Located in southwestern Missouri amid the Ozark Mountains, Springfield is the state’s third-largest city. Its Jewish community is the subject of a recent book by Mara Cohen Ioannides, published by the local county historical society. Andrew Sullender writes:

According to [Ioannides’s] research, the first Jews in Springfield were among a flux of German immigrants following the civil war, the first of which was Ludwig Ullman. Having previously worked as a Union Army doctor, Ullman came to Springfield between 1861 and 1864 to open a pharmacy downtown. He later was a founding member of the Springfield Medical Association.

“German immigrants coming to southwest Missouri were both Christian and Jewish, but the German community at the time didn’t differentiate between the groups, they were all Germans. They all saw themselves as culturally the same. So, Jews were accepted in associations where there were other Germans who were accepted,” Ioannides said.

Jews in Springfield became merchants and business owners in the downtown square. These families began worshipping together for several years before opening Temple Israel in 1893. The 128-year-old synagogue remains the place of worship for Springfield’s Jewish community to this day. At the time of its opening, only twenty Jews from Springfield and the surrounding areas worshipped there.

When Jews first immigrated to Missouri, prejudice was much less than was found in many large cities, according to Ioannides. “Small town anti-Semitism tended to be subtle,” [she added]. Because of this subtlety, there has been no documented violence against the Jewish community. But that does not mean they have not faced bigotry.

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.