In the aftermath of the October 7 attack on Israel, much of the global conversation has focused on geopolitics, intelligence failures, and military response. But far from the headlines, in places like the southern Israeli Kibbutz Re’im, a different kind of lesson has emerged, one less about policy and more about how ordinary people live, prepare, and rebuild.

It is a lesson we would do well to consider.

Kibbutz Re’im was not a military base. It was a community of families, routines, shared meals, and children playing. And yet, when systems failed and help did not arrive in time, what mattered most was not abstract policy but human readiness: the ability of individuals and neighbors to act, to respond, and to rely on one another.

In the United States, we are accustomed to outsourcing responsibility. We expect institutions, government, emergency services and technology to function seamlessly. Most of the........

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