I wanted to write something about what happened over the weekend – to my family and to my country. I moderate comments, as many of you know. It’s something most Israeli bloggers have to do. I have 7 comments sitting there waiting for me to approve (or delete) them. Some bloggers put the comments through to get a dialog going between their readers.
I can’t stomach some of the nastier ones and refuse to give them a presence here on a site that is, perhaps above all else, one mother’s testimony of love for her sons. Their hatred had no place here and so if I put them through, it is with the historical reality needed to balance the lies upon which their hatred is often based.
In any case, this time, the comment was from a fan (thanks, Adina), and started with the simple “May all your posts be this lighthearted!” Yes, I wish they could be, but reality has a way of denying us that wish. We had a great weekend – made more special because my daughter and her husband came to stay over the weekend. For the last few weeks, when they come, it is for one meal and then they take the long walk home. It is so much more special when they stay the whole time – three meals together, time to sit and relax and talk.
Shmulik was home, Elie, the younger two…in short, we were all gathered there and it was very special. Elie retaliated, as expected…I’m down quite a few. He didn’t find the chocolate on his first pass. His second one was more thorough, conducted after locking himself into my bedroom. Amazingly enough, he didn’t find the ones I hidden in the coat pockets…he did find the ones hidden in an old matzo box (and no, I can’t explain why I have a box of matzo in my bedroom).
It was my youngest son who took up the challenge and located more chocolate, including the ones in the coat, “I was going to look there,” said Elie later.
I still have 5-6 chocolate bars left, a few more because guilt still works on the younger son. Elie has informed me that the captive chocolate is behind two locks (not just his door, but a wooden ammunitions box with a lock that he brought back after the war. He needed place to lock things during the war and so took the ammunitions box. Later, he used it to bring his things home. Now, it is a foot stool under his desk.
So that was my reality during the weekend, and it was light and wonderful. We had guests for both meals, the food came out great (I learned long ago that denying your talent is as wrong as taking credit for it and I have two talents that I am proud of – writing, and cooking).
The reality for hundreds of thousands of other Israelis was so different. I’m addicted to the news and yet somehow, I managed to take 48 hours away. I had everyone home and it didn’t seem relevant. What I didn’t hear until last night, was that on Friday, a grad rocket was shot into Ashkelon, a city of more than 125,000 people. It was a near miss for several; two people went into shock. And yesterday, the peaceful Shabbat was shattered when a Kassem rocket smashed into a school, which houses a daycare center for disabled senior citizens.
Because it was Saturday, our weekend, there were no injuries, but heavy damage was caused to the building. Adina’s post made me smile, as she talked of my Hershey’s battle, currently leaning towards Elie and hsi brother and now forcing a retalitory move on my part. It is a war with no casualties and only fun. We laugh, we smile, we raid and steal and when the day is done, we’ll split the chocolate with love.
But her first sentence, “May all your posts be this lighthearted!” brought thoughts of nearly 200,000 people who were terrorized this weekend. At least this time, the United Nations didn’t worry about some even-handed remark that is both ineffective and absurd. This time, they said what had to be said, “Indiscriminate rocket fire against civilians is completely unacceptable and constitutes a terrorist attack.”
Yes, exactly. Hamas in their infinite wisdom, said our report of an attack was “fake.” After all their claims during the Gaza War, they are champions of faked reports, so I guess one can expect no less from them.
As for me, I thank Adina for her comment (as I thank all of you who take the time to comment here) and for that one line that keeps coming back to me again and again, all I can say is Amen! May I only write of chocolate wars and peaceful weekends with my family. It may be so boring you all want to stop reading…but I’ll do my best to find something interesting…so please join me in a prayer for peace for my nation and my sons. That is our dream.
Israel’s Critical Security Needs for a Viable Peace
Israel, in any future agreement with the Palestinians, has a critical need for defensible borders. This video outlines the threats to Israel from terrorist rockets, ballistic missiles, and conventional ground and air threats from the east.
Israel’s Critical Security Needs for a Viable Peace
For more information visit: http://www.defensibleborders.org/security
-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs