Born in Hungary in 1887, Isidore Kahan embarked on a successful rabbinic career, eventually taking a position as rabbi of Gorizia, Italy. His subsequent peregrinations reflect the rapidly changing fate of Italian Jewry between the world wars, as Ty Alhadeff writes:

In December 1928, the governor [of the isle of Rhodes, then under Italian rule], Mario Lago, established the Collegio Rabbinico. Mussolini personally intervened to ensure that funds [originally] directed to the [rabbinic] seminary in Rome went to Rhodes in order to spread Italianità, Italian culture, to the Italian colonies—even among Jews. Within months, Rabbi Kahan was recruited by the Italian government to be the administrator and head teacher of the Rhodes [rabbinic] seminary. . . .

The school educated approximately 25 to 30 students who came from Izmir, Aleppo, Beirut, Sarajevo, Cairo, and Ethiopia to study in this modern yeshiva. . . .

Kahan served in the Rhodes seminary until 1933, when he was hired as a pulpit rabbi in Rome, a position he held until 1939. However, as the tide in Europe turned, Kahan worked tirelessly to save his family from impending doom.

With the help of American Jewish contacts, Kahan fled to Seattle, where he became the rabbi of a Rhodesli synagogue.

On Tuesday, a Hizballah drone attack injured three people in northern Israel. The next day, another attack, targeting an IDF base, injured eighteen people, six of them seriously, in Arab al-Amshe, also in the north. This second attack involved the simultaneous use of drones carrying explosives and guided antitank missiles. In both cases, the defensive systems that performed so successfully last weekend failed to stop the drones and missiles. Ron Ben-Yishai has a straightforward explanation as to why: the Lebanon-backed terrorist group is getting better at evading Israel defenses. He explains the three basis systems used to pilot these unmanned aircraft, and their practical effects:

These systems allow drones to act similarly to fighter jets, using “dead zones”—areas not visible to radar or other optical detection—to approach targets. They fly low initially, then ascend just before crashing and detonating on the target. The terrain of southern Lebanon is particularly conducive to such attacks.

But this requires skills that the terror group has honed over months of fighting against Israel. The latest attacks involved a large drone capable of carrying over 50 kg (110 lbs.) of explosives. The terrorists have likely analyzed Israel’s alert and interception systems, recognizing that shooting down their drones requires early detection to allow sufficient time for launching interceptors.

The IDF tries to detect any incoming drones on its radar, as it had done prior to the war. Despite Hizballah’s learning curve, the IDF’s technological edge offers an advantage. However, the military must recognize that any measure it takes is quickly observed and analyzed, and even the most effective defenses can be incomplete. The terrain near the Lebanon-Israel border continues to pose a challenge, necessitating technological solutions and significant financial investment.