A Sobering Reminder

I have a course today and a wedding come up so very soon. I got a dress – yeah for me; still need to get something for Aliza. Got Davidi’s suit; still need to confirm everyone else. Relatives are flying in – it reminds me of the weeks before Davidi’s bar mitzvah, when the rockets were flying and we knew war was coming – no one can live this way for long. Then too, relatives were flying in – even in the face of a war.

Elie has often told me that Israel is very special in that the moment a war would be declared, more planes would be flying in than flying out – as thousands of Israelis return to fight for the country the love, even if they have made their homes elsewhere. A wedding…a war.

I have to make seating plans and finish delivering invitations and in the midst of all of this is the painful reality that nearly one million people are spending their fourth day in bomb shelters; a second day children are not going to school. As rockets are being fired frequently – 11 overnight; almost 90 yesterday; well over 100 the day before that, parents aren’t letting their children outside.

I have a friend who lives in the rocket area with 4 year old twins. How could you go outside with twins? Which one would you grab in the case of an attack? Too much for a mother to contemplate and so inside they will likely remain. This can’t continue is a common phrase here in Israel – almost as common as the unspoken thought that this will never end; that their hatred runs so deep, their love of death and martyrdom too firmly entrenched.

No time to write – too much time to think. So here is a sobering reminder of what Israelis are keeping in mind today – every moment, as we plan and hope. The only thing missing from this chart below are the warning times, but you can figure them out – the area nearest Gaza has a 15 second warning; from there, add 15 seconds for each color zone.

In Beersheva, on the outer circle, they have up to 60 seconds to grab and run, to find shelter strong enough, safe enough, to withstand the impact of a warhead fired from at least 40 kilometers away. Make no mistake – Gaza has chosen to wage war against Israel and it has been war for 4 days, on the heads of one million people and more than 210,000 children.

2 Comments

  1. My prayer for you.

    Psalm 91, in the classic 17th century English ‘Authorised Version’ translation.

    He who dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
    shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

    I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in him will I trust.

    Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

    He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

    Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;
    nor for the arrow that flieth by day.

    Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

    A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee;
    only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
    Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation
    there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
    For he shall give his angels charge over thee
    to keep thee in all thy ways.
    They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
    Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under feet.
    Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
    He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
    With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation”.

    PS
    Theoretically I should be able to leave a comment here under either of two different identities – one using wordpress/ typepad and one using livejournal.

    However, when I log in with those and then attempt to comment, no matter how many times I try and how carefully I read the ‘words’ in the capcha box, my comment is NEVER accepted – sometimes I have had a dozen – up to TWENTY – attempts to enter the capcha code and am rejected each time.

    Weirdly, if I comment as an anonymous, my comment goes through.

    This is crazy-making.

    So I am stuck with ‘anonymous’.

  2. If the israeli people is so loving and accepting, why does the christian church in Jerusalem get vandalized?

    “Death to christianity” written on the church…

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