This is a long post so please take from it what you want.
Hi family, friends, and friends-of-friends,
You likely already know me, but if not, I'm Hannah from San Francisco!
Growing up, I witnessed my Jewish grandmother from Egypt thinking about others constantly. She was not a saint (we are Jewish after all ;D and don’t have those anyhow), but her intentions to help those in need were never hidden. Any time there was violence, or war broke out anywhere in the world, her heart hurt for those impacted.
With the recent events of October 7th and all that has followed, my grandmother’s experiences and perspective are constantly on my mind. It’s in her honor that I’m starting this project and inviting you to the journey.
Welcome to “Healing and Helping,” an initiative that will raise money for NATAL and American Friends of NATAL, an apolitical non-profit dedicated to providing continual services to victims of terror and war-related trauma. The hope is to contribute to an organization that's helping to break harmful cycles and create healing for many generations to come. While they focus much of their efforts in Israel, they have also provided services and training around the world.
While I’m not particularly religious, there’s a Jewish philosophy called “Tikkun Olam” which means “repairing the world.” Many in the Jewish community consider this to be the bedrock of our identities, and in times like these, giving back to others helps to heal those impacted while also healing ourselves. Whether you identify as Jewish or not, this morality and humanity is something we all need now more than ever.
How You Can Help:
Our goal is to raise at least $5,004 (multiples of 18 are a lucky number in Judaism meaning “life”) which will go directly to the services and support NATAL is providing right now. Any donation is tax-deductible and 100% (except for GoFundMe's fees) will be used for services like counseling, training, therapy, support groups, and more. With recent events, they’re seeing a dramatic rise in the percentage of people, mostly women, needing therapy.
In addition to the goal above, I pledge to match up to the first $5,004 raised for an ambitious total goal of at least $10,008 in aid.
Here’s how you can help make this a reality:
- Donating: Any amount you donate will be beneficial. To put it into context, If we can gather 100 people to donate $50 on average, we’ll hit our goal. P.S. If you don't feel safe with your name being out there, you can donate anonymously
- Sharing: Spreading the word and sharing this with as many people as possible will help us hit our goal. Whether you're able to donate or not, simply sharing the link to this GoFundMe can make a world of difference. Please send the link to as many people as you can think of!
- Questions: Reach out via email!
About NATAL:
- NATAL’s main focus is to provide support, consistent services, resources, training, and aid to those impacted by violence and trauma
- They've established themselves as experts in their field and celebrated their 25th Anniversary in 2022
- NATAL has 4 main projects: Helpline, Clinic, Helping the Helpers (ie first responders), and Training the Trainers (ie therapists)
- They provide services to all Israeli citizens (and for those who don’t know this includes Jews, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, Druzim, Bedouin, and so many more) in English, Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian
- Additionally, these services are offered regardless of sex, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and age
- 66% of NATAL’s funding and support comes from donations, and this year they need ~$6.35M to continue their operations
- NATAL uses its expertise to export knowledge to other countries and organizations, including resiliency training. Most recent projects have included developing a helpline for Urban Violence in Chicago and the Wounded Warrior Project
For more information, visit these sources:
- NATAL Website
- American Friends of NATAL
If you find your immediate response to the above is inner conflict and "what-aboutism," I invite you to keep the doors of your mind open. Sit with the uncomfortable feelings, ask yourself the hard questions, and reach out for an open conversation. When the world is about "and" instead of "either-or," we maintain our unity and compassion for others.
My heart aches for all innocent lives impacted, for communities that are gut-wrenched. My heart has ached for countless causes, communities, and people around the world and I feel proud to have been able to support those causes in the past in various mediums. Right now my soul has the capacity to help those in my community and I hope you’ll join me in spreading healing, light, and support.
With lots of love,
Hannah
P.S. This was already a lot of reading...I know. But if you're curious to learn about the inspiration behind this initiative, please keep reading.
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So why in honor of my grandmother specifically?
