Posted on 06/17/25
| News Source: FOX45
Tel Aviv, Israel - June 17, 2025 - As the attacks between Iran and Israel continue to intensify, a Baltimore County congregation in Israel is taking shelter as the conflict plays out.
"I wanted to be able to show people the beauty of the land of Israel," Rabbi Posner said.
He, along with dozens of other adults and children, arrived in Israel last week on Thursday afternoon, just hours before Ben Gurion Airport closed.
A few hours after arriving, the trip took a turn.
"Overnight, we started hearing the sirens go off and running to the shelters and slowly starting to find out what was going on," he said.
In the days since, Rabbi Posner said with sirens going off multiple times a night and even during the day, they have to stay close to a shelter.
"We're a family of seven, and we all jump up and put our shoes on and head to the stairwell, which is where the shelter is in some places, or head down to the basement, which is where the shelter is in some places, and we kind of sit there at this point. People take it as, you know, at first it was scary for people who had not been through this, but at this point, people kind of take it in stride," he said.
While Rabbi Posner said they were trying to stay positive and persevere, he said the conflict brings up many emotions, including anger.
"The thought that there's people sending these missiles off, hoping that they're going to fall on me and my family and our group who's here. It's just, it's just like such a crazy thing," Rabbi Posner said.
"But probably the strongest emotion which you feel from everyone is just this resolve, which is just like we've been through this before, it's not going to stop us," he added.
Since Israel has closed the Ben Gurion Airport “until further notice,” more than 50,000 Israeli travelers are left stranded abroad. The Pikesville congregation is among them. Rabbi Posner said the trip was originally planned to be about a week and a half, however with flights now canceled, it is not clear when they will make it back to Maryland.
"Our eyes are on information, looking to see when things will open up, and we're figuring that out as we go. We don't know," he said.