Rabbi Moshe and Leah Goldsmith

Close friends, united by shared grief and communal endeavors. Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith's guidance during a visit to the Fogel family's home in Itamar left a lasting impression. Subsequent visits highlighted the resilience and challenges of Israeli communities in volatile regions.

Very close family friends! The terrible massacre of the Fogel Family in Itamar prompted me to call Americans for a Safe Israel and ask, "are you going to Itamar?" I had no idea what was waiting for me there, but, for sure, one of the greatest personal Divine Appointments. Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith met our AFSI group and escorted us to the Fogel home. I picked a flower from Ruth Fogel's struggling little garden. It is framed and in our living room in Texas. In November, I returned to Israel with AFSI to accompany the whole town to the top of the hill where a new community was being developed. These young brave souls had come to establish a community between Itamar and Hawara. Hawarara is the Arab village on the Biblical Highway, Route 60, where the terrorist had come from. Recently (Feb. 2023), terrorists from this town murdered two young men from Har Bracha (home of the Waller Family and HaYovel). Unfortunately, the Army destroyed it ten days later due to pressure from the U.S. In 2014.