IsraelCast Episode 90

Half a century ago, a 6-year-old Roni Raab visited his grandparents, who had made Aliyah, in Israel. On Sunday, Sept. 6, 1970, he, his mother, and 4 siblings boarded a TWA flight to return home to New York. A week later, Roni and his family finally deplaned after a tense, harrowing experience on an airplane that had been hijacked by the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine). Find out how Roni made it through this dangerous time and how it impacted the rest of his life on this week’s episode of IsraelCast with host Steven Shalowitz.

Dr. Roni Raab is the Executive Director of Jewish National Fund in South Florida. Prior to his arrival at JNF, he was a day school principal in Miami Beach and Boca Raton. He has a doctorate in Leadership and Administration from Florida Atlantic University, as well as degrees from Florida International University and Bar Ilan University in Israel. Dr. Raab has been living in South Florida for over 40 years and has been involved in tri-county Jewish communal work for almost three decades. He is a 34-year host of a local Sunday morning Jewish radio show, “Shalom South Florida”, and is the organizer of the Miami Marlins’ annual Jewish Heritage Day event. He has a wife and four children, one of whom currently lives in Israel.