazine, which is unfortunately one of the final issues of the magazine because Dark Matter Media is pivoting to do more anthologies and other projects. They’re lovely to work with *and* they send thank-you notes to contributors, so I’m hoping I’ll get a chance to work with them again.

My dead-kids-in-an-amusement-park story, “World of Fun,” appears in the fall 2023 edition of Fear Forge Anthology. I’m pretty happy about this one because I’ve been trying to get this story published for a while, and I’m so glad people can read it now. Obviously any resemblance to real-life amusement park incidents, say in the 1980s, is entirely coincidental. The editor is a sweetheart and as you can see, produces some pretty nice promo images for her authors.

Why read horror when there’s so much real-life horror out there? Because any fiction is escapism of a sort. Because grim times call for grim entertainment. But mainly because horror stories can offer a weird sort of hope; there may be monsters in the world, but the monsters can be beaten. And maybe the misunderstood monsters can find a place in the world after all.

This is the quote I’m thinking of, and if you’re also a Neil Gaiman fan you’re not surprised. It’s from G.K. Chesterton, and it’s the epigraph to Coraline:

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

***

And now back to real-life horror.

I’m adding a few more groups to this list of organizations helping civilians in Israel and in Gaza. I don’t know the status of Gaza right now, or when aid will be able to get through again, but I’ll keep listing those groups in the meantime because they’ll need the resources when they can get back in.

Stay well, stay safe.

National Council of Jewish Women is a women- and family-centered social justice group that’s raising funds to provide basic needs, counseling, and advocacy for women and families impacted by the Hamas attack

Women Wage Peace is a women-led, nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

The Forward has a longer list of organizations that need help. And CNN has set up a fund that allows you to donate to multiple organizations at once, including several listed above.

How to help, part 2

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I feel like the most useful thing I can do right now is keep posting donation links for Israel/Gaza, so I’ll do that. And another reminder: People who are downplaying or outright ignoring the devastation in Israel so that they can support Palestinians *are not helping*. Please spend some time researching the many nuances of this conflict, and please don’t act like grieving Jews don’t matter. It’s possible to want a better way forward for everyone.

If there are any groups I should add to this list, let me know.

World Central Kitchen is feeding displaced families in Israel and working with a local partner in Gaza to distribute meals to Palestinians

Soroka Medical Center is handling the emergency medical response in Israel

The JDC helps Jews and others in crisis around the world

Save the Children is trying to get needed supplies into Gaza

American Friends of Magen David Adom is Israel’s first aid/first responder service

United Hatzalah is a volunteer emergency medical services organization that operates across Israel

Americares is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders is trying to assist with people’s medical needs in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross is providing medical supplies and household items to people in Gaza and trying to help people in Israel locate missing family members

The Forward has a longer list of organizations that need help. And CNN has set up a fund that allows you to donate to multiple organizations at once, including several listed above.

Stay well and stay safe.