SIOUX CITY — Nearly three months after returning from a pilgrimage to Israel, Greg Giles said his smartphone still warns of missile, rocket and drone threats several thousand miles away.

The alerts, which resemble low, rumbling horns, followed by the sound of a rattlesnake vibrating its tail, make him "jump." But Giles, Congregation Beth Shalom's president, didn't delete the Home Front Command app after being evacuated from Jerusalem with 10 other members of the Sioux City synagogue in late June.

"I want to keep my finger on the pulse of what's going on in Israel when there's incoming missiles," Giles explained, while seated in Congregation Beth Shalom's library next to Rabbi Meir Goldstein, who arranged what was to be a 16-day trip.

The small congregation, which consists of roughly 100

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