She went to bed on Oct. 6, 2023, and woke up at 6:29 a.m. the next day to a sound unfamiliar to her. She heard air raid sirens.   Valencia resident Madelyn Begley checked her phone because, where she was staying, about 20 miles from Gaza, a phone app sends alerts when rockets, missiles and drones are in the vicinity.   “I woke my roommate up — Danielle, she’s hard of hearing,” Begley said. “I got her up with one word. I said, ‘Rockets,’ shoved her, got her up, and we ran to what’s called mamad, which in most buildings in Israel, they have bomb shelters.”  Begley said she and her roommate had 45 seconds to get from their apartment unit to the nearest bomb shelter, get in, close it up and lock it. She said she was not prepared for that kind of response.  They made it safely to the shelter, but by the end of that day, the Palestinian militant group Hamas had slaughtered more than 1,200 men, women and children, including 46 Americans and citizens of more than 30 countries, making it reportedly the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, according to the U.S. State Department.  During Saturday morning’s Yom Kippur service with Temple Beth Ami at Valencia United Methodist Church, Begley, 24 years old, shared her experience from a year ago with the congregation as part of the High Holy Day services that took place Friday and Saturday. She urged people to support a program in Israel called Shuva Achim by offering supplies and donations for Israeli soldiers, citizens called up to the reserves and volunteers.  Donations for Israel are lined up against the wall on Saturday morning during a Yom Kippur morning service at the Valencia United Methodist Church. Trisha Anas/The Signal Begley’s first visit to Israel was when she was 12 years old for her bat mitzvah. Then, in 2019, she flew there through Birthright Israel, an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel for young Jewish adults intended to strengthen their Jewish identity and their connection to Israel.   Begley graduated from Valencia High School and, in May 2023, received her bachelor’s degree in linguistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. A few months after college, she flew back to Israel to teach English to grade-schoolers there.   During the Oct. 7 attacks, Begley’s world was turned upside down. Many of her friends had to leave their families to join the reserves and fight. Meanwhile, Begley’s family in Santa Clarita wanted her home.  “My dad — just like a normal dad in Santa Clarita — gets on a flight,” Begley said. “He gets to Tel Aviv, and the rockets are at the airport, not stopping.”  She said she was on a phone call with her dad, explaining what he needed to do.  “Because now I feel like, somehow, I have knowledge about what’s going on,” she said. “I’ve lived four days of the war. Somehow, I know. Like, yeah. So, I’m calling my dad, and I’m very clearly telling him, ‘If you hear the air raid siren, just do as the Israelis do it: Pull your car off to the side of the road and lay down, hands over your head and sit there.’”   Around this time, one of Begley’s friends in Israel, Zohar Yacov Amitai, was saying goodbye to her over FaceTime. Yacov Amitai had joined the reserves and was already in full uniform — helmet and all — on her way to fight.  Former Israel Defense Forces reserves soldier Zohar Yacov Amitai listens to her friend Madelyn Begley speak with the Temple Beth Ami congregation Saturday morning during a Yom Kippur service at the Valencia United Methodist Church. Trisha Anas/The Signal “It was just — it’s real,” Begley told the congregation. “That was the moment for me, like, truly, my friends are out there fighting.”  Begley’s dad would eventually get to his daughter, and the two of them would fly home.   Over the next few months, Begley worked with three Santa Clarita Valley temples — Congregation Beth Shalom, Chabad of SCV and her own Temple Beth Ami — to raise about $10,000 in goods for soldiers fighting in Israel. And while she felt the importance of the work, she couldn’t stay home long.   “In late December, I made a relatively tough decision to go back,” she said. “I truly saw the Israeli spirit coming alive.”  Begley talked about the resilience of the Israeli people. While there, she taught English, fed paratroopers, worked with displaced families and helped others. It was vital work, she said.   She returned to Santa Clarita in July and has since been continuing her efforts to collect supplies and donations and send them to those on the front lines.   Begley’s friend from Israel, Yacov Amitai, who’d spent 250 days in the Israeli reserves, also spoke during Saturday’s services.   Valencia resident Madelyn Begley, left, and former Israel Defense Forces reserves soldier Zohar Yacov Amitai smile as attendees applaud them during a Yom Kippur morning service on Saturday at the Valencia United Methodist Church. Trisha Anas/The Signal “For me, standing in a synagogue in a Jewish community in America, it’s not something I take for granted at all. It’s a very emotional moment for me,” she said. “My role in the Army is to recruit all the reservists to their units and make sure they’re all safe and sound. It’s not just a job for me. It’s a mission.”  Yacov Amitai said that Oct. 7, 2023, was a defining moment for her people, one that came with an overwhelming sense of responsibility.  “We weren’t just protecting borders,” Yacov Amitai told the congregation, “but every family, every child, every citizen in Israel.”  She thanked everyone for all they’d done for her and those fighting.  “During my service, I felt your support, whether through care packages sent to soldiers, donations, prayers or even just words of encouragement,” she said. “We felt everything. Every act of support is like a hand on our shoulder, giving us the strength to continue protecting our country. This connection between Jews in the diaspora and Israel is like a thin, invisible thread, but it’s incredibly strong. We feel that our mission in the Army is not only to defend Israel, but also to maintain this bond between Jews all over the world.”  Rabbi Mark Blazer, who led services on Saturday, echoed Begley’s sentiments about offering support to the Shuva Achim program. His and Begley’s calls seemed to have been heard.   Rabbi Mark Blazer speaks about the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel with the Temple Beth Ami congregation during Saturday morning’s Yom Kippur service at the Valencia United Methodist Church. Trisha Anas/ The Signal. Boxes and bags of supplies lined the walls of the building’s foyer, items that many people had already dropped off over the High Holy Days. Begley had plans to send them to Israel later this month. But that wasn’t all. While Blazer, Begley and Yacov Amitai were speaking, more people were coming by with more boxes and more bags of supplies.  Blazer said that during his 25 years with Temple Beth Ami, his proudest moments have been working with the young people there.   “I have to do something for these kids — for all of our kids,” he said. “And so, let’s do something together.”  Donations for Israel are lined up against the wall on Saturday morning during a Yom Kippur morning service at the Valencia United Methodist Church. Trisha Anas/The Signal The post From silence to sirens: A Valencia woman’s call to action amid conflict  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.