Denver native Rachel Greenspahn made aliyah when she was 22 years old. Now at 50, she has seen her adopted homeland threatened by countless terror attacks by many adversaries.
Not once could Greenspahn imagine that her closest brush with danger would come at the hands of her countrymen.
“I survived a pogrom,” Greenspahn said. “I can’t even believe that these words are coming out of my mouth.”
Greenspahn was at Beit Samueli synagogue in Ra’anana, Israel, where congregants were viewing a joint Israeli-Palestinian Yom HaZikaron (Israel Memorial Day) ceremony in Jaffa, Israel.
Suddenly, the synagogue in Ra’anana was stormed.
“I was screamed at,” Greenspahn said. “Cursed. Threatened. Pushed. Spat on.”
Greenspahn felt a hard object hit her head. She wasn’t — and still isn’t — sure what it was.
What hurt worse was the invasion of her safe space, from fellow Israelis.
“We were in danger and not because of terrorists,” said Greenspahn. “We were in danger because of racist, extremist and uninhibited Jews.
“For the past 20 years, an organization called the Bereaved Families Forum and another organization called Combatants for Peace do a joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony.
“The idea is that we all have grief and loss, no borders, and all of us have lost people in a cycle of violence here. We mourn together with a hope that we can bring an end to the endless bloodshed.
“There were very clear leaders in the local and national communities who were inciting this violence,” Greenspahn told the IJN.
“We knew there was the local head of the Likud party who sent out a video, telling people to come and demonstrate against us,” she said.
The demonstration led to violence.
“They were calling us whores and Nazis,” Greenspahn told the IJN. “They banged the doors. People broke glass.
“It was really terrifying. There was both a concrete terror of what’s happening right now and the more theoretical of, ‘I am a Jew being attacked at my synagogue because of my Jewish values.’
“It was very reminiscent of other events in history that we don’t even want to dream could ever happen again. Certainly not in this country, and certainly not by Jews perpetrating them.
“We can’t allow such things to happen.”
I am proud to be a part of the Israeli Reform Movement, which works to advance equality, pluralism and democracy,” said Greenspahn, who attended Hillel Academy, Herzl Day School and Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy (now DJDS). She made aliyah after her gap year.
“I grew up in a family and in a school and in a community where Israel was very much on the agenda,” said Greenspahn, who in high school spent a semester in Israel.
“There were so many issues and realities about Israel that were interesting to me, and I was very much interested in experiencing it, feeling it and being a part of it,” Greenspahn said.
“A lot of what drove it was also very much the sort of ideology behind Israel that I supported.
“I was eager to take part in that, and some social change aspects,” said Greenspahn, who did an internship with the New Israel Fund during her school experience in Israel.
Greenspahn lives in Ra’anana with her husband, Guy Reuveni, and children Ori, Adi and Emmy. Adi, 20, is currently serving in the IDF, and Ori, 18, is expected to join the IDF later this year.
Greenspahn expressed anger at local police, who issued no arrests after the right-wing activists stormed the synagogue.
“Even though they certainly didn’t anticipate this happening, even though they had received several warnings — several very clear and troubling warnings,” Greenspahn said.
“While it was happening, the individual police officers who were there did their best to help us, but they didn’t arrest anyone.
“When you see these demonstrations throughout the country over the past year-and-a half, if people scream or attack someone, they’re arrested. So why weren’t people during this attack taken away? You can’t bang on glass doors. You can’t throw rocks. I have sort of a sense of being betrayed by the country.
“I chose to come here. I’ve fought for this country for the last 25 years. I have one daughter already there fighting for us and another one on his way. How is it that this country doesn’t care about us?”
After Shabbat ended on May 3, Greenspahn was invited to speak at an event outside Ra’anana. The weekly event often includes chants to end the Hamas war and bring the remaining hostages home.
As opposed to the scene at Beit Samueli, there was no violence at the post-Shabbat event.
That said, concern lingers.
“One of the basic Jewish values that we were always taught is this true belief in challenging what people say and arguing, but in a good way,” said Greenspahn, “and I’m more than willing to have a debate about this with anybody.
“There are really big questions about Israel and for the future, and there are no clear answers to some of the things, but what happened at our synagogue isn’t debate. This is violence.”
© IJN 2025
