Life

Speaking About Sderot, Gillibrand Gets Choked Up

By Nathan Guttman September 16, 2009

An unusually emotional moment at the Orthodox Union’s annual Senate luncheon Tuesday.

Among those stopping by to greet the OU activists, who spent two days in Washington for the group’s leadership mission, was the new senator from New York Kirsten Gillibrand. As she took to the podium, Gillibrand began talking about her recent trip to Israel and quickly choked up with tears. She told the activists about the rabbi she had met in Israel who told her the story of a girl from Sderot, who said she did not want any toys; her only wish was that Hamas shoots the rockets later on in the day, so she doesn’t have to run for shelter in fear on her way to school.

As she continued talking about her meeting with Sderot parents and children, who had been living under Hamas rocket threat, Senator Gillibrand paused for a moment and tried to overcome the tears.

“It was so emotional for me,” she told the crowd. Adding that talking about the suffering of children in Sderot made her think of her own two kids, both were at home sick.

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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