Scales Of Success Podcast

PSA: Surviving the October 7 Terror Attack in Israel with Assaf Glazer

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What do you do when safety vanishes in an instant? In this raw and powerful conversation, Marcus sits down as a follow-on mini-episode with Assaf Glazer—tech founder, father, and eyewitness to the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel—for an emotional recounting of survival, uncertainty, and resilience. From sheltering without a door to parenting through trauma, this conversation reveals the quiet strength it takes to protect and persevere. 

Assaf Glazer was with his children, siblings, and parents in southern Israel when the attack began. In the midst of chaos, with no clear guidance and no safe shelter, his instinct kicked in. In this moving postscript conversation, Assaf shares what he and his family endured, the long shadows of trauma, and how he’s finding clarity and calm in a digitally chaotic world 

Get in touch with Dr. Assaf Glazer:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/assaf-glazer-264aaa20/
Website: https://www.vinst.me/

Episode highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(0:57) What happened after the conflict?
(3:31) Were you with your family?
(4:23) What’s going through your mind when you’re in the shelter?
(5:23) How have you moved forward—and what advice do you give your kids?
(6:55) Parallels between Israel’s trauma and post-9/11 New York
(7:44) How is life now?
(8:00) Cultivating optimism and focusing on what energizes you
(8:53) What do you think the world should know about those living this now?
(11:08) The threat of AI-driven misinformation in global crises
(12:22) Outro

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Scales of Success

Youtube Channel: https://www.

Connect with Marcus


Scales of Success

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ScalesofSuccess

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Note: The transcript was generated by AI and may contain errors.

Marcus Arredondo:

Among the primary purposes in starting this podcast was to expand our understanding by hearing about our guests' firsthand experience. So I was remiss when I hadn't afforded Asaf, who was living in Israel at the time, the space to speak about his experience in the October 7th terrorist attack in Israel. Asaf graciously agreed to share what he and his family went through on a post-podcast recording. He was in southern Israel with his children, siblings, and parents when the attack began. The shelter they were told to use had no door. Gunfire echoed nearby, and there was no clear guidance, only instinct, urgency, and the need to protect his family. What you're about to hear is his firsthand account of that day, the escape, the uncertainty, and the quiet weight of parenting through trauma in a world clouded by digital chaos and misinformation. Here's our conversation. All right.

So we're, as a postscript here. So I wanted, I just, asked us off if you could share What life is like, what happened after the conflict? And we're recording this on April 29th, 2025. On.

Assaf Glazer:

October 7th, at first it's a very kind of, I was... It was like two months after that It was hard for me to function. But on October 7, I was my sister. They live in the south. They grow tomatoes in greenhouses in the desert. And it was a holiday. Pussanade. In Israel and I woke up. Curing bombs and I don't know what around me. Everyone kind of running to the television and you don't understand what happened. You don't understand even the news, they don't really tell you what happened.

You see some videos of people from Like, How come that you see those people running around in the city, but we were informed by the security manager to go inside the shelter. But there are terrorists that are coming towards the small village. And we didn't have even a door for the shelter.

So I said, you know, why should we go inside the shelter? Like I cannot close the door. And We were very lucky. Next to... Where we were, there was an army base with two tanks. With women soldiers, that just went up. There was a troop that was I don't know where it was, but not far, but on the direction. And they just saved our life by unified that they had. And I was post-traumatic for like, I was like, I wanted to go home. I took my things and drive. I live in the center. But it was like, and a month, two months that Every day you are You have a lot of And protections. That you develop in such a traumatic event. And Yes, I was with my family and with my…

Marcus Arredondo:

Were you with your family?

Assaf Glazer:

My wife wasn't with us because my youngest daughter has a birthday that we're supposed to celebrate, so she was preparing their birthday. We actually, it wasn't, the birthday was supposed to be on Saturday. So we canceled the birthday. And so I, so we were kind of in different places. Okay, so I said, I want to go home as fast as possible. You don't know what roads are open, what not, who are terrorists, who are not. Like it was kind of a And let's, let's run. And I was with my three kids and my family, like my sister, my brother, my parents, their kids.

Marcus Arredondo:

You were with your sons though?
What's going through your mind when you're in the shelter?

