Page 36 - Jewish News _August 2021_

36A August 2021 ISRAEL & THE JEWISH WORLD

Everything you need to know

about the Iron Dome

By Naama Barak, ISRAEL21c.org, May 19, 2021
he current round of violence be- a missile is launched, which is more these noises have become the horrible
tween Israel and Hamas in the reminiscent of a fighter jet taking off. soundtrack of the week.
TGaza Strip erupted with a lit- It covers extensive range There’s a land version
eral boom as rockets were fired from Despite its small size, Iron Dome cov- and a sea version
the Palestinian coastal enclave toward ers an extensive range of between 2.5 Iron Dome can protect people and in-
Jerusalem. and 40 miles. This means it can inter- frastructure on land and at sea. One
SMART that have become the soundtrack of the ern Gaza Strip heading for the border placed in desired locations near com-
cept rockets launched out of the south-
They set off rocket attack sirens
version can be loaded onto trucks and
areas and also the area reaching as far
munities or important facilities, while
past week, accompanied by the booms
of Iron Dome, the air defense system
the other can be positioned atop Israel
away as the outskirts of Haifa, which is
CHOICES whose interceptor missiles have been much farther north. Navy ships to safeguard infrastructure
It’s not the only thing protecting
such as offshore gas rigs.
regularly blowing up incoming rockets
and turning the night sky into a bizarre,
Israel’s skies
The United States also has
range threats such as rockets, but it’s
Although Iron Dome has been in
After some speculation, the United
Being informed is the backbone fireworks-like display. Iron Dome protects Israelis from short- Iron Domes
to great decision-making. use since 2011, it is this most recent no use when it comes to bigger, more States confirmed in 2019 that it pur-
conflict that has exposed its amazing advanced weaponry. Therefore, it’s chased Iron Dome batteries. According
Make sure you’re receiving capabilities to the Israeli public. As supplemented by an aerial defense to Israeli media reports, the U.S. pur-
all of the important news and heavy rocket fire reaches multiple and system called David’s Sling, which chased two batteries, which it planned
information impacting Jewish widespread locations across the coun-
life in Sarasota-Manatee with our try, many citizens are breathing much
information channels: easier knowing that they are under the
protection of this wonder.
1 SOCIAL MEDIA know about it.
Here is everything that you need to

At first, many were skeptical about it
When Brig. Gen. Daniel Gold first
Social Media: While we don’t always proposed his idea for Iron Dome, he
post hourly, we do post often. What do we faced strong criticism that required a
post? Time-sensitive news, alerts, items of
interest, and more. Follow us on Facebook, lot of nerve to overcome. Luckily, he
Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and more! managed to convince the country’s top
Find us by searching for “JFEDSRQ.”
brass of the advantages of his concept
2 JFEDSRQ.org of air defense.
“My incentive was saving human
lives,” he told ISRAEL21c a few years

Website JFEDSRQ.org ago. “I saw what was going on and I A long-exposure photograph shows Iron Dome firing interception missiles, as seen from
the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on May 16, 2021 (photo by Avi Roccah/Flash90)
Whether you’re on your desk- said to myself, with all the technology
top, laptop or smartphone, the that exists in Israel, we must use it to operates against cruise missiles; and on stationing in conflict zones outside
Federation website, has everything above and protect human life. We will find a way. by Arrow, which targets more sophisti- of its borders. Britain, meanwhile, has
below (and more) right at your fingertips. Keep
our event calendars in your bookmarks bar for It always takes the political and mili- cated ballistic missiles. purchased Iron Dome’s control center.
event information in a click. tary echelons a long time to think about The success rate is phenomenal It’s award-winning
The anonymous developers of the Iron
what they want to do, and in the mean-
In Operation Protective Edge in 2014,
3 EBLAST time, we started to create a solution.” Iron Dome proved to be highly suc- Dome, who hail from the defense es-
It provides protection against
tablishment, won the prestigious Israel
cessful, intercepting 90% of fatal rock-
nearby threats ets. Nowadays, its accuracy is said to Defense Prize back in 2012 for their
One of the reasons so many people be nearer to 95%. This means that the work, only one year after the system
Federation Eblast: were skeptical about Iron Dome was combination of Iron Dome protection came into use.
Receive timely Federation
news, topics, and more, the type of threat that it was meant to and following guidelines on how to be- You don’t need a lot of muscle
in your email by protect from – short-range and low- have during an attack (rushing to a pro- to operate it
subscribing to the weekly newsletter, tech rockets. tected space if indoors or lying flat on According to an interview given by
the Federation eBlast. According to Rafael, the de- the ground when outdoors) has saved Iron Dome’s developers a few years
4 JEWISH NEWS fense-sector corporation that devel- many, many lives in Israel. In fact, it’s ago, they created the system with its

