WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — It's day five of the conflict in Israel. When Stephanie Horwitz, a West Bloomfield native and product of the B'nai Israel Synagogue, moved to Israel 10 years ago, she said she never could have imagined living through the horrors she’s experiencing right now.
“It’s hard to say, like, do you feel safe? Because compared to where other people are we’re safe, but I think just knowing the horrors and nightmares of what happened, it makes you very scared wherever you are," Horwitz explained.
Horwitz, a graduate of the Frankel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield Township, is a newly wed who lives in Tel Aviv with her husband and their dog.
She said it was her mother-in-law, an Israeli living in the U.S., who warned her about the rockets over Israel. Horwitz said she soon started to hear the explosions and takes cover periodically with her husband in bomb shelters.
When asked what things are like outside of her home, she said, "At first, it was very apocalyptic. It was very reminiscent of, like, March 2020 and COVID when it was silent. No one was out there. There was no cars. There was no nothing.”
She said every day, residents push the limits when leaving their homes.
When asked if she's thought about flying back to the U.S., Horwitz said, "... a lot of people have asked me, and I have friends with young kids who are in that dilemma of taking their baby to the U.S. or Canada, leaving their husband behind."
Horwitz said she’s not at the point of wanting to fly back, but volunteering and getting goods to local donation sites has been the focus.
“I think just seeing people coming together, trying to help has been so... it’s very moving to see. I know a lot of people want to help. We started raising money from family and friends abroad because there are so many ways to donate money. People feel helpless. They want to help what’s going on here that are not here," Horwitz explained.
She said it's the tiny sparks of humanity amid chaos that are helping keep people sane.
Related: West Bloomfield teen studying abroad in Israel amid war
