Rabbi David Ebstein was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and then in Highland Park before making aliyah with his wife, Rena Magun, almost 30 years ago. They live in Jerusalem. He and Rena have 4 grown children and 3 little grandsons. On October 7, their son left his pregnant wife and toddler and his job to serve in the reserves for 130 days protecting the Northern border, often under fire. He came home just 2 weeks before his baby son was born. He already has another call up date for August. Their son-in-law left their daughter and their baby and his preparatory studies for the Israeli Bar exam to serve for 3 months in intelligence.
Rabbi Ebstein and Ms. Magun strongly believe that the narrative presented in North American news sources about Israel’s role in the October 7th war is not fact-based. Israelis believed that the atrocities committed that day would engender greater understanding about Israeli security dilemmas and provide justification for this war, but in fact, the opposite has happened. While they seemingly go about daily routines, all Israelis are traumatized, and now it seems like the Western world has forgotten how they got there and who is responsible.
Rabbi Ebstein and Ms. Magun want to share what all of this feels like for typical Israelis like themselves and to help bring the truth to the foreground. They hope to strengthen the brave Americans who are trying so hard to support and defend Israel despite all of the negative reports and social media posts, as well as blatant anti-Semitism.
And they want to share some light as well. To quote David Horovitz, the Founding editor of the Times of Israel: “Our people are widely resilient, competent, wise and patriotic (…). We rebuilt our ancient homeland in spectacularly unpromising circumstances, focused innovation and inspiration to make it thrive, and have been fighting as one to defend it and rebuild its security through six hellish months.”