oped it, Iron Dome works against
a game changer.
future possible handlers in mind.
mortars, artillery shells, rockets, un- It works come rain or shine This means that it can be easily
FEDERATION NEWS L ’Shana Tova! manned aerial vehicles, helicopters and Iron Dome can work in all weather operated by an average woman soldier
FROM THE BOARD AND STAFF OF
50
The Jewish News: The Celebrating Years The Jewish more. In fact, the current conflict saw conditions, including low clouds, rain, standing 5’2” tall and weighing about
Celebrating Jewish Life in Sarasota and Manatee Counties, Israel and the World
P U B L I S H E D B Y
Federation
OF SARASOTA-MANATEE
publication that brings the 25 Jewish Happenings Staff Report programming for the 2020-21 season Iron Dome intercept a UAV, the first dust storms or fog. 100 pounds. And it probably, is since
THE LARRY & MARY GREENSPON
FAMILY CAMPUS FOR JEWISH LIFE
13 Community Focus
September 2020 - Elul 5780 / Tishrei 5781 www.jfedsrq.org Volume 50, Number 8
20 Jewish Interest
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Federation to offer all virtual
39 Commentary
Jewish community right to your Where your dollars go: 4 cases that continue to climb in Flori- would have to be in effect to feel ‹ ‹ event. All answers clearly showed
he Jewish Federation of Sara-
43 Focus on Youth
47 Life Cycle
sota-Manatee has made the dif-
door event for the coming Fall-Winter
2020-21 season?
38 Israel & the Jewish World Tficult decision that all programs
for the 2020-21 season will be virtual.
Chief Executive Officer Howard Tev-
As you can see, an overwhelming
lowitz says, “In an effort to keep the
reluctance on the part of the com-
munity.
majority would not feel comfortable
community safe, we feel we have no
attending or thought it was too soon to
tell.
important!”
choice but to make this decision. The
lightening. Here are a few:
Many of the comments were en-
Other questions included at
health of our Federation family is too
I will not be attending in the fore-
In addition to the Coronavirus
what capacity one would attend an
in-person event, what conditions
seeable future. Very glad you are
asking, but no, no and NO!!!
American Friends of
door every month with news, taken to a new level 12 answered by more than 550 re- event (i.e., masks, sanitizers, etc.) 4.0 % 9 .5 % sider, no indoor events should be operational interception of its kind in It’s pretty costly all Iron Dome battalions include fe-
With an older population to con-
comfortable to attend an in-person
da, Tevlowitz points to the results of
Leket Israel
our recent event survey, which clearly
and when would you see yourself
planned until there is a vaccine.
showed the community is not ready to
attend in-person events for the foresee-
able future. “We have heard you loud
ready to come out to an in-person
Appreciate the varied programs
and films you’ve provided.
and clear,” says Tevlowitz.
The event survey sent out
continued on page 2
via email and social media, was
LEVEL OF COMFORT TO ATTEND INDOOR EVENTS
SURVEY RESULTS
3 .2 %
feedback about our current virtual
Lechlechallah – Challah baking
%
.2 Percent Will avoid attending in-
spondents. They were asked for 57 .2
programming and questioned about
how comfortable one would feel at-
events, and more. Get your FREE Temple Beth Sholom Catering: 16 time to let us know their thoughts. 26.1 26 soon to tell 3 attending indoor events .2 Percent Have no concern about the world. One of the criticisms first launched male soldiers.
57door events for the foreseeable future
tending in-person events this com-
ing season. We are so grateful that
so many in our community took the
.0 Percent Would be nervous,
4 but may still attend indoor events
The pie chart at right shows the
answer to the main question: What is
.5 Percent Will attend so long as CDC/
%
your level of comfort attending an in-
9federal/state guidelines are strictly followed
.1 Percent Think that it is too
Keeping connected and
subscription today! reflect the views of, or serve as endorsement 46 of synagogues make much-needed up- was overwhelming. The committee mittee focused its efforts on fulfilling Like all things in the Israeli army, against Iron Dome was that it’s a cost- It was somewhat inspired by
kosher with Shabbat meals
Federation awards 2 nd phase of COVID-19
assistance to area Jewish organizations
n April of this year, The Jewish
Federation of Sarasota-Manatee