Assaf Glazer:

I wasn't in the shelter. There was like, because there is no reason for us, like there was no door, so it wasn't Something that we did, I was trying to understand what happened. Like until noon? There was no one on the news that said what happened and where. So I was going to Telegram and saw some really bad videos that were published by Hamas about the things that they have done like crazy videos like it was like a And, you know, I had nightmares from the things that I saw. And it was a mistake. But I had to know what happened. This was the only way for me to understand what happened.

Marcus Arredondo:

How do you... How have you moved forward?
I mean, what advice do you give your kids? How do you keep sanity?

Assaf Glazer:

You try to protect them. Like we said, you know, you were go to the room, They don't need to see the television, they don't need to be aware of the situation. They are smart, but we mitigate them. Try to have them less involved. They don't need to... It was a... You cannot hermetically and put them inside a silo. But I think that you protect them. And when I was a teenager, There was the war in the Gulf. And I remember myself running in the night with a mask, a gas mask. Into a room that with masking tapes, you know, with that, we sealed the windows and we were prepared for that. Chemical attack or whatever, it is crazy, right? And. I'm fine. I'm not saying that we should go through it as a... I don't think it's healthy for our health as kids, as a nation. But it's part of our Part of my life, because I was born here.

Marcus Arredondo:


Yeah. Well... This is not anywhere near the same, but for growing up in the U.S., there's before 9-11 and after 9-11. There's sort of two different worlds.

Assaf Glazer:

Yes, I see a lot of commonalities between the trauma that the city of New York had. And what happened in Israel, like how you wake up the after and the real perception, about things change, you feel unsecure, in a way that kind of naked in some sense. It's I am.
Yeah.

Marcus Arredondo:

Teddy. How's... How is life? How is life now?

Assaf Glazer:

And... I'm trying to concentrate on the things that make me give me energy and exciting for me. I'm an optimistic person. I believe that maybe we didn't reach the bottom yet, but at some point we'll go up. Trying to avoid politics, although I read papers every day, I'm a news freak. Since I A young kid, every day I read all the paper. Like, I love papers, like I like news. And I love old papers. You still I like how it is, I know, I watch PDFs.

Marcus Arredondo:

Go paper, not iPad or – Digital.

Assaf Glazer:

But I like the structure. I agree. Printed paper.
Yeah. Because then I know where everything is and I used to eat and I like the mobile experience is less, Friendly. I agree.

Marcus Arredondo:

What do you think the world should know about those who are having to live this now that we don't, or what do you think? You've got a lot of connectivity to the U S you've traveled quite a bit. What do you think? We're not, being exposed to you. What do you think we're not aware of.

Assaf Glazer:

Are you talking about people outside Israel, about Israel? Yes.

Marcus Arredondo:

About the current state and the mentality in the stress, the post-stress living.

Assaf Glazer:

Israel is an ant on the back of an elephant. Like, it's not that what happened here is disconnect from what happened in the world. Yeah. Yeah. We need to be more united. Between us I'm talking about Inside Israel, I'm talking about between countries, between and just Think more about each other. And Everything will be better. And this is - Yeah. And I feel that the world now is not going in the good direction. And I hope that it's something that will, We'll settle over time. And I..

You know, I feel that... There are a lot of details. Around this very long conflict and, Sometimes it's hard to understand the details. And So, maybe there is something true but eventually when it's go through an Not. To responsible And. Or less validated than And A journalist?- And it turned into something different. And with AI today, and technology, you can manipulate minds. Yeah. And it's actually, you see it in the election in the US, you see it in all the world, how we use social media to manipulate minds. And this is something that the world should be more aware and aware.

You know, regulate maybe in a way that will be less of a that side effect to all the benefits that come out of it.

Marcus Arredondo:

Yeah, I think that's probably my biggest concern relative to AI is just... I think A person can be smart and introspective and thoughtful, but people as a mob tend not to be as much. And I think that's…

Well, we can end it on that, but, I appreciate you sharing all of this. It was, From afar, we've been sending you love and it's just been a terrible thing to watch. But I appreciate you sharing your story.

Assaf Glazer:

And... Thank you. I think it's important to bring those stories
So thanks for the opportunity.

Marcus Arredondo:

I agree. Thank you. Thanks for listening.

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