Bloomfield Hills woman maintains constant contact with loved ones in Israel
(CBS DETROIT) - Lior Zisser-Yogev was just settling into her new role as the Israeli Emissary to the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit after moving to Bloomfield Hills in August.
"People were unprepared. People were surprised. We felt like the sky was collapsing," Zisser-Yogev told CBS News Detroit Sunday when talking about the attack carried out by Hamas on Israel.
Zisser-Yogev and many Israelis of Detroit and the metro area have their eyes glued to whatever screens they consume their news on, waiting to hear from their families and loved ones again.
"My first concern is my baby brother, who is still in the Israel Defense Forces," Zisser-Yogev says.
Her brother is an officer in the IDF, who happened to be on vacation for the week-long Sukkot holiday before he received the call.
"He got a call at six in the morning that he has to return to his unit, and ever since then, we haven't heard a thing from him, and we just have to hope and pray that if we didn't hear anything, it means that its good news," Zisser-Yogev said.
She explained military service for the Israel Defense Services is mandatory for citizens, which means everybody is on reserve, including her other siblings. She says her family members overseas are trying to remain optimistic and stay in touch as much as possible.
"The toll of the dead is just rising, and more and more names are being allowed to publish, so we just witness more and more pain, and it's more personal. Israel is a very small country," Zisser-Yogev said.