MIAMI — Located just north of Miami Beach, the Shul of Bal Harbour is in the heart of South Florida’s Jewish community.
What You Need To Know
- Devorah Andrusier recounts the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and dropping off son for active duty
- When she returned home to Florida after 10 days in Israel, she worked to raise awareness about the hostages held by Hamas
- The conflict is likely to be discussed at Wednesday's GOP debate in Miami
- SEE ALSO: Little Havana residents talk Trump-DeSantis ahead of Miami GOP debate
“This is a copy of the synagogue that was destroyed in Warsaw,” said Devorah Andrusier as she pointed out the blend of historical and modern decor of the synagogue where her father is the Rabbi.
The mother of seven pulls out her phone and shows a video of her 20-year-old son, Rafa, who is fighting against Hamas as a soldier in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).
“Don’t succumb to the sadness, just focus on fighting evil,” the young soldier says in the video.
Andrusier and her family were in Jerusalem when Hamas attacked on Oct. 7. As the war figures to be a key topic of Wednesday's GOP debate in Miami, she described the beginnings of the attack.
“The sirens started going off, and when we realized what was happening, we went to the bunker,” she said.
Rafa was immediately called to active duty with the IDF.
“We had to take him to the buses and say goodbye,” Andrusier said, as she showed a video of that day. “As a mom and as a family, all of a sudden the impossible is happening. It was difficult, it was very difficult.”
Andrusier stayed in Israel for 10 more days — she helped to buy protective vests and other gear for her son and his military unit, which was deployed to Ramallah.
“During that 10 days, the mourning started for the people who were killed in the terrorist attack and those taken hostage,” Andrusier said.
When she returned home to Florida, she worked to raise awareness about the hostages being held by Hamas. Her synagogue set up an elaborate table on Miami Beach with 239 empty place settings, representing the hostages taken to Gaza.
She told the story of how a Christian woman came up to her during that event and asked how she could help.
“I immediately started crying,” Andrusier said. “When the woman asks why I was crying, I told her we had not seen that type of kindness towards the Jewish community that we would’ve expected in 2023.”
“We have Holocaust survivors at our synagogue who say, 'We were told never again,'" she said. "I believe the 'never again' is on us."
As her son fights in the war a world away, Andrusier said she sees her mission at home as making sure no one forgets.