A Quad-City rabbi has returned from Israel, where he had spent five days meeting soldiers and families that have been affected by the Israel-Hamas war.

“We had dinner with them, and we danced with them,” Shneur Cadaner, Rabbi for Chabad Lubavitch of the Quad Cities, said. “We expressed that we the people of the Diaspora are there with them.”

Cadaner showed footage taken from his cell phone in Israel, where soldiers were dancing with the rabbis that arrived to the country. More footage taken from Rabbi Cadaner’s point of view showed images of himself along with other civilians in Israel have to lay down on the ground while an active missile was in the air.

“We did have to go into a bomb shelter several times,” Cadaner said. “We had to lay on the floor several times. People are used to it there. Unfortunately, I don’t know how you could get used to such a thing. I guess it’s part of their life.”

Rabbi Cadaner said the trip was meant for helping the people affected by the war in Israel. “The mission trip was to go and uplift and inspire and be there for the soldiers,” Cadaner said. “Be there for the families of the victims, and show them that there is a whole world that is there to support them.”

During that mission, Cadaner experienced things that are not normal in the United States, including a playground that is also a bomb shelter. “Part of the playground is a bomb shelter,” Cadaner said. “When the kids hear the sirens, they have 20 seconds to run into the bomb shelter.”

Regardless of the safety concerns, Rabbi Cadaner said he felt safe during his stay in Israel. “That’s really what I’ve come back with,” Cadaner said. “The message I really came back with is that we have an obligation to increase the goodness and kindness in the world, because that’s what the world really needs right now.”