Thousands find home far from home

AS Iran and Israel exchanged fire in the latest chapter of their ongoing war, commercial planes were forced to make alternate landing plans as Ben Gurion Airport abruptly shut down. On the ground, Israelis were bracing for incoming rockets; in the sky, hundreds of passengers, some just minutes from touchdown, were diverted to unexpected layovers in Cyprus, Greece, and even Rome. What began as panic and confusion quickly evolved into a story of improvisation, resilience and cross-continental community.

“I was 20 minutes from landing,” Hillel Kamionski, a resident of Ramat Beit Shemesh who travels to the US every few weeks for work, recalled. “We had already descended lower than 10,000 feet. Then suddenly, the plane turned north as we were rerouted to Larnaca, Cyprus. That’s how it began.”

At Larnaca, the local Chabad House, headed by Chief Rabbi Arie Zeev Raskin, was instantly thrust into crisis mode. “We usually host 70–100 people for Shabbos,” a volunteer explained. “But by Friday morning, we were expecting over 400.”

They weren’t exaggerating. Rabbi Raskin and his team somehow managed to provide 410 Shabbos meals with barely a day’s notice. Kosher meat was sourced from Europe, bakeries worked overtime, and guests were asked to register. Even those who didn’t sign up were warmly welcomed and given to eat.