As Rabbi Ariel Boxman watched boxes of gloves, hats, and other supplies being brought into Temple Shalom in Naples on Tuesday, she knew the help was vitally needed in Israel. A deeper knowledge, however, was worry over her husband now on his way to Israel to deliver those supplies.
"He was a combat soldier," Boxman said of her husband, Asher Saida. He had been stationed in Gaza before retiring years ago and coming to the United States, where the two met and were married.
Saida, 42, left Wednesday morning to ferry the supplies to the Middle East.
The Naples rabbi said the couple had heard of some problems that existed for Israeli soldiers and others in obtaining needed equipment and decided to start collecting supplies and donations days ago. Then, on Monday, they decided he would go and deliver them personally.
"He has all his family there, his parents, his siblings, cousins, everybody is there," she said. "And since the attack he's wanted to go, his family didn't want him to come for obvious reasons. They they were nervous about him coming, nervous about him leaving us."
Earlier, Saida said that his brothers and many of his relatives had been called to the military.
"My family, my parents are in and out of the bunker," the Israeli-born U.S. citizen said. The use of bunkers or shelters was forced by Hamas shooting rockets into the city.
The need for supplies, however, is the driving force, Boxman added.
She said her husband has a direct connection to an Israeli military unit that sent him a list of items that they desperately needed and weren't able to get because of supply chain issues.
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"The second group is a group of displaced families, families that were forced to leave their homes in the north, out of fear of Hezbollah and out of the South after the attack from Hamas," she said.
That group is now temporarily in hotels in Tel Aviv, and Saida plans to bring them the supplies.
"It got to the point that he felt it was necessary, because he got word that there were needs for physical supplies," Boxman said. "And he had the ability to bring them so we put together a last-minute collection of needed supplies, both for soldiers and for those displaced families, who are lacking everything, left their homes in the middle of the night, and ended up in the middle of the country with with nothing. So we had a great opportunity and Asher is is doing a great service for our community."
Since weather in the region trends to get colder this time of year — sometimes there can be snow in Jerusalem — among the needs were thermal clothing, thermal socks, camouflage-colored winter hats, rechargeable headlamps and Casio G-Shock watches for the soldiers. There was also children's clothing, arts & crafts supplies, and small lightweight toys.
The Casio G-Shock watches, Boxman said, are useful due to most watches becoming inoperable when in proximity to a blast or explosion.
By Tuesday afternoon, the rabbi said they had collected and filled more than 15 duffel bags full of supplies.
Boxman also said that there are many people displaced through damaged or destroyed buildings and homes that could use clothing and other items.
The rabbi was comforted and heartened by the non-Jewish community's donations and offerings.
"Support came from the synagogue's community and significantly from the non-Jewish businesses in the greater Naples area," she said.
Boxman said she has concerns, especially for the couple's children, about her husband's safety and the chance he could be called back to active duty if the likely ground war commences while he is there.
"I do. Originally this was an opportunity for Asher to bring the supplies and visit family and recently he was notified there is a chance that he will be called back up," she said. "He is a previous combat soldier in Gaza, and because of his knowledge and his ability, he served as a medic, there is a chance that he would be called back to service."
Another rabbi from SWFL in Israel
Meanwhile, another Southwest Florida rabbi who traveled to Israel Sunday has been delivering support and prayer to soldiers as well as those affected by the Oct. 7 Hamas raid.
Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz of the Chabad Lubavitch of Southwest Florida and his son, Meir Simcha Minkowicz, also a rabbi at the Fort Myers Chabad, have been comforting the families of raid victims, speaking with military units and visiting other sites around the country.
Things got dicey for the Minkowicz' on Tuesday when they were rushed into a bomb shelter while visiting Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva, southeast of the Gaza Strip and on the edge of the Negev Desert on the Sinai Peninsula.
"This is real," the elder Minkowicz said in a video posted to YouTube. "They pulled us into this ... bomb shelter."
Pictures and a video show the men hunkered down with others and reciting prayers. There was no report of damage or injuries or if any of the missiles fell nearby.
The rabbi duo is due back to the Fort Myers area on Friday.
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