to provide virtual ser-
Ibegan raising funds to provide
visual systems in order
By Kim Adler, Chief Operating Officer, and Stacey Gillman, Stronger Together Granting Chair
vices and programs for
COVID-19 relief to Jewish organiza-
our community mem-
tions in our two-county area. As of
this printing, our generous community
has contributed more than $330,000 to
The Gan plans an exciting
and safe school year
bers, many of whom are
our Stronger Together effort, including
isolated and alone due to
the pandemic.
board-restricted fund.
a $100,000 matching grant from our
In July, the Stron-
PAID POLITICAL
ger Together Granting
ADVERTISEMENT
uted close to $70,000 of those dollars
DISCLAIMER
5 SHALOMSRQ Annual voluntary subscription: $25 NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE MANASOTA FL PERMIT 167 PAID fall. After much deliberation, the com- See our ad on page 3A for $157,660 in grants for the follow- it’s made up of three parts ly operation. Each battery reportedly a toy car
Committee met to re-
Readers may recall that we distrib-
This issue of The Jewish News contains a paid
view applications for the second phase
to eight Jewish organizations and syna-
gogues in early June to support Food
political advertisement. The ad does not
of the granting process. The response
Security and Health/Wellness pro-
by, the staff or leadership of The Jewish
Federation of Sarasota-Manatee.
those grants that address Food Secu-
gramming, including helping a number
was available to distribute, which was
received requests totaling more than
for this phase. The committee recom-
rity and Health/Wellness programming
concerning as the plan was to make a
grades to their technology and audio-
mended and received Board approval
A publication of The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee
third phase of grants available in early
ing programs:
The Larry & Mary Greenspon Family Campus for Jewish Life
Klingenstein Jewish Center, 580 McIntosh Rd., Sarasota, FL 34232
continued on page 2
BUY • SELL • CONSIGN • REPAIR
costs $100 million, and each intercep-
Iron Dome batteries are made up of
One of the Iron Dome developers
1484 Main Street | Sarasota FL 34236 | 941.312.5566 | www.zemil.net
three parts: a radar, a control center
tor missile around $50,000. All this,
said that to meet schedule and bud-
FREE VOLUME 2 | 2020-2021 and interceptor missiles. The radar while the rockets it detonates only cost get requirements, some of the missile
ShalomSRQ: Your resource UPDATED recognizes when a rocket is launched, a few hundred dollars to produce. And components were taken from a toy car
guide to everything Jewish in DISCOVER ALL THINGS JEWISH Sarasota-Manatee while the control center quickly calcu- yet, time has shown the huge impact of he had bought for his son at a local
INSIDE
Sarasota-Manatee. Keep it on FIND THE LOCATIONS lates its flight path. If it estimates that the system, not only in terms of saving Toys“R”Us store. A few years later,
Synagogues, Food, Culture & More
LEARN ABOUT YOUR FEDERATION
History, Programs & More
On the Detailed Map Locator
hand to quickly find Jewish SHALOMSRQ.org A PUBLICATION OF
goods, services and organizations. the launch will prove dangerous, the lives but its protection of infrastruc- things came a full circle when an Iron
Request to be on the mailing list! interceptor missiles are launched to ture, buildings and the like. Dome toy car model hit the market.
detonate the rocket before it gets too It comes accompanied by Naama Barak is a writer at ISRAEL21c.
Find and Subscribe at close to its target, resulting in streaks Color Red alerts A PhD student at the Hebrew Univer-
JFEDSRQ.org/Media-Channels of light and deafening booms. When rockets are launched into Israel, sity of Jerusalem, she loves all things
It’s quite compact a rocket siren alert called Color Red is history and politics. Food and fashion
Each Iron Dome launcher holds 20 in- blasted throughout the area in danger. come a close second. Prior to joining
terceptor missiles that each weigh 200 The alert announces “Color Red, Col- ISRAEL21c, Naama worked for Isra-
pounds and is 10 feet long. Slender or Red” in a tinny female voice, which el’s leading English-language dailies
though they are, you wouldn’t guess it is then immediately accompanied by and cutting-edge start-ups.
from the sound the system emits when the booms of Iron Dome. Together,