If you’ve made it this far...you’re a special kind of human and you’re about to learn something very personal to me and my family, though likely not unique.
I can’t remember a time when my grandmother wasn’t buying food, sending clothing, or giving money to those who needed it most. Her most consistent altruism took the form of helping unhoused people in San Francisco. Every outing included the opening of her purse, crumpling of bills, shuffling out of the car, and the passing of money from her hand to theirs. This was my grandmother’s love language to the world.
She would yell, “Felo, Felo (my grandfather’s nickname), we need to STOP!” And if we couldn’t stop on time or accidentally passed by someone, you could feel the disappointment and sadness in her eyes as she’d say in Arabic, “Echks” (a term of disapproval).
When I became old enough, she started passing the torch to me. She’d turn to the backseat of the car, hand over some bills, and ask me to share what she’d put in my hand. As an 8-year-old, I’d look at her with worry in my eyes and hesitation in my voice while selfishly asking, “Why? Why do we have to do this?”
And she’d say, “Because it could have been us.”
It’s taken a lifetime to start to begin to understand what those words meant to her. As a young Jewish person growing up in Egypt, she understood the tenuous balance of life and how quickly things could change in a moment. Her Jewish existence was challenging and scary while also joyful (quite the age-old Jewish dichotomy). While she and my grandfather often spoke of the “good times” - food, music, dancing, swimming - there was also an undercurrent of avoidance. Of things that would never be talked about.
She and my grandfather lived through 25-30 years of instability as young people, not counting the generations of forced migration their own parents and families had endured. They experienced British Occupation, the rise of a dictatorship that scapegoated Jews and other minorities, the reality of living as second-class citizenshipless people with unequal rights, the sting of discrimination, the witnessing and knowledge of inhumane violence against their community, and ultimately their own forced expulsion.
In the 1950s at around 25 years old - very close to the age I am now - 850,000 other Jews in the Middle East and my grandmother were forced to leave the only home they'd known within a few days...just for being Jewish. With money sewn into the hem of her dress, one suitcase each, and a young child, she and my grandfather left and could never look back. She and her family members largely connected only by phone, spanning thousands of miles, for the remaining 60 years of her life.
While my family wears the survival and tenacity of my grandparents as a badge of honor, it has also been something each of us heavily carries in different ways. It wasn’t until later in my adulthood I started to learn more about their reality and the formal words to describe their experiences: Trauma. Refugee. Displacement. Suppression.
“Because it could have been us” wasn’t just my grandmother’s mantra or a casual saying. It was a stark reality of how much worse my grandparent’s life could have ended up. It was a reminder of days in their youth where “could have been” was “is.” It was a reminder that life can change quickly and we may find ourselves in the shoes of others with little notice.
I always knew my grandparents experienced unspeakable things in Egypt (things I won't mention here today), and the horrific and hateful violence of October 7th has painted a very real picture of the violence they lived through themselves. To think about some of the parallels between my grandmother’s life and my own has made me feel sad (that the world has not progressed) as well as hopeful (for a brighter future).
The account above only begins to skim the surface of the stories they’d ultimately share with me in pieces and of the research I’ve done in the meantime. If my grandmother was still alive to see all the pain of the world, to see innocent people on all sides in harm's way, she would have been heartbroken to her core.
Much of history has attempted to erase or rewrite Jewish history, an appropriation of our truth. Moreso for the underrepresented Jews from the Middle East and all over the world (reminder: there are Black, Asian, and Latin Jews too!) whose experiences have been minimized or worse, told they aren’t real or are too dramatic.
If you’re interested in learning more about families like mine, check out some of these incredible resources:
- JIMENA (you can find country-specific info under the menu bar)
- Global Jews
- UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies (Sephardic-specific here )
- Jews and Muslims : Images of Sephardi and Eastern Jewries in Modern Times
- Mizrahi Books
- Out of Egypt
- The Dove Flyer (a powerful movie based on a real person about Iraqi Jewish expulsion)
Thank you so much again and let's commit to having hope together